Genevieve Montgomery POV:
I held my crystal goblet with practiced elegance, a perfect smile fixed on my face as I accepted congratulations from the visiting Pack Alphas. I was the Luna Queen, and I played my part flawlessly.
Across the grand hall, my son, Damian, the heir to the kingdom, stood with his new bride, Clarissa. They were about to receive the Elder's blessing.
Clarissa was my niece, and this union would solidify our Montgomery family's position at the heart of the kingdom. It was a masterpiece of political maneuvering.
My gaze swept the assembled guests, searching for a flash of silver hair. Seraphina Beaumont. She was absent.
A sliver of unease worked its way into my heart. The Beaumont girl was always impeccably polite. Her absence from an event of this magnitude was highly unusual.
I caught the eye of my personal handmaiden, Agnes, and gave a subtle nod. She understood immediately and slipped away into the crowd to find out what had happened to Seraphina.
The ceremony began. The Elder's deep voice echoed through the hall, but I saw Damian's eyes dart towards the entrance. He was looking for her.
I let out a silent, cold scoff. My son was still foolishly obsessed with that woman. It only strengthened my resolve to remove Seraphina Beaumont as a potential problem. Permanently.
Just as Damian was about to place the ceremonial mating necklace around Clarissa's neck, a young servant girl burst into the hall, her face pale with panic.
She was a wolfless, I noted with disdain. No inner wolf, no ability to use the mind-link. She had to deliver her news in the most primitive, disruptive way possible. It was why they were kept to menial tasks, away from important functions.
Guards moved to intercept her, but she shrieked, "Your Majesty! Something has happened!"
Every head in the hall turned. The ceremony ground to a halt. A low murmur of whispers spread through the guests like a disease.
My face hardened into a mask of cold fury. Whatever this was, interrupting the royal wedding ceremony was an unforgivable insult to the crown.
"Let her pass," I commanded, my voice like ice. I would deal with this quickly and brutally. "What is so important that you would dare to cause such a scene?"
The girl, whose name I believed was Daisy, fell to her knees, trembling. "The Sunstone Chamber... Your Majesty, in the King's own chambers... there are... there are a woman's cries!"
My heart stopped. The Sunstone Chamber was Aldric's private sanctuary. No woman, other than myself, was ever permitted to enter.
I saw Damian's face drain of all color. He swayed on his feet, his body trembling as if he'd been struck.
Clarissa froze, her hand flying to her mouth as she grabbed Damian's arm for support, her eyes wide with fear.
"What kind of cries?" I demanded, forcing myself to remain calm, to control the narrative.
Daisy's face was now bright red. "C-crying..." she stammered. "And... and begging..."
The hall exploded.
The whispers became a roar of speculation. The King, forcing a woman in his private chambers? On the night of his son's wedding? The scandal was unthinkable. It was a stain on our family, on my son.
I had to crush this immediately.
"Nonsense!" I snapped, my voice sharp and cruel. "A wolfless servant girl, spreading vicious lies! Take her away! Cut out her tongue!"
My order quieted some of the noise, but the faces of the guests were filled with a hungry, vicious curiosity.
As the guards moved to drag Daisy away, Damian cried out, "Mother! Wait!"
He rushed to my side, his blue eyes bloodshot with worry. "Seraphina is missing. I'm worried that... what if it's Seraphina?"
My heart clenched again. If it was her, this was far more complicated than a simple bit of palace gossip.
I looked at my son's panicked face, then at Clarissa, who was on the verge of tears. Fury burned in my chest.
"Be quiet," I hissed, my voice low and dangerous. "Do you want everyone here to know you are still pining for that woman? Do you want to turn your own wedding into a joke?"
Damian fell silent, but the desperate worry in his eyes remained.
Just then, Agnes reappeared at my side, her face grim. "Your Majesty," she whispered, "Lady Beaumont is indeed missing. Her maid said she felt unwell and left the feast early."
My heart sank into a pit of ice. Seraphina. Aldric. It couldn't be.
I had to see for myself. I would not let this scandal destroy everything I had built for my son.
"The ceremony is paused," I announced to the stunned crowd. "I will return shortly."
Without another word, I gathered my skirts and, with a contingent of my personal guard, swept out of the hall, my path set for the Sunstone Chamber.
