(Leonardo's POV)
The moment I crossed the border, the air changed.It was thicker — scented with unfamiliar pheromones, old power, and the stench of diplomacy. Neutral Nation territory. The very land that had once declared itself untouched by war now reeked of fear.
My boots hit the marble of their capital gates hard enough to crack it. Guards flinched.Every pulse of my aura made the chandeliers tremble. They had no idea how close they were to dying.
"Leonardo Ivankov, Alpha King of the Dominion," the captain announced, voice trembling despite his attempt at formality. "The council has forbidden—"
I didn't let him finish.My pheromones exploded outward like wildfire, pressing every lesser Alpha to their knees.
"Then they can forbid me in person," I said, stepping forward. My voice was too calm. It always was before I killed someone.
They moved aside. No one dared challenge me.
Every stride toward the inner palace burned with something that wasn't just rage — it was instinct. Her scent. Buried beneath incense and foreign air, I could still trace it. Faint. Fading.
Evne.
Two days since I'd last seen her.Two days since she vanished.
I'd torn the capital apart searching for her, only to learn that she'd been taken — not kidnapped, not lost, but retrieved.Her family, the so-called royal Alphas of the Neutral Nations, had found her through a report.
Her ex-husband's.
The man had crawled back into her life just to sell her out.
By the time I reached the throne room, my claws had already extended halfway. I didn't even bother hiding them. The doors opened with a thunderous crash, splinters flying, marble dust in the air.
And there she was.
Evne.
Standing at the center of the chamber in a pale dress too formal for her. Her hair was pulled back, face pale, eyes wide the moment she saw me.
"Leonardo—"
I didn't let her speak at first. I needed to see it with my own eyes.She was alive. Breathing.
But something was wrong.
Her scent — it was softer, weaker. As if her body was holding something back.
Around her stood three towering figures: her brothers. All of them royal-blood Alphas, their auras coiled tightly, like wolves ready to strike.
One of them — the eldest — stepped forward, golden eyes like a blade. "You dare storm our halls, Dominion King?"
"Give her back." My words came out like thunder. "Now."
"She is our blood. Our sister."
"She is mine."
The room trembled. My aura surged so hard the stained glass windows cracked, sending light scattering across the floor. Her brothers flinched, but didn't back away.
"Leonardo, stop!" Evne shouted, voice sharp enough to cut through my fury.
I froze. Just for her.
Her eyes— gods, they were glistening.And that's when I saw it: the faint tremor in her hands, the exhaustion beneath her voice. She wasn't herself.
"Evne," I breathed, my voice breaking. "What did they do to you?"
Her lips parted, but her eldest brother spoke instead."She was never meant to be in your Dominion. She ran from her duties, and you— you tainted her."
"Tainted?" I repeated, stepping forward until the marble beneath my boots cracked. "You call what we are taint?"
The younger brother drew his sword. Silver glinted under the skylight.That was their mistake.
The instant the blade pointed my way, instinct took over.
My wolf roared to the surface, aura flaring with enough force to make the air hum. The ground beneath me split, flames licking up from the cracks — red-gold, burning with pheromonal energy.
In that same moment, Evne moved.
She didn't scream. She didn't cower.She ran straight between us.
"Stop!" she cried. "All of you, stop!"
The flames recoiled as if obeying her.Her eyes burned silver, power rippling through the air — the true power of a royal Omega.But it flickered too soon. Her knees wavered. I lunged forward just in time to catch her before she fell.
"Evne!" My hands shook as I held her. "What's happening to you?"
"I— I don't know," she whispered. "My power… it's been strange lately. I can't—"
Her eldest brother's expression softened, then hardened again."You see? Her instability is proof. She cannot remain in your cursed Dominion."
I stood, cradling her against my chest, my voice dropping into something darker."Touch her, and I'll burn your kingdom to dust."
The air turned suffocating. The guards along the walls collapsed one by one, forced to their knees under my dominance. Even her brothers struggled to breathe.
But then Evne reached up weakly, fingers brushing my wrist.
"Leo…" she murmured. "Please. Don't."
Her touch undid me.The wolf inside me stilled — not because it wanted to, but because she asked.
I forced a breath through my teeth, lowering her slowly until she could stand again. My aura began to recede, though my body still shook with restraint.
Her eldest brother spoke again, voice ragged but defiant. "If you ever step foot here again—"
"Then make sure you can stop me," I growled.
But Evne turned toward them, her back straight despite the exhaustion. "Enough," she said quietly. "This ends here."
They looked at her — surprised. She'd never used that tone before. It wasn't pleading. It was command.
"I'll stay for one night," she said, turning her gaze to me next. "Then I'll decide where I belong."
I wanted to argue. To drag her back. But the moment I saw her trembling hands and pale lips, I realized she couldn't take another fight.
So I nodded once.
For her.
Her brothers escorted her away — but not before I caught one final flicker of something in her scent. Something buried beneath exhaustion and stress.
A note I'd never smelled before.
Life.
New. Fragile.
My heart stopped.
It couldn't be—
Her scent had changed because—
Evne turned once more at the doorway, offering me the smallest, most fragile smile I'd ever seen. And in that instant, it all made sense.
The weakness. The instability of her power. The way her body trembled as if protecting something deep inside.
She wasn't just fading.
She was carrying.
Our child.
The world tilted. My wolf went silent, reverent.
And as the great marble doors closed between us, I realized that this was no longer about rebellion, duty, or dominance.
It was about the fragile heartbeat that had begun to tie our worlds together — one that could either unite two nations… or destroy them both.