I ran back to the tent,I tried to run. My body wouldn't cooperate. Everything hurts.
But panic gave me strength I shouldn't have had.
The twins. I needed to get to the twins.
I burst through the tent flap. The healer looked up from where she sat watching them sleep.
"Where are you going in such a rush? You shouldn't be—"
"I need to see them."
She stepped aside. Both babies were sleeping peacefully in their bassinet. Tiny chests rising and falling. Completely unaware that someone was coming to decide if they deserved to live.
My hands shook as I touched Caelum's soft hair. Then Lyra's.
"They're fine," the healer said. "Healthy. Growing perfectly."
"For now."
I moved to my bag in the corner. I started pulling out what little I had. My mom's necklace. A few clothes. The silver coin I'd kept hidden.
"What are you doing?" the healer asked.
"Packing."
"You can't leave. You just gave birth a week ago—"
"I don't have a choice."
I grabbed a blanket. Started wrapping it around my supplies. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
If I could get the twins, slip out the back of the tent, maybe I could make it to the forest before—
"Going somewhere?"
I spun around.
Vaelor stood in the entrance. His face was calm but his eyes were hard.
"I need to leave," I said. "Need to take them somewhere safe."
"You can't run anymore."
"Watch me."
"Aelara." He stepped inside, letting the tent flap close. "You're too weak. You'd make it maybe two hours before collapsing. Then they'd catch you and take the twins anyway."
"So what am I supposed to do?" My voice broke. "Just sit here and let that elder decide my babies are monsters? Let him take them?"
"No. We stand together and fight."
"How? You said yourself the Council has power—"
"They have power I've allowed them to keep. That changes today." He moved closer. "But I need you to trust me."
"That's what everyone keeps saying. Trust you. Trust the bond. Trust that everything will be fine." I wrapped my arms around myself. "But what if it's not? What if he takes them and I never see them again?"
My voice cracked on the last word. Tears spilled over.
I was so tired. So scared. So done with being strong.
Vaelor closed the distance between us. Pulled me against his chest.
I should've pushed him away. Should've stayed strong.
But I couldn't anymore.
I broke.
Sobbed into his shirt while he held me. One hand in my hair, the other around my waist, keeping me upright.
"I can't lose them," I gasped. "I can't. They're all I have."
"You won't. I swear on my life, you won't lose them."
"You can't promise that."
"Yes I can." He pulled back enough to look at me. "Do you know who Threx Morvain is?"
I shook my head.
"He's been on the Moon Council for forty years. Manipulating kings, erasing bloodlines he sees as threats." His jaw clenched. "He's the one who ordered your parents killed."
Everything stopped.
"What?"
"I found proof. Documents with his seal. He forged my signature on the execution order." Vaelor's eyes were fierce. "He killed your family. And now he's coming for ours."
Rage flooded through me. Hot and sharp and overwhelming.
"Then I'll kill him."
"No. You'll let me handle him."
"He murdered my parents—"
"And he'll pay for it. But not today. Today we play by Moon law." He let me go, moved to a trunk in the corner. Pulled out a stack of papers. "I've been gathering evidence for months. Everything the Council has done. Every law they've twisted. Every bloodline they've destroyed."
He spread the documents on the bed. I saw names. Dates. Seals.
Proof.
"This is why they want the twins," he said. "Your parents discovered a prophecy about your bloodline. About children who would be born with the power to challenge the Council's authority."
"Caelum and Lyra."
"Yes. The Council thought they'd eliminated the threat when they killed your parents. But then you survived. And now you've given birth to exactly what they feared."
I looked at my sleeping babies. So small. So innocent.
And so dangerous to people who wanted to control everything.
"What do we do?" I asked.
"We use the Moon law against them. The same law they've been using to manipulate everyone for decades." He pointed to one of the documents. "A mother has the right to refuse examination of her children if she's under the protection of a bonded mate."
"I don't have a bonded mate."
"Not yet."
I looked at him. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying we complete the bond. I claim you properly. Then they can't touch the twins without going through both of us."
My heart was racing. "That's... that's permanent."
"I know."
"You'd be stuck with me. Forever."
"I'm already stuck with you. The bond formed the night in the cave. We just haven't completed it."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say this was moving too fast.
But a small sound made us both turn.
The twins were waking up. Both at the same time.
And they were glowing.
Faint, but there. Caelum's eyes were bright silver. Lyra's were gold.
"What's happening?" I moved to them quickly.
Vaelor was right behind me. "They're reacting to the threat. Even this young, they can sense danger."
I picked up Lyra. She was warm. Almost hot. The glow faded as soon as I held her.
Vaelor lifted Caelum. The same thing the glow disappeared when his father touched him.
"They're powerful," I whispered.
"More than I expected. More than the Council knows." He looked at me over our son's head. "Which is why we need to protect them. Together."
A guard called from outside. "My King. The elder's carriage has been spotted. He'll be here within the hour."
My stomach dropped.
"I need to change," I said. "I can't meet him looking like this."
"You just gave birth. No one expects—"
"I don't care what they expect. These are my children and I'm not meeting him looking weak."
Something shifted in his expression. Respect maybe.
"The healer left clean clothes in the trunk. I'll give you privacy."
He started to leave but I grabbed his arm.
"Wait. You said I have rights if I'm under the protection of a bonded mate."
"Yes."
"Then we do it. Complete the bond. Before he gets here."
Vaelor went very still. "Are you sure? Once it's done—"
"I'm sure. Not because I'm ready. Not because I trust you completely. But because I'll do whatever it takes to protect them."
He searched my face. "This isn't how I wanted it to happen."
"Nothing about this is how either of us wanted. But it's what we have."
He nodded slowly. "After the elder leaves. We'll do it properly—"
"No. Now. Before he arrives. So when he sees me, he sees the Lycan King's claimed mate. Not some powerless girl he can push around."
A smile tugged at his lips. "You're not powerless. You never were."
"Then let's make it official."
---
I changed into a clean dress. Simple but nicer than what I'd been wearing. Brushed my hair. I tried to look like I hadn't just given birth a week ago.
The twins were awake but calm. Fed and clean and beautiful.
Vaelor stood by the tent entrance. Cleaned up too. Royal armor on. Every inch the Lycan King.
"Ready?" he asked.
"No. But let's do it anyway."
We walked outside together. Me carrying Lyra, him carrying Caelum.
The camp had assembled. Guards everywhere. All eyes on us.
And approaching from the road a black carriage pulled by four horses. The Moon Council's symbol is painted on the side.
My heart pounded.
The carriage stopped. The door opened.
An old man stepped out. Thin, grey hair, cold eyes that swept over the camp like he owned it.
Threx Morvain.
He walked toward us slowly. Taking in everything. The guards. The camp. Vaelor.
Then his eyes landed on me and the twins.
His expression didn't change but something flickered in his gaze.
Recognition maybe. Or calculation.
"Your Majesty," he said. The voice is smooth and cold. "Thank you for receiving me."
"Elder Morvain." Vaelor's voice was equally cold. "This is unexpected."
"The Council sent me to see the... children." He stepped closer. "May I?"
His hand reached toward Lyra.
I pulled her back against my chest. "No."
Threx's eyebrow raised. "I'm here on official Council business—"
"I don't care. No one touches them."
"My dear girl, I'm simply here to verify—"
"She's not your dear anything." Vaelor stepped slightly in front of me. "And she said no."
Threx's eyes narrowed. "I have authority granted by the Moon Council—"
"You have authority I allow you to have. And right now, I'm not allowing it."
The air got tense. Guards shifted. Hands going to weapons.
Threx smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "I see. Tell me, Your Majesty, have you completed the mating bond with this woman?"
Vaelor's jaw tightened.
Threx's smile widened. "I thought not. Which means, under Moon law, she has no legal standing. These children belong to the Council until you prove otherwise."
My blood went cold.
"They belong to me," I said.
"You're unmated. Packless. You have no rights." Threx took another step forward. "Now hand over—"
Vaelor moved so fast I barely saw it. One second he was beside me. The next he was in front of Threx, hand wrapped around the elder's throat.
"Touch her," Vaelor said quietly. Deadly. "And I'll rip out your spine."
Threx didn't even flinch. Just smiled wider. "Such passion. But without a proper claim, she's nothing. And those children are Council property."
Vaelor's hand tightened. Then he let go. Stepped back.
Turned to me.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
I looked at him. At Threx. At my babies in our arms.
"Yes."
"Then this is going to happen faster than either of us wanted." He moved close. Cupped my face with his free hand. "I'm sorry."
Before I could ask what he meant, he pulled me against him.
And bit down on my neck.
Pain flared so sharp and bright. Then—
Everything exploded.
The bond that had been humming between us for months suddenly blazed to life. I felt him. Everything. His determination. His fear. His love for our children.
His love for me.
I gasped against his chest.
He pulled back. Blood on his lips. His mark burning on my neck.
"She's mine now," he said to Threx. Voice rough. "My mate. My Luna. Touch her or my children and it's war."
Threx stared at the mark on my neck. At Vaelor's expression.
Then he smiled.
"Well then. Congratulations, Your Majesty. On your... claiming."