st wing was inspected twice, and the pack's best cooks began planning a banquet worthy of the Alpha King. Even the training grounds gre

om lists, checked the stable capacity, and sent riders to the nearest market for fresh linens an

ooled by a polite smile. On the third afternoon, she found Deli

lena ordered. "The se

alread

ready telling

to have a difficult week without turning yours

"Everyone has become very inter

gh you have been trying to

landing and looked through the window at the road leading to the

said. "People gossip because it gives them something ea

ister describe a new song she was learning. Across the table, Lila and Theo discussed the formal pledge they would make

her in the corridor. "Will you st

e there because you want me, or because y

lowered. "I know I have made th

to begin this bond with

m another public reminder of what she had lost. Instead, she considere

ir history did not vanish b

said. "But I need you to be hone

forta

f loosening her sho

ons: the Alpha King's arrival would be formal, the pack's warriors would line the main road, and no one was to approach the royal pa

e claimed the King's power had killed them; the other insisted the stories were exaggerated by jealous rivals. Neithe

walked home with baskets of supplies. "It makes them feel

ning stories are wa

they are o

. "You sound as if yo

difference between

no wish to draw his attention. Yet every time someone described him as a monster, she experienced an odd resistan

long the stone path. The air smelled of wet pine and cold earth. For a moment, the sound of the rain se

disap

er, no vision or message, only a brief feeling that s

called from inside. "

m co

had no explanation to offer. It was not a prophecy, not a warning she understood, and not a memor

on the eighth day, accompanied by his guard and the leaders of his own territory. The packhouse erupted into acti

k. She had eight days to prepare for a man she had never met, a ruler everyone feared,

uest, and she would not allow rumours to make her afraid before she had reason to be. Whateve