THE QUEEN LIVES.
Kael stared at the words carved inside the ring.
For seven years, he had believed he knew every person who betrayed him.
The council.
His enemies.
The wolves who watched silently as he was dragged away.
But this…
This was impossible.
His mother had died when he was eight.
He remembered the funeral.
He remembered standing beside her grave.
He remembered the pain.
“How?”
Darius looked at him.
“That is what we need to find out.”
Kael closed his fist around the ring.
The metal bent under the pressure.
“My mother is dead.”
Darius remained silent.
Because both of them knew something.
Dead people did not send messages.
Inside the apartment, Lyra sat beside Eren’s bed.
The child was asleep.
But she was not.
Too many truths had been thrown at her in one night.
Her entire life felt like a story someone else had written.
She looked at Eren.
Her son.
The only thing she had ever been certain about.
Then Kael appeared in the doorway.
She immediately stood.
“What happened?”
Kael looked at her.
For a moment, he almost told her everything.
The ring.
His mother.
The attacker.
But he stopped.
Not because he wanted secrets.
Because he knew what secrets had done to them.
“I found something connected to the night we separated.”
Lyra’s expression changed.
“Seven years ago?”
“Yes.”
She looked away.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because I need to know what happened.”
A bitter smile appeared on her face.
“You finally want the truth?”
Kael accepted the accusation.
“Yes.”
Lyra stared at him.
Then she laughed softly.
“You have no idea how many times I wished you asked me that.”
The words hit him.
“Lyra…”
“No.”
Her eyes became red.
“You want to know what happened?”
She stepped closer.
“Fine.”
Seven years ago.
Moonfang territory.
The night Kael was exiled.
Lyra remembered every second.
The council had dragged her to the ceremony.
They told her Kael had betrayed the pack.
They told her he had chosen power over her.
Then they brought him before everyone.
He looked different.
Broken.
Angry.
But she believed he was angry at her.
Because when he looked at her, he said:
“I should have never chosen you.”
Kael’s face changed.
“That’s not what I said.”
Lyra froze.
“What?”
“I never said that.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“But I heard you.”
“No.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Tell me exactly what I said.”
Lyra looked at him.
The memory suddenly felt strange.
Like a dream she had repeated too many times.
“He said…”
Her voice weakened.
“You said I was a mistake.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“I said something else.”
“What?”
Kael looked directly into her eyes.
“I said, ‘I should have never allowed them to use you.’”
Silence.
Lyra stared at him.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Because those two sentences sounded similar.
But they meant completely different things.
“What are you saying?”
Kael swallowed.
“Someone changed what you heard.”
Lyra stepped back.
“No.”
“Lyra.”
“No.”
She covered her ears.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t make me question everything.”
Her voice broke.
“I spent seven years hating you because it was the only thing that kept me alive.”
Kael froze.
She looked at him.
“I needed someone to blame.”
The honesty in her words hurt.
“Because if I admitted I missed you…”
She looked away.
“I would have broken.”
For the first time, Kael saw the full damage of what happened.
Not just losing her.
Watching her survive without him.
A knock interrupted them.
Both turned.
Darius entered.
“We found the person who delivered the rejection message.”
Kael’s expression sharpened.
“Who?”
Darius looked uncomfortable.
“A servant from the old palace.”
“Bring him here.”
“He’s already dead.”
Silence.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Convenient.”
Darius nodded.
“But before he died, he left something.”
He handed Kael a small envelope.
Kael opened it.
Inside was a piece of paper.
Only one sentence.
THE REJECTION WAS NEVER REAL.
Lyra looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Kael read the next line.
And his expression changed.
Because the words were impossible.
THE MATE BOND BETWEEN KAEL VEYRON AND LYRA MOONVEIL WAS NEVER BROKEN.
The room went silent.
Lyra stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Kael looked at her.
“No.”
He could feel it.
Even after seven years.
The bond was still there.
Buried.
Damaged.
But alive.
Her wolf had never accepted another.
His wolf had never stopped searching for her.
Everything they thought was over… was never over.
Later that night, Kael returned to the old council records.
If the rejection was fake, there had to be proof.
Someone had performed a ritual.
Someone powerful.
Hours passed.
Then he found it.
A hidden file beneath the original rejection document.
His eyes moved across the page.
And slowly, his anger disappeared.
Because the truth was worse.
The council had not broken their bond.
They had suppressed it.
Why?
Because the stronger their bond became… the stronger Eren became.
The child’s power was connected to theirs.
Kael closed the file.
Then he noticed one final note.
Written by the previous Moonfang Alpha.
His grandfather.
A man who had been dead for twenty years.
The message said:
“If Kael and Lyra reunite, the ancient power will awaken.”
Kael stared.
Then another sentence appeared beneath it.
One that made his blood run cold.
“And the first person they must fear is not their enemy.”
A pause.
Then:
“It is their own son.”
Kael slowly looked toward the apartment.
Toward Eren.
The child he had spent seven years wanting to protect.
The child who carried his blood.
The child who might be the greatest danger in the world.
And behind him, a voice whispered:
“Alpha King…”
Kael turned.
Seraphina stood there.
Her expression was serious.
“Eren has awakened again.”
Kael’s heart dropped.
“What happened?”
Seraphina looked toward the apartment.
“He called something.”
The lights flickered.
The ground trembled.
Then she said:
“And whatever answered…”
Her face turned pale.
“…was not supposed to exist anymore.”