The funeral was held on the seventh day.
Seren heard the bells toll from her window. Slow and mournful, they echoed across the city for hours. She watched nobles arrive in black carriages, their faces solemn and political. The palace transformed into something dark and ceremonial.
She wasn't allowed to attend.
Instead, she sat in her grey room and tried not to think about the dead king or the three sons who would fight over his throne. Tried not to wonder which one would win.
That night, voices woke her.
Seren sat up in bed, disoriented. Moonlight streamed through the window. The voices came from outside her door—low and tense, words clipping short like sword strikes.
"—can't keep her indefinitely—"
"We can do whatever we want." Kael's voice, flat and certain.
"Not without consequences." That was Theron. "The servants are asking questions. The nobles are noticing. Even Elowen is sniffing around."
"Let her sniff."
"You're being deliberately obtuse."
"I'm being practical."
"You're being territorial. There's a difference."
Footsteps paced outside the door. Seren slipped out of bed and moved closer, pressing her ear against the wood.
"Enough." Aeron's voice cut through the argument. "Both of you."
Silence fell.
"The council convenes tomorrow," Aeron continued. "They'll demand answers. About Father's death. About the succession. About the security measures we've implemented."
"And about her," Theron said.
"They don't know about her."
"They will. Servants talk. Guards gossip. Someone will mention the girl locked in the east wing."
"She's not locked—"
"Don't insult my intelligence, brother. She's a prisoner in everything but name."
More silence. Seren held her breath.
"What do you suggest?" Aeron asked finally.
"Let her go. Give her money. Send her somewhere far from the capital. She keeps quiet, we keep quiet, everyone lives."
"And if she doesn't keep quiet?" Kael asked.
"Then we handle it. But at least we tried the civilized approach first."
"The civilized approach gets us killed."
"The paranoid approach makes us tyrants."
"I'd rather be a living tyrant than a dead idealist."
"Enough." Aeron's voice sharpened. "Theron's right. We can't keep her here forever. But Kael's also right. Letting her go is a risk."
"So what do we do?" Theron asked.
Seren pressed closer to the door, heart pounding.
"We decide tomorrow. After the council meeting. Once we know where we stand politically." Aeron paused. "Until then, she stays. No visitors. No messages. Complete isolation."
"And if the council pushes?"
"They won't. They have bigger concerns than one missing servant."
Footsteps retreated. Seren backed away from the door and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.
They were going to let her go. Or kill her. Tomorrow.
She didn't sleep.
Morning came grey and cold. No servant brought breakfast. The silence stretched on until Seren started to wonder if they'd forgotten about her entirely.
Then the door opened.
All three of them entered. Aeron first, face unreadable. Kael behind him, expression hard. Theron last, studying her with that same unsettling curiosity.
"Get dressed," Aeron said. "You're coming with us."
"Where?"
"Does it matter?"
She supposed it didn't. She changed behind the screen in the corner, pulling on the same dress she'd worn for days. When she emerged, they were waiting in a triangle formation that felt deliberately intimidating.
They led her through passages she'd never seen. Down instead of up, deeper into the palace. The air grew colder. The walls changed from pale stone to darker rock, rougher and older.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Somewhere private," Theron said.
That didn't answer anything.
They stopped at a door banded with iron. Aeron unlocked it with a key from his belt. The room beyond was circular, windowless, lit by torches mounted in brackets. A table stood in the center with chairs arranged around it.
"Sit," Aeron said.
Seren sat. They remained standing, forming that triangle again. She felt like prey surrounded by predators.
"The council met this morning," Aeron said. "The succession has been... complicated."
"They want all three of us," Kael said bluntly. "A triumvirate. Joint rule until one of us proves superior."
"That's not how it works," Seren said before she could stop herself.
"No," Theron agreed. "It's not. But Father never named an heir. Never gave any indication which of us he preferred. So the council is covering their bets by supporting all of us equally."
"That seems unstable."
"It is." Aeron walked slowly around the table. "Which brings us to you."
Seren's stomach dropped. "Me?"
"You're a complication. A witness to an execution during a sensitive transition. A servant with knowledge she shouldn't have." He stopped behind her chair. She forced herself not to turn around. "The council doesn't know about you yet. But they will. And when they do, they'll demand answers."
"So let me go. I'll leave the city. You'll never see me again."
"We considered that," Theron said. "But there's a problem."
"What problem?"
Kael moved closer, hands clasped behind his back. "You smell different now."
Not this again. "I don't know what that means."
"Yes, you do." He leaned down, bringing his face level with hers. "When we first met, you smelled like fear. Nothing else. Now you smell like..." He paused. "Like something else."
"Like pack," Theron said quietly.
The word hung in the air.
Seren's hands clenched in her lap. "I'm not pack. I'm human."
"We know." Aeron came around to face her. "That's what makes this unusual."
"I don't understand."
"Wolves recognize pack by scent. It's instinctive. We don't choose it. We just know." He tilted his head. "You smell like you belong to us. Like you're already claimed."
"I don't belong to anyone."
"Your body disagrees."
Heat flooded her face. "That's not—I didn't—"
"It's not your fault," Theron interrupted. "It's biology. Something about us triggered a response in you. Changed your chemistry. Made you smell like ours."
"That's impossible."
"And yet here we are."
Seren stood abruptly. The chair scraped against stone. "This is insane. I'm leaving."
Kael moved faster than she could track. One moment he stood across the room. The next, he blocked the door.
"Sit down," he said quietly.
"No."
"Sit. Down."
Something in his voice made her knees weak. Not fear exactly. Something deeper. She sat.
"Good," Kael said.
"Don't do that," Aeron said sharply.
"Do what?"
"Give her commands. She's not pack."
"She smells like pack."
"That doesn't make her—" Aeron broke off, jaw tight. "We can't keep her."
"We can't let her go either," Kael shot back. "Not now. Not with the way she smells."
"Why?" Seren's voice came out shakier than she wanted. "Why does it matter?"
Theron sat on the edge of the table. "Because other wolves will smell it too. They'll know you've been near us. Been marked by us in some way. It makes you valuable."
"Or dangerous," Kael added.
"Or both," Aeron said.
Seren's hands started shaking. She pressed them flat against her thighs but it didn't help. Her whole body felt wrong, like her skin was too tight.
"Breathe," Aeron said.
"I am breathing."
"No. You're panicking." He crouched in front of her chair, the way he had that first day. "Look at me."
She did. His eyes were completely black again.
"You're safe," he said quietly. "Whatever happens next, you're safe. Understand?"
"How can you promise that when you don't even know what you're going to do with me?"
"Because keeping you safe is non-negotiable."
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
Theron leaned forward. "May I?"
"May you what?" Seren asked.
"Check something." He reached for her wrist before she could pull away. His fingers pressed against her pulse point, gentle but firm. "Interesting."
"What?"
"Your heart rate is elevated but steady. You're afraid but not terrified." His thumb stroked over her wrist in a slow circle. "And you're not pulling away."
She yanked her hand back. "Yes I am."
"Eventually. But not immediately." His smile was knowing. "Your body recognizes us. On some level, you trust us."
"I don't trust you at all."
"Liar."
"Enough," Kael said. He'd moved away from the door and now stood at the head of the table. "We're wasting time. The question is simple. Do we let her go or do we keep her?"
"We can't keep her," Aeron said. "It's not sustainable."
"Why not?"
"Because she's human. Because we have no legitimate claim on her. Because eventually someone will ask the right questions and we'll have to answer."
"Then we make a legitimate claim."
"How?"
Kael's eyes fixed on Seren. "Make her pack."
Silence fell like a stone.
"That's not possible," Theron said slowly. "Humans can't—"
"Can't they?" Kael didn't look away from Seren. "We don't actually know. It's never been tested."
"Because it's forbidden."
"A lot of things are forbidden. Doesn't mean they don't work."
Aeron stood. "Kael. No."
"Why not? She already smells like ours. Her body's already responding to us. Why not make it official?"
"Because making a human pack is—" Aeron stopped. "It's complicated."
"Everything is complicated." Kael moved closer to Seren. "But here's what's not complicated. She's ours. Maybe not legally. Maybe not intentionally. But on every level that matters—scent, instinct, response—she's already ours."
Seren's hands were shaking harder now. She tried to stand but her legs wouldn't cooperate.
"This is insane," she whispered.
"Yes," Theron agreed. "But that doesn't make it wrong."
Aeron paced to the door and back. His control was cracking. She could see it in the set of his shoulders, the tension in his jaw.
"If we do this," he said slowly, "there's no going back."
"I know."
"The council will have questions."
"Let them."
"Elowen will be furious."
"She's always furious."
Aeron turned to Seren. "What do you want?"
The question caught her off guard. "What?"
"This is your life. Your choice. What do you want?"
She stared at him. At all three of them. "I want to go home. I want my mother to stop worrying. I want everything to go back to normal."
"That's not possible."
"Then what's the point of asking?"
"Because even if you can't have what you want, you should have a say in what happens next."
Seren's throat tightened. "You're not going to let me leave, are you?"
"No."
At least he was honest.
She closed her eyes. "Then do whatever you're going to do. Just stop pretending I have a choice."
When she opened her eyes again, Kael had moved even closer. He reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away. His hand touched her wrist where Theron had touched it earlier.
The world tilted.
Heat flooded through her, starting at the point of contact and spreading like wildfire. Her pulse jumped. Her breath caught. And underneath it all, something clicked into place. Something ancient and undeniable.
Kael's eyes widened. "Did you feel that?"
She couldn't speak. Could barely breathe.
"She felt it," Theron said. He sounded fascinated. "Look at her pupils. She felt it."
Aeron moved closer, studying her face. "Seren. What did you feel?"
"I don't know." Her voice came out barely a whisper. "Like... like everything aligned. Just for a second."
"Like you belonged," Kael said.
She hated that he was right.
Kael released her wrist and stepped back. His expression was unreadable. "She's already ours," he said quietly. "We're just making it official."