A Mother's Fury

Theron's POV

Watching Valerica's slender but unyielding silhouette disappear through the massive oak doors of my throne room left me shrouded in a heavy, suffocating blanket of guilt. The dull, hollow thud of the closing wood echoed in the vast, empty chamber. To my ears, it sounded just like a judge's final gavel sealing my monumental failure. Her father, Alpha Evander, and her brave brothers had died on the blood-soaked battlefield fighting in my name. I could still picture the crimson stains on their shattered armor. I could still smell the ash, the sweat, and the metallic tang of that dark day. Before their funeral pyres were even lit, while the smoke still painted the sky grey, I had sworn a solemn oath to the Moon Goddess. I promised to ensure Valerica lived a safe, happy, and protected life. It was a sacred promise I had clearly failed to keep, allowing my own generals to trample on her dignity for the sake of border security.

My Beta, Lucius, quietly entered the chamber. His cautious footsteps pulled me from my brooding thoughts. He paused at the base of the marble dais, his expression tight with concern. "My King," he murmured, "Dowager Luna Lysandra urgently wishes to see you."

A cold knot formed in my stomach. I knew instantly what this summon was about. As my mother and the former Lycan Luna, she commanded immense, unquestionable respect across all territories. Her word still carried the weight of law among the older packs. More importantly, she had watched little Valerica grow up playing in these very halls. She loved the girl fiercely, treating her like the daughter she never had. The news of my ruling regarding Garrick's mating ceremony had surely reached her ears.

"I will go to her," I told Lucius, stepping down from the obsidian throne.

I found Lysandra pacing in her secluded garden pavilion. The vibrant, exotic blooms of the Orient Tower villa surrounded her, but she ignored their fragrant beauty. She wore a sweeping claret robe, her hands gripping her moonstone-topped staff. Her posture lacked its usual regal, effortless calm. She looked unusually haggard. Deep lines of worry etched her beautiful face, aging her in a way I rarely witnessed.

The moment I bowed my head in respect, an explosive wave of frost-laced pheromones erupted from her. The humid afternoon air crystallized in an instant, coating the stone pillars in a thin layer of white frost. The sheer, punishing force of her aura drove Lucius straight to his knees. He gasped for air, bowing his head in agonizing submission as his Beta instincts surrendered to her overwhelming power.

"You condone this madness?" she hissed. Her eyes shifted, her slit pupils glowing a terrifying, predatory blood-red. "When Glacierclaw's Alpha spilled seven lives to pave the way to your throne, did you forget the scent of the ironmoon grass in his blood?"

I glanced at Lucius, seeing him tremble under the pressure, and waved my hand. "Leave us. Now."

I dismissed the gasping Lucius and the trembling Omegas with a flick of my wrist. They scrambled out of the garden, eager to escape the suffocating tension. I stood alone to face my mother's righteous wrath. I stepped forward to take full responsibility for the political mess I had created.

"This decree is reckless," Lysandra said gravely, her voice echoing off the pavilion walls. "You dishonor Glacierclaw's fallen Alpha and his entire pack. By allowing Garrick to bring another woman into his home to bond, you violate the Moon Goddess's oldest mating traditions. We are the Lycan royals, Theron. We set the example for every shifter on this continent."

I knew deep down she was right. Every word struck my conscience like a physical blow. But as King, my hands were tied in a tight knot of my own making.

"Mother, Glacierclaw's mighty pack is gone," I argued, keeping my tone measured. "They can no longer provide troops or border security. The kingdom remains vulnerable to rogue incursions. Garrick and his new lover, Morrigan, are currently the most lethal weapons fighting on my front lines. They secure our borders while we rebuild. Garrick earned his petition through unparalleled battle merits. I cannot ignore his contributions."

Lysandra rose abruptly from her stone seat with a ferocious snarl. Her hand struck out, knocking over a heavy bronze candlestick. It crashed onto the pristine marble floor with a loud clang. The melted red wax snaked across the white stone, looking exactly like fresh blood tears.

"Sacrifice Glacierclaw's last flickering light for political convenience?" she wept. Her voice trembled with raw heartbreak. "Have you forgotten the sacred Wolf Code? Do you remember when the rebellion breached the inner courtyard? Valerica's kin threw their bodies over yours to shield you from poison arrows. Their fangs and flesh saved your life."

I looked down at the wax pooling on the floor, unable to meet her furious gaze.

"Garrick abandoned his post the very day he bonded with Valerica," Lysandra continued, stepping closer, her scent sharp with maternal outrage. "He marched off to war without even marking her properly to protect her status. Now he plans to publicly bond with a rogue? Did you pause to consider how this public humiliation might destroy her and her inner wolf? You are letting them strip her of her pride."

Seeing the genuine tears sliding down her fierce face broke my rigid composure. I sank to my knees before her on the cold marble floor and deeply bowed my head.

"This was my grave oversight," I openly admitted. "I assumed she would endure it. Valerica has always been so gentle and accommodating. When Garrick returned victorious and made his demand public, I thought Valerica wouldn't mind Garrick and Morrigan's public display as long as she retained her title as Luna."

"No!" Lysandra reprimanded me, her voice sharp and bitter. "You did not know her at all! You possess a shocking ignorance of her silent, agonizing suffering over the past year in that toxic pack. She has been living in a nightmare while you sit on the throne her family built!"

I conceded to every word she spoke. She was right to berate my blindness. But I had to reveal the inevitable truth of the matter.

"Garrick's heart has turned," I said softly, looking up into my mother's tear-filled eyes. "He is intoxicated by Morrigan. Even if I forbade the ceremony, he would have found a desperate, destructive way to bond with the warrior regardless of my decree. The bond between him and Valerica is already fractured beyond repair."

I took a slow breath, preparing to deliver the real shock. "Besides, Valerica was just here in my study. She didn't come to cry. She didn't come to beg me to stop the ceremony. She used her family's merits to ask me for a mutual rejection from Garrick. And I agreed."

"What?!" Lysandra cried out. She stepped back as if physically struck. The revelation left her horrified. "She wants to reject Garrick? Where will she go after leaving Crimsonmoon? She plans to return to the ruined, nightmare-filled, blood-stained grounds of Glacierclaw all alone?"

"She says she will return to her lands and take in any rogue wolf who wishes to join," I explained.

Heartbroken and furious, Lysandra shook her head. "Can Glacierclaw even be home to her again? She has seen the broken bodies of her kin there. How can she sleep without waking up screaming? Why didn't she come to me first? I could have taught the girl how to politically and physically handle a usurper like Morrigan. I could have helped her secure her position instead of choosing such an agonizing, lonely path of exile."

I stood up smoothly, dusting off my knees. I patiently explained my reasoning to calm her raging storm. "Keeping the fractured bond intact and forcing Valerica to endure a lifetime of mutual resentment would be cruel. Making her share her home with her mate's lover would slowly poison and kill Valerica's spirit. That slow death is far worse than loneliness ever could be."

Lysandra winced visibly. She averted her eyes, looking out toward the vibrant flowers in her garden. The harsh sentiment clearly struck far too close to her own painful past as a Luna. I knew my mother had endured her own share of quiet betrayals in the name of duty. She wanted Valerica to learn the survival tactics she had used, but Valerica was choosing freedom over a gilded cage.

Stepping forward, I reached out and gently held my mother’s trembling hand. Her skin was cold, the remnants of her frost aura fading away into the afternoon breeze.

"Don’t worry, Mother," I murmured, holding her gaze with solemn resolution. "I haven’t forgotten a single thing Valerica’s father and brothers did for me. I’ve always seen her as my own daughter—and I swear to you, I will help her."