"Answer me! You don’t get to walk away after showing me a child with my own face!"
Kael’s voice cracked through the moon-drenched corridor. He intercepted Elara near the royal guest wing, his chest heaving, the scent of sandalwood and desperation rolling off him.
Elara stopped but didn't turn. "Your face? Leo has his own face, Alpha. He is a Sovereign of the North. Remember that before you raise your voice to his mother again."
"Don't play games!" Kael roared, slamming his hand against the stone wall beside her. "He’s five years old. The math is perfect. He was conceived during our last week. Before the ceremony."
Elara turned, her expression like frost. "Nothing went wrong, Kael. You made a public declaration. You signed the rejection papers. You watched them drag me to the Death Lands. You were very precise about what you wanted."
"I was lied to!" Kael’s eyes flashed a frantic gold. "Sarah and the Elders said you were plotting against the pack. They said you were a liability!"
"And you believed them," Elara whispered. "You didn't ask me. You looked at a throne and decided I wasn't heavy enough to tip the scales. Why do you suddenly care about a future you threw into the dirt?"
"Because he is mine!" Kael grabbed her arms, fingers digging into her velvet sleeves. "He is my blood! The heir to the Silver Moon!"
Elara let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "The Silver Moon? Look around. Your land is rotting. Your wolves are starving. Leo is a King of the North. He has the blood of the First Moon. He doesn't need your dying pack, and he certainly doesn't need a father who considers his mother a 'powerless liability.'"
The proximity was a sensory assault. Elara felt the familiar heat of him—the weight that had once been her only sanctuary. For a second, the ghost of the girl she used to be wanted to lean in.
Then she remembered the sound of the iron gates slamming shut. She remembered five years of cold nights telling a boy why his father didn't want them.
"Let go of me, Alpha," Elara said.
"Not until you say it," Kael growled. His wolf was at the surface, canines lengthening. "Tell me he’s my son. Tell me, or I will use my power to pull it out of you."
"You have no power here."
"I am the Alpha of this territory!" Kael’s voice shifted into the guttural frequency of the Alpha Command. It was a psychic weight meant to crush her will. "TELL ME THE TRUTH!"
The command hit the air like thunder. Nearby, servants dropped to their knees. Kael waited for Elara’s head to bow.
Elara didn't blink. The command hit her and vanished like a breeze against a mountain.
"Is that it?" she asked. "Is that the best you can do?"
Kael stumbled back, his hands dropping. "How? No one resists my command."
"Your command is the language of dogs," Elara said, stepping into his space. "I told you, Kael. My blood is older than your lineage. You cannot command a Queen."
Kael felt cold dread. The girl he had rejected was a shadow; this woman was a sun, and she was burning him alive.
"Elara, please," he stammered, his arrogance shattering. "I’m losing everything. If he is my son, if he has that power… he can save us."
"He is not a miracle for you to use," Elara hissed. "And he will never serve a man as weak as you."
"I won't let you take him!" Kael lunged again, driven by a desperate instinct to claim her. "I’ll petition the High Council! I’ll force you to stay!"
He didn't see her move.
Elara’s hand shot out. Her fingers wrapped around Kael’s throat. She lifted him, slamming him against the stone wall until the masonry cracked. Kael clawed at her hand, his face turning purple. His Alpha wolf was whimpering, cowed by her dominance.
"Listen to me, you pathetic man," Elara growled. "You had a mate who would have bled for you. You had a son who would have been the greatest King the South has ever seen. And you threw us away because you were too small to see the treasure in front of you."
She tightened her grip. "If you ever speak of the High Council to me again, I will not just leave. I will turn the North toward your borders and show you what a real war looks like. I will raze this house and sow the earth with salt."
She released him. Kael slumped to the floor, coughing and clutching his throat.
"What do you want?" he wheezed. "Why did you really come back?"
"I came to see if there was anything left worth saving. I see now there is only rot."
She turned to walk away.
"He’s my son, Elara!" Kael shouted hoarsely. "I feel it in the bond!"
"The truth is that he has no father, Kael. Only a donor who wasn't worth the name."
She turned the corner and found Leo standing in the shadows, holding his wooden wolf.
"Mama?" Leo asked. "Is the Bad Alpha crying?"
Elara picked him up. "He’s just realizing he’s lost, Leo. We’re leaving in the morning."
Inside their suite, a frantic pounding started on the balcony doors. Elara set Leo down and reached for her dagger. A Northern scout stood there, covered in blood.
"My Queen!" the scout gasped. "The Silver Moon border… it was opened from the inside. They have the High Council’s mark."
Elara’s heart turned to ice. She looked back at Kael, still visible at the end of the hall.
"Kael!" she screamed. "The betrayal isn't over! They’re here for the boy!"
