"Derek, I don’t think this is the best solution for this," Kai said.
It had been a few hours since Derek had finished giving the orders, sending word out for the announcement to be made throughout the estate, for a ceremony to be arranged. And Kai had been working up to saying something the entire time.
Derek didn’t look up. He only flipped through the document in his hands, scanning each page with cold focus.
"Do you have a better thing to offer, Kai?" he asked, his voice flat and empty of any human warmth.
Kai opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had nothing, not yet. His jaw tightened as he realised he didn’t actually have a solid backup plan to fix the political mess they were currently drowning in.
Derek finally lifted his head, looking at his cousin with raised brows. "I thought as much," he murmured, his gaze dropping back down to the document.
Kai stepped forward. "Derek, you’re hurt right now. You’re not thinking straight. You’re reeling from whatever Chloe said in the dungeons, and you’re about to make a drastic, permanent decision while you’re in the worst state to make one. You know this isn’t like you."
Derek set the document down.
"If you think this has anything at all to do with the rage bait that bitch pulled in the dungeons or my emotions," he said, his voice flat and even, "then you’re far denser than I gave you credit for, Kai. This was always the plan, have you forgotten? From the very beginning. Marry the Moonfang heir, settle the score with Rolf. I’m simply carrying out what I set out to do in the first place, nothing more."
Kai turned to Declan, who had been standing quietly by the window through all of it.
"Declan. Are you really going to stand there and say nothing?"
Declan let out a slow breath. "What exactly do you want me to say, Kai?" he asked. "You know him. You know exactly how he is when he’s made up his mind. I could talk until dawn, and it wouldn’t move him a single inch."
"So that’s it?" Kai’s voice rose. "We just let—"
A gamma’s voice cut into Derek’s mind through the link with urgency.
Your Grace, the Queen has just arrived at the borders of Dravengard. She’s alive and well.
Derek’s hand stilled on the document.
For one moment, he did not move or breathe. The whole careful coldness he had built around himself flickered, just for a heartbeat, like a candle in a draft.
Then it steadied again.
***
Meanwhile, as two guards drove a black pack car along the winding roads towards the main residential estates, Kira sat in the back seat, her heart pounding against her ribs with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.
She was almost home. After everything, the attack, the kidnapping, the chains, Claudia, Olivia, she was finally going home. And the thought of seeing Derek again, of being held by him, of being safe, filled her chest so full she could barely sit still.
She was going to tell him everything now that she had figured it all out. All of it. About Brian’s unhinged obsession, about what Claudia had revealed, that she was the Nexus, about Rolf not being her true father at all.
About her mother, alive, somewhere out there. About her real heritage, her real blood, the Ironfang line, the rightful claim to Moonfang. She would lay every secret bare, finally, and they would face whatever came next together.
But something was off.
She could feel a strange stiffness coming off the two guards in the front, a tension in the set of their shoulders, an energy in the car that did not match a joyful homecoming.
Kira shifted in her seat, leaning slightly forward. "Is everything alright back at the house?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Everything’s fine, Your Highness," one of them said. Too quickly.
Kira sat back, unease prickling at the back of her neck. "Is Derek okay?"
"Yes, he is, Your Highness."
Kira’s eyes narrowed slightly. She wasn’t buying it for a second. She was highly suspicious, mostly because of how bizarrely things had been handled at the border. The guards had put her through a long string of questions, testing her memory, confirming she was truly herself and not an Umbra wearing her face.
She’d understood that, at first, knowing it was probably a necessary precaution since the territory had been heavily infiltrated by Umbra spies recently. It made sense.
But then there had been the wait. The need to confirm with Derek himself before they would even agree to drive her back to the palace. As though she were a stranger asking entry. As though her own husband had to grant permission for his missing wife to come home.
And now, as they drove, she kept catching the driver’s eyes every now and then in the rearview mirror, watching her, and quickly averting his gaze whenever her eyes drifted to him.
Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. But she stayed calm.
As they turned up the long driveway toward the estate, Kira leaned toward the window. Out in the courtyard, servants were moving about, stringing up lanterns, lighting them one by one, draping the grounds in soft golden light.
Her brows drew together.
"What’s going on?" she asked. "Why are they putting up decorations?"
The gamma driver cleared his throat nervously, his eyes darting away. "The King is hosting a ceremony this evening, Your Grace."
A ceremony. Kira frowned. What ceremony? What could they possibly be celebrating, with the kingdom half in ruins and the borders still smoking?
The car rolled to a stop, and Kira pushed open the door and climbed out, her eyes going immediately to the front terrace, searching. She had expected to see a relieved Derek sprinting down the stairs to greet her. But the terrace was empty.
No Derek. No Nana. No Kai. Not a single soul was waiting to welcome her home.
Something cold settled in her stomach.
Olivia said he was tearing the whole pack apart looking for me, she thought, staring at the empty terrace. He’s been searching for days. And now I’m finally home, and he can’t even be bothered to come out and meet me?
The guards moved to flank her, leading her toward the main mansion. Kira walked between them, her unease growing with every step.
"Did Connor make it home?" she asked suddenly, the worry rising up in her. "Is he alright?"
"He made it back, Your Highness," one of the guards said. "But he’s still unconscious. He hasn’t woken since the night of the attack."
Relief crashed over Kira so hard that tears sprang to her eyes. Alive. Connor was alive. Hurt, but alive. She blinked the tears back and breathed a silent, shaking thanks to the goddess. After watching him throw himself into that wall of Umbras so she could escape, she had been terrified she’d never know what became of him.
They reached the entrance hall, and Kira stepped inside.
Servants were rushing everywhere, hurrying back and forth with armfuls of flowers and linens and glasses, the whole household clearly thrown into the frantic preparation of something large. Kira’s frown deepened. None of it made sense.
Then, through the bustle, she spotted her maid, Mara.
"Mara!"
Mara turned, and the moment she saw Kira, her whole face lit up with relief. She hurried over.
"Your Highness! Oh, thank the goddess. You’re back and you’re alright. We were all so frightened—"
"Thank you, Mara." Kira caught the girl’s hands, grateful for one warm, familiar face in all this strangeness. "But please, tell me what’s going on. Is Derek alright? What is all this? Why is everyone preparing for a ceremony?"
Mara’s face fell. The relief drained right out of it, replaced by something stricken, something that made Kira’s stomach clench before the girl even spoke.
"Your Highness," Mara said quietly, her voice dropping, her eyes flicking away and then back, full of pity.
"The King... he made an announcement this afternoon." She swallowed. He’s announced his marriage... to the second daughter of Rolf Thornclaw. He’s saying that she is the true heir of Moonfang."
Kira’s stomach dropped straight through the floor.