A Royal Demand

Kaelia did not let the creeping dread paralyze her. She channeled the fear into motion. Her bare feet punished the damp forest floor. She sprinted through the dense thicket, shadows swallowing her frame. The rough moss scraped her soles, offering a grounding contrast to the terrifying silence in her mind. Umbra was gone. She was a fragile human in a forest full of predators, yet she refused to cower. She pushed deeper into the woods, her lungs burning. She needed the one place where packhouse politics could not reach her.

Glimmer Glass Lake rested at the edge of Blackwood territory. Beyond the opposite shore lay the Lycan lands. No regular shifter dared cross that border. The myths of the Lycan King kept the area devoid of rogues. It was perfect isolation. Kaelia broke through the trees. The lake was a vast expanse of polished obsidian beneath the moonlight. Mist crawled along the surface. She did not look back. She pulled her ruined silk dress over her head, discarding it onto the damp moss.

She stepped naked into the freezing water. The glacial shock hit like a physical blow. It stole her breath but achieved exactly what she required. The cold numbed the rising panic and washed away the phantom sensations of her death. Kaelia waded deeper. The frigid water swallowed her thighs, waist, and chest, leaving only her bare shoulders exposed. She closed her eyes. The moonlight painted her pale, wet skin.

Then, the air shifted.

A suffocating pressure dropped over the lake. The hairs on her neck snapped to attention. An overwhelming, hyper-dominant presence clawed at her survival instincts. The aura crashed against her senses with ancient, primal power. It did not belong to Torin.

Kaelia snapped her eyes open.

The mist on the opposite shore parted. A colossal shadow detached from the pitch-black tree line. It was a massive dark wolf. Glowing amber eyes pierced through the gloom, locking directly onto her.

The beast watched her.

It stood motionless on the muddy embankment. The amber gaze tracked the exposed line of her throat, dropping to the bare swell of her wet breasts above the water line. A primal dread seized Kaelia’s heart. This was a calculating predator assessing naked prey.

She scrambled backward. Her hands tore through the water as she waded toward the shallows. The chill air bit into her bare skin as she emerged from the lake. She reached the mossy bank, snatching up her dress. She dragged the fabric over her head, the damp material clinging to her wet torso. She refused to look back. She turned and sprinted toward safety.

A bone-rattling howl ripped through the night air, urging her faster.

Kaelia tore through the boundary line, crossing back into the patrolled perimeter. The familiar scent of her borders offered a slight reprieve. She slowed her frantic pace, reaching behind her back to yank the zipper of her dress closed. Her fingers were numb, fumbling uselessly. The zipper caught onto the damp silk, halting with a stubborn grind.

“Let me help.”

The deep voice startled her. Kaelia masked her flinch instantly, lowering her hands.

Broad fingertips settled on the bare skin of her lower back. Beta Corbin easily pushed the zipper past the snag, dragging it to the nape of her neck. Kaelia calculated her next move. The Beta had approached without making a sound. Had he witnessed her terrified retreat? It did not matter. The immediate threat was explaining her lack of a shifted form.

“What are you doing out here, Beta?” Kaelia demanded, turning to face him.

Corbin maintained a stony expression. “I have been waiting for you. I found your clothes near the clearing and assumed you were on a run. Why didn’t you shift?”

“I did.” She lied without a single blink. Her pulse remained steady under his scrutiny. Showing hesitation now would be a death sentence. To reveal her wolf was trapped in a silent void would hand her political enemies ammunition to dethrone her. She gestured toward the dense woods. “But my form is not important right now. There was an intruder at Glimmer Glass Lake. A massive dark wolf. Send patrols to track the scent immediately.”

“Of course, Luna.” Corbin nodded. His eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second, the telltale sign of accessing the pack mind-link to broadcast orders.

Kaelia did not wait for him to finish. She walked toward the imposing stone structure of the packhouse. Corbin matched her stride, pulling the heavy brass handle to open the door for her.

“It is going to be alright.” Corbin blurted out the words as she stepped into the foyer.

Kaelia stopped dead. The empty platitude hit like a physical strike. Returning to this timeline, she remembered how Corbin had fed her those exact words of false comfort. He had stood faithfully by while her husband paraded a stray omega around. When the elders eventually stripped Kaelia of the Luna title, Corbin kept his mouth shut. The jagged memory of his past betrayal flared hot, demanding retribution.

She forced the rage down into a cold knot. Confronting him would ruin her tactical advantage. Kaelia turned her head. She placed her hand gently upon his broad shoulder, forcing a fragile smile onto her lips.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she whispered.

Corbin flinched backward as if she had driven a blade into his chest. His lips parted in raw shock.

“Yes, Luna.” He lowered his gaze to the stone floor, heavy shame radiating from him.

“It is okay.” Kaelia kept her hand on his shoulder. “I understand how this hierarchy works. You cannot go against your Alpha’s direct command.”

“If I could—” Corbin started, a desperate plea coloring his tone.

Kaelia raised a finger to her lips, making a soft shushing sound. “It does not matter. At least I know I will always have your support, Corbin. Right?”

“Always, Luna.” His breathing grew heavy and ragged.

The panicked inhale proved the hook was set. She handed him an unexpected absolution, seamlessly converting his unspoken guilt into a desperate loyalty.

“Then of course, I will be fine.” Kaelia offered a hollow chuckle and walked up the grand staircase.

She closed the heavy oak door of her bedroom, locking the deadbolt with a resounding click. The room was sterile and quietly suffocating. In her previous life, Torin spent this exact night locked inside his private study, drinking himself into a guilt-ridden stupor. He had abandoned her to rot in silence while obsessing over Nadia.

After a long, scalding bath to drive the chill of the lake from her bones, Kaelia dried off and wrapped herself in a black silk robe. She walked to the mahogany desk, pulling open the bottom drawer to extract the familiar cover of her old journal. She picked up a fountain pen and began to write.

The ink flowed across the crisp parchment, charting a meticulous timeline of every disaster and betrayal that would unfold over the next agonizing year. She anchored her memory, recording the names of the elders who would plot against her. She noted the exact dates of the border skirmishes Nadia would purposefully mismanage. The stray omega hid behind an angelic facade, but Kaelia knew the ruthless devil lurking beneath it. Nadia would fracture the Blackwood pack from the inside out to feed her vanity.

Kaelia stared at the wet ink. Blind hatred was a useless weapon. She would dismantle Nadia’s fragile support system piece by piece. She would protect her loyal friends. She would orchestrate a flawless secession of her inherited lands, leaving Torin with the ash of his poor decisions.

The brass handle of the bedroom door rattled. Kaelia slammed the leather journal shut, shoving it deep into the drawer just as the heavy door swung open.

Torin stepped into the room.

Kaelia froze, her heartbeat spiking. The air grew thick with his scent. This was a catastrophic deviation from her timeline. He was supposed to be avoiding her, yet here he stood, staring with amber eyes drowning in desperate guilt.

“Kae.” Torin stepped deeper into the room. “Corbin just informed me that you encountered an intruder out there. Are you okay?”

Kaelia maintained a glacial composure. Was he acting remorseful simply because she put up a fierce fight earlier but he still chose the omega? She saw a tactical opening, and she pushed the blade in.

“It was an unpleasant experience.” Kaelia stood up, crossing her arms over her silk robe. She turned her back to him, staring out the window into the darkness. “And disappointing.”

“How so?” Torin stepped closer, taking the bait.

“We are supposed to be one of the strongest packs in this territory.” Kaelia kept her gaze fixed on the trees outside. “Yet a stray wolf wanders across our active borders. He stands on the shore. He spies on your Luna while she is bathing naked in the lake, and not a single guard noticed.”

A feral, deafening roar ripped from Torin’s chest. The possessive rumble vibrated through the floorboards. In the past, that raw display of territorial jealousy would have sent a warm thrill down her spine. Now, it merely disgusted her. He had claimed another woman in front of the entire pack. He forfeited the right to bare his fangs on her behalf.

“He did what?” Torin lunged forward.

“You heard me.” Kaelia did not flinch as he stopped inches behind her. “And instead of hunting down the security threat, the Alpha is doing Goddess knows what in the main hall. Your newly claimed mate has already distracted you from the security of our own pack.”

It was a calculated, low blow. Truth be told, Kaelia needed him distracted. In the previous timeline, the closer Torin got to Nadia, the more political power the omega siphoned. If she could manipulate Torin into chasing a phantom wolf, it would postpone the wheel of disastrous events.

“You are angry.” Torin sighed, the feral rage giving way to a heavy sorrow. “I understand, of course. I broke my promise to you earlier. I—”

“Let us not speak of it,” Kaelia snapped, slicing off his apology. “It is what it is.”

“Kae, baby.” Torin wrapped his arms around her waist. He lowered his head, pressing his lips against the juncture of her shoulder and neck. He zeroed in on the scarred tissue where he had marked her years ago, peppering the faded bite wound with wet kisses. “I hurt you, and I will do everything in my power to fix that.”

Kaelia knew better. Not everything.

“Only you can be my perfect Luna. You know that, right?” Torin murmured against her skin. His thick fingers grasped the zipper at the back of her robe, pulling the silk down to expose her spine.

This was wrong. Their paths had shifted in opposite directions halfway through her past life. She was a rejected, abandoned wife. His touch felt like poison.

A wave of physical revulsion clawed its way up her throat. If Umbra were present, the wolf would be howling in agony over the betrayal. But the silent void in her mind afforded Kaelia horrific, human clarity.

She planted her hands on his chest and shoved him backward with brutal force.

“No!” Kaelia barked the command, pulling the silk robe tight across her bare chest. “Not today.”

Or ever. He had blown his final chance. The fury raged under her skin, but she locked it behind a mask of stoic perfection her mother had drilled into her.

“Kae?” Torin stumbled back a pace, his eyes wide in raw shock. “Honey, do not do this. I love you, and we are family. We will always be family.”

“Believe it or not, I am not feeling well after the chaotic events of today.” Kaelia stared straight into his desperate eyes, offering a chilling, razor-thin smile. “But it will make me happy if you bring me the intruder’s severed head by dawn.”

Torin swallowed hard, giving her a stiff nod. “Anything for you, Kae. You will have his head in the morning.”

He turned on his heel and marched out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

The moment the latch clicked, Kaelia dropped the fake smile. Tessa tried to reach out through the mind link, a faint hum of concern brushing against Kaelia’s consciousness. Kaelia blocked the connection, pushing her friend away until morning. She had a sleepless night ahead of her, but she already knew the critical first step she had to take.

She walked directly to the private line installed on the mahogany desk in her adjoining office. She picked up the heavy receiver, her fingers hovering over the dial pad. She dialed a secured string of digits that no regular werewolf would ever dare to call. It was a perilous gamble, but the shifting timeline left her with zero alternative options.

The line chimed three times before an annoyed, rough voice answered on the other end, cutting through the static.

“Hello, Beta Vaughn speaking.”

Kaelia swallowed the lingering lump of adrenaline in her throat, forcing an ironclad authority into her tone.

“Hello, Beta. This is Luna Kaelia Blackwood. Nee Vance.”

A long stretch of silence followed. The name clearly did not trigger an immediate connection for him.

“And?” Vaughn scoffed, sounding bored by the interruption.

“Seven years ago, I saved your nephew from a deadly rogue ambush near the border of his shifter boarding school,” Kaelia stated, refusing to let his dismissive attitude intimidate her. Lycans rarely mingled with regular werewolves, but luck had deposited both of them at the same elite academy. “Back then, you handed me this exact number. You told me you owed me a life debt.”

The Lycan paused for several heavy seconds before responding.

“And I guess you are calling to collect?” Vaughn let out a dark, rumbling chuckle. “Here I thought there were actually selfless people left in this cruel world—”

“I would not ask if innocent lives did not depend on it.” Kaelia severed his mockery with a sharp clip.

“Fine,” the Lycan grunted in defeat. “What is it you want, then?”

“I need to speak to the Lycan Alpha King.”