" The seer's predictions can be altered by a stubborn King."
ALARICS POV
The kingdom walls always felt colder after I had been away. Stone and silence had a way of suffocating warmth, no matter how many fires the servants lit. Yet, tonight, the unease that clung to me was not born of stone or silence; it was Niko's voice that carried in the back of my mind like the whisper of wind through the pines.
"His Majesty, I am here to seek your audience."
I had not heard those words spoken in weeks, and yet there she was, waiting in the council chamber like she owned the moon itself. Niko never asked for an audience; she declared it, and this time I wondered why she did. The chamber was empty except for her moonlight streaming through high windows, bathing her in silver. Niko had a way of looking both timeless and ageless, her pale hair braided down her back, her irises glowing faintly as though she kept half her sight in the mortal realm and the other half somewhere far stranger.
I leaned against the polished oak table, arms folded. "This better not be one of those cryptic riddle nights. I am not in the mood."
"You're never in the mood for truth," she replied smoothly, her lips curving in a faint smile. "And yet here we are, your Majesty."
I sighed. "Let me guess. Doom, death, and betrayal. The moon has whispered more bad news?"
Her smile deepened, annoyingly smug. "The moon whispered that you finally found him."
My stomach dropped, though my face did not so much as twitch. "Found who?"
"Do not play stupid with me, Alaric. It is beneath you." She tilted her head, studying me the way one studies a book they have already read cover to cover. "The mate you swore did not exist and the bond you have avoided for years. You finally found him."
I scrubbed my hand down on my face. "Do you people hold a competition to see who can irritate me the fastest, or are you all just naturally talented?"
Niko laughed softly; the sound was like silver bells. "Deflection will not save you." The bond has already started pulling at you, hasn't it? A thread tied to your ribs, tugging whenever you stray too far. Tell me does he even know yet?"
"Oh, he knows." The words escaped before I could stop them, and Niko's grin turned downright feral.
"Ah. So that explains the storm in you." She leaned forward, eyes glowing brighter. "The great Alpha King, undone not by war or politics but by a pair of eyes that make him forget his crown."
I groaned. "Remind me again why I allow you to speak to me this way?"
"Because I'm the only one who dares," she shot back, her tone playful but edged.
For a moment, silence stretched between us, broken only by the distant howl of a wolf pack somewhere outside the walls. Then her voice softened, threaded with something like sympathy. "It will not be easy. Luna Seraphine knows, or at least, she suspects."
My jaw tightened. "Of course she does."
"She will not relinquish her claim quietly," Niko continued. "She has already moved to push the marriage forward. Council whispers speak of vows, of ceremonies to be arranged, and she will use law and tradition as chains to bind you."
I paced across the chamber, boots echoing against stone. "Tradition was never meant to be a prison."
"But it is a weapon," Niko countered. "And Luna Seraphine knows how to wield it well."
I stopped, turning on her. "So, what would you have me do? Defy her openly? Refuse the council? Start a war inside my walls?"
Her gaze did not waver. "I would have you fight for the one who is yours. You have lived too long as a king first and a man second. The bond does not care for crowns. It only knows truth."
Her words slid under my skin, raw and uncomfortably sharp. I hated it when she was right.
I tried for humor instead. "So, what, you want me to just announce it? 'Dear council, apologies for the inconvenience, but my mate is not the charming Luna Seraphine, it's the brooding security magnate who threatened to murder me with his eyes the first time we met.' I am sure that will go over well."
Niko laughed this time, a real laugh, full and bright. "Oh, I would pay to see their faces."
"Of course you would," I muttered, though the corner of my mouth betrayed me with a twitch.
She rose gracefully, crossing the chamber until she stood before me. "You may joke, Alaric, but this is no small thing. Bonds are rare and sacred. If the moon has tied you to him, it was not without reason. And Seraphine knows that as well, and that is why she fears that she is not destined to be your mate."
I exhaled slowly, letting my head fall back against the carved chair. "You always make it sound so simple."
"It is simple," she said. "It is everything else that is complicated."
The way she said it, firm, unshaken, made me want to believe her, but the complication was my shadow.
"I don't know how to keep him safe," I admitted quietly. "Every step closer I take, the more danger he is in, and even though he is not afraid of danger, he does not want to be tangled in this madness.
"And yet every step you take away, the bond drags you back." Her eyes softened, but her smile was mischievous again. "Quite the dilemma. I would almost enjoy watching you squirm if I did not like you."
"You like me?" I arched a brow.
"On good days," she teased. "Today might be one."
I chuckled, shaking my head. "You're insufferable."
"Someone has to balance your ego," she replied breezily, then leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Tell me one thing, Alaric. When you looked at him, did you feel it? The world falling quiet, the way the bond settles in your bones like it was always there?"
I did not answer and did not need to since Niko was damn right.
Her grin returned, slow and knowing. "Thought so."
For a while, we stood in silence, moonlight painting the room silver blue. Finally, she reached for my hand not as a seer, but as an old friend. "Be ready. Luna Seraphine will strike sooner than you think. And when she does, you will need to choose whether to stand as king or as a man who has finally found his mate."
The weight of her words lingered long after she slipped from the chamber, leaving me alone with the echo of truth.
I sank into the high-backed chair, staring at the moonlit windows. My chest felt too tight, my crown too heavy. And yet somewhere, far beyond the stone and silence, I could almost feel him like the ghost of a hand pressed against my ribs, tugging. Elias Blackthorne. The bond was real. And so was the storm it would bring. A soft knock pulled me from my thoughts and the door creaked open, and Marcus stepped inside with the same solemnity he always carried when he brought bad news. His expression was unreadable, but his tone carried a trace of apology before the words even left his lips.
"Your Majesty," he began, bowing with exaggerated formality, as though to cushion the blow.
I arched a brow. "That's your face when I'm about to hate what you're going to say."
His mouth twitched, but he forged ahead. "Luna Seraphine has extended an invitation to a private dinner."
I groaned aloud, dragging a hand over my face. "Of course she has. Tell me, Marcus, is there a polite way to decline without sparking a scandal?"
Marcus's eyes gleamed with dry amusement. "Not one that I know of, Your Majesty. Unless you would like me to feign your sudden death? I do an excellent tragic announcement."
Despite being myself, I laughed short, sharp, and bitter. "I will keep that in mind. Prepare the guards. If the Luna insists on dinner, I suppose I must provide the entertainment."