SILVERFANG PACK “There is no time to think about it, your grace.
You must choose her as your bride or we run the risk of losing everything.” Council man Theodore said in Lycan king Henrik’s study.
Henrik stood at the window of his study, arms crossed, while Councilman Theodore’s voice filled the room.
Theodore had advised Henrik’s father long before Henrik was born.
Most days, Henrik trusted the old man’s judgment but today the words sat heavy in his chest.
He already knew what he stood to lose.
The pack debts were crushing.
Rival Alphas were circling.
Marrying Alpha Colette of Bloodmoon would wipe the slate clean and give SilverFang the strongest military alliance on the continent.
On paper, it was the only smart move.
On paper.
“You believe a woman like Colette would know the first thing about motherhood?” Henrik asked, voice low.
Theodore hesitated.
“It is not my place to believe.
I am only saying we should give her a chance.” Henrik turned.
“Give her a chance.
The same woman they call the Wolf of Death.
The one who left the WiltRose pack in ruins.
You truly think someone like that can raise my daughter?” Theodore sighed.
“Perhaps you are right.
But your choices are limited.
Marry Colette—the most feared Alpha in the realm—or marry Princess Harmony, whose father holds more of our debt than we can ever repay, and from what I have heard of that family…” “I understand the point.” Henrik rubbed a hand over his face, both options tasted like ash.
Harmony would turn him into a puppet, while Colette was a cursed, ruthless unknown.
Yet she was the only Alpha powerful enough that other packs would think twice before challenging them.
And she was the only one desperate enough to consider a contract with a widower who had already buried one wife.
“I will meet with her first,” Henrik said finally.
“Then I will decide.” Theodore’s shoulders loosened with relief.
“Good.” “But I will only proceed if Laura likes her.” The relief vanished.
“That is not fair, Alpha.
Laura does not like anyone, just choose Harmony and be done with it.” “Maybe I will.” Henrik’s tone left no room for argument.
“She might stand a better chance of being a decent mother.
Now if you will excuse me.” Theodore bowed and left, but something in the way he said “Until the next council meeting” left a faint unease in the air.
Henrik stepped into the hallway and nearly tripped over a small figure sitting against the wall.
Laura looked up at him with wide silver-grey eyes that were too much like her mother’s.
“Papa, I’m hungry.” Henrik crouched down, the hard lines of his face softening at once.
He ruffled her dark curls.
“How long have you been waiting here, pumpkin?” “Not long.” Her smile was sheepish.
“You didn’t run away from your nanny again, did you?” She shook her head, curls bouncing.
Then, when he raised an eyebrow, she nodded and giggled.
Henrik’s chest ached the way it always did when she looked at him like that.
She had him completely wrapped around her little finger and she knew it.
“Come on.
I’m taking you back.” “I don’t wanna go.
I want to stay with you, Papa.” He had never been able to resist those eyes.
Still, he needed a few minutes of quiet to think.
“Tell you what.
You go with Nanny now, and later when Daddy is finished with work, I’ll come play with you.” Laura’s lower lip pushed out.
“I wanna be busy with Daddy.” The simple words hit harder than any council argument, this made Henrik closed his eyes for a second.
She had already lost her mother the day she was born, he would not let her feel like she was losing him too.
“All right,” he said quietly.
“Come with me.” He took her small hand and led her down to the training grounds.
The afternoon sun was warm, other wolf were already sparring.
The moment Laura settled on a wooden bench at the edge of the field, the heavy weight on Henrik’s shoulders eased a fraction.
He stepped into the circle.
Laura watched every movement with bright, focused eyes.
Every time he took one of his men down, she clapped her small hands, face lighting up with pride, and Henrik found himself fighting harder just to hear that sound again.
For a little while he forgot the debts, he forgot the council, he forgot the marriage that felt more like a political funeral than a beginning.
All he saw was his daughter, cheeks flushed, silver eyes shining, looking at him as if he could fix the entire world.
She reminded him so much of her mother it hurt.
His late Luna used to sit in that same spot years ago, watching him train with the exact same quiet intensity.
She would have been proud of the little girl they made together.
She would have known how to be the mother Laura needed.
Henrik did not.
He had spent three years trying to be enough for both of them and still felt like he was failing.
The pack needed an alliance and Laura needed a mother.
Those two needs refused to fit in the same life.
Especially not with Colette Ansgard.
Everything he had heard painted the same picture: ruthless, cold, feared across the continent.
A woman who had never cared about anyone but herself.
The kind of person who would look at a three-year-old and see only a political inconvenience.
Yet tomorrow he would sit across from her anyway.
Because the alternative was worse.
Because his people were drowning in debt, and because he was out of better options.
Henrik blocked a heavy strike, turned, and caught Laura’s eye.
She waved both hands at him, grinning so wide her eyes almost disappeared.
Something inside his chest cracked open and then settled again, quieter and fiercer than before.
He would meet the Wolf of Death.
He would look her in the eye and decide if she was worthy of standing beside him.
But more than that—he would decide if she was worthy of his daughter.
Because in the end, Laura came first.
Even before the pack, he had made the mistake of putting duty above the people he loved once before.
He would not make it again.