로그인Astrid’s POV“The coronation ” Vincent said, his voice lifting with anticipation. “Is when?”“We’re thinking within the week” Davian said from near the door. “The sooner we formalize her Alpha status, the sooner we can begin properly reclaiming Silvermist territory from Riftclaw’s remaining occupation.”“The pack will want to gather.” Vincent’s eyes went distant, already planning. “Jean will want to organize the traditional elements. There are ceremonies specific to Silvermist lineage that haven’t been performed in fifteen years.” He refocused on me. “Your mother’s coronation was three days. The full traditional version.”“We have maybe four days before Council politics fills the space with complications” Davian said.“Two days then.” Vincent looked at me. “Abbreviated but real. Jean will make it right.” He set down his teacup, the small careful movement catching my eye again. “I’ll contact the elders tonight. Tell them to prepare.”“How are they?” I asked. “The pack?”Vincent’s face
Astrid’s POVVincent was waiting in the small private room Davian had arranged just off the main Council corridor, the kind of space that existed for exactly these conversations. Away from ears and eyes and the particular curiosity that followed significant hearings.He was standing at the window when we entered, his back to us looking out at the city beyond the palace grounds. Still in the formal dark jacket he’d worn to observe the hearing from the Council’s public gallery, his silver-streaked hair neat at the back of his neck.He turned when he heard the door. His face did something I wasn’t prepared for.Vincent Silvermist, who I’d never seen cry, who carried himself with the composed dignity of a man who’d spent fifteen years holding things together through sheer will, looked at me with eyes that had gone completely bright and wet and undone.“Uncle—”He crossed the room in four strides and pulled me into a hug that compressed my ribs and didn’t apologize for it.“You did it” he
Astrid’s POVThe shaking in my hands had slowed.I looked at my reflection over his shoulder, at my ruined makeup and red eyes and the Silvermist medallion catching light at my throat and I thought about my father holding off attackers in the dark so a three year old girl could escape.About my mother planting a garden she knew she might not see grow. About the choice they’d both made.About the choice I’d made standing in Anthony’s packhouse three weeks before my own death, deciding to fight instead of wait.“Okay” I said quietly. Davian raised an eyebrow.“Okay.” I straightened slightly within the circle of his arms. “I believe you.”“Good.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, lingering nd warm. “Because I don’t say things I don’t mean. You know that by now.”“I know that.” I turned my face up to look at him properly. “Davian?”“Yeah?”“Thank you.” I meant it at a depth that the words were too small for. “For all of it. Every piece of it from the beginning.”He looked at me for a lo
Astrid’s POVI made it exactly forty seven steps down the corridor before I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold it together.“I need to use the restroom,” I said to Davian quietly without looking at him. “Give me a minute.”He didn’t say anything. Just nodded once with the understanding of someone who knew exactly what a minute meant in this context.The restroom was down a side corridor, marble and clean and blessedly empty. I pushed through the door and made it to the sink and gripped the cold edges with both hands and then completely fell apart.Five years of survival. Four years under Anthony’s mark. Fifteen years of being someone’s stolen heir without knowing it. A childhood spent feeling fundamentally misplaced in every room I entered. A foster family I’d loved and lost. Dying in snow. Coming back. Fighting every single day since with everything I had just to reach this moment–It all came out in that restroom in one uncontrolled wave that shook my whole body.I cried the way
Davian’s POV“Skylar Silvermist has maintained connections to Silvermist territory,” she continued and I heard the deliberate care in her word choices. “She has also maintained connections to Anthony Riftclaw. Connections that this Council will find documented in the evidence package submitted this morning.”Skylar’s composure fractured. “Evidence” the head councilman said carefully, “that this chamber will need to review.”“Of course” Astrid agreed. “Take all the time you need. The evidence will be as clear on the second reading as the first.”She turned back to face forward, her profile composed and certain and I watched Lance Silvermist look at his mother with an expression that asked a question she clearly didn’t want to answer.The Council called for recess to review the additional evidence. I moved to Astrid’s side in the brief controlled chaos of the chamber reshuffling.“You’re interrupting protocol” I said quietly near her ear.“You said deliver truth with confidence” she sa
Davian’s POVThe Council chamber felt different today. There are the same marble walls, raised seating and portraits of past Council members watching from their frames with painted authority. But the energy in the room was different and I felt it the moment we walked through those doors.Astrid felt it too. I felt her register it through the bond, that subtle shift in her awareness that told me she was reading the room and filing everything away.She walked beside me in that burgundy suit and the entire chamber went quiet like significant just entered. Even the Council members who’d been paid to vote against her stopped their murmured conversations.I watched it happen and felt something fierce move through my chest.Skylar was already seated with her legal team and Lance beside her in a dark suit, his expression carefully composed. His eyes went to Astrid and I watched him recalibrate, whatever he’d been expecting was replaced by something more wary.Smart boy. Finally seeing what he
Astrid’s POV The packhouse had started transforming overnight. Silver lanterns decorated the corridors, white fabric draped across doorways and windows. Wolves moved through the halls carrying ceremonial weapons for the ritual hunt or discussing which families would participate in the bonding dis
Astrid’s POVI found him in the same library standing by the window with his back to the door like he’d known I was coming. Maybe he had but I didn’t tell him about it. I just came here. “I accept.” The words came out before I could second-guess them.“Just like that?” Davian turned, his expressio
Anthony’s POVThe council room felt smaller than it should have with Davian Thornevale standing in it. The way he existed in a space like he owned it without needing to prove anything. That quiet confidence that came from actual power. I hated it.“The eastern perimeter needs reinforcement.” He sa
Astrid’s POVMorning came too fast and I hadn’t really slept. My body had shut down at some point but my mind kept running, replaying flashes of blood and movement and the way warriors had listened to my commands without question.The way it had felt when they obeyed.I pushed that thought away and







