"Is he there?" Brooklyn asked as she stepped out of the chamber.

She shook her head, panic rising as she kept dialing his number, her fingers beginning to tremble.

"You know what? I’m going!" She said and walked down the stairs hurriedly.

She slowed down when she got to the parking lot and narrowed her eyes. None of the cars were ready—yet every driver knew she had a meeting with the King and his council.

She had informed them two moons ago. This wasn’t a mistake.

She stared at her wristwatch. She had just fifty-six minutes to go. She guessed the high Luna later convinced Brandon to stop her.

"Brooklyn... I hope this isn’t what I think it is. Brandon didn’t want me at that meeting from the start."

"Are you sure he’s not doing it on purpose? Maybe something resurfaced and he’s trying to..."

"Protect me," she interrupted.

Silence settled heavily between them.

"He made it clear to High Luna yesterday that I’m not boycotting the meeting. I wonder why he isn’t even talking to me..."

A few minutes later, the world tilted.

Her vision blurred—then darkness crept in from the edges.

Brooklyn quickly caught her with the help of a guard before she could hit her head on the hard floor.

The maids rushed in with Luna’s Blessing Elixir, and she took it without hesitation.

"Alpha’s mate, you need to see your healer..."

"Not today. I’m fine," she said firmly, already rising to her feet. Brooklyn and she walked hurriedly back into the house. They ran down to the cookhouse and saw Bernard taking notes of food items he needed in the cookhouse. He grinned as soon as he saw them.

"Moonrise, alpha’s mate," came the greetings, but she barely registered it as she was already in a hurry, the formal tone feeling like an unnecessary delay tugging at her patience when every second mattered.

"Where is my mate?" she pressed, forcing calm into her tone even as her fingers curled slightly at her side.

"He is in the sky lounge..."

"Doing what?" Suspicion flickered in her voice before she could hide it, her mind already bracing for answers she might not like.

"I don’t know," Bernard smiled, though she wasn’t convinced anyone ever truly didn’t know what an Alpha was doing.

"Well, no time to see him," she said, tapping her index finger against her wristwatch a little too firmly, as if urgency alone could steady her restless thoughts.

"You must see him," Brooklyn said, quickly reaching for her hand, her grip warm and insistent in a way that made her hesitate.

Her chest tightened as a fleeting thought crossed her mind—why was everyone pushing this? And what exactly was she about to walk into?

"Where are the drivers?" she asked instead, gently pulling her hand away, avoiding Brooklyn’s eyes as if they might sway her decision.

"They are in their various quarters."

"Oh, my Moon Goddess! Why?" she shouted, frustration spilling out before she could contain it. Beneath the outburst, a deeper unease lingered—like she was already running late for a meeting she couldn’t afford to be absent from. "Please, call a cab for me."

"The gates are locked, and the gatekeeper isn’t around."

He shifted uneasily, eyes flicking toward the towering iron gates as a tight knot formed in his chest. Something about the silence beyond them felt wrong.

"Call him on his communication device."

Her voice was tight with urgency.

"I can’t."

He swallowed hard, fingers curling slightly at his side. Saying it out loud made it feel heavier, like he was sealing his own fate.

"Why?" she asked, sounding frustrated.

Her brows pulled together sharply. She hated waiting, hated not having control—and that frustration was slipping into her tone despite her effort to stay composed.

"We’re working under the Alpha’s instructions. You can’t leave the estate."

He stood firmer now, though uncertainty flickered in his eyes. He didn’t like being the one to enforce it, but the Alpha’s order wasn’t something he could bend—even if it felt like a cage closing in.

"Let’s go to the sky lounge," Brooklyn said, stepping closer again, refusing to let the moment drop.

Her jaw tightened. "If I go, I might hear something I’m not ready for... but if I don’t, I’ll regret it even more."

"He obviously doesn’t want me to go," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else, trying to convince her heart to accept what her mind feared.

"Alpha’s mate, I..."

She turned without waiting for Bernard to finish his sentence. Brooklyn turned and followed her.

The elevator took forever to arrive. Probably, she felt so because she was waiting impatiently for it. They entered when it finally arrived. She stared at her wristwatch again when the elevator door opened and found out she had just forty-six more minutes.

She stepped into the sky lounge—and froze.

Brandon and Ken were seated comfortably, laughing like nothing was wrong.

Brandon was holding a cigar in his hand. Some of his guards and wolves in military uniform surrounded the entire lounge.

She turned to leave, anger blazing in her chest. He reacted instantly—cutting off her escape and dragging her back into his grasp, his grip firm and unyielding.

"My Moonheart," he murmured, leaning in as his voice dropped to a softer, more intimate tone.

His gaze locked onto hers, a faint, knowing smile forming on his lips. "I’m sorry."

Her anger wore off the moment she stood before him and stared into his beautiful eyes. He smiled again and pointed at one of the chairs that was before him. The breakfast she rejected was on the table, properly covered. Ken stood up, kissed her forehead, and took Brooklyn to another table.

"You must eat before we leave," he said, and began to uncover the meal.The roasted venison glazed with herbs and served with buttered mashed potatoes and steamed greens was her favorite, but she did not feel like eating it.

She sat down and placed her laptop bag on her lap.

"I’m not hungry," she smiled and looked away. He moved his face closer to hers.

"But our pup is."

She laughed, lowered her gaze, and suddenly felt like eating. She lifted her face when he waved a fork.

"You should have told me we are going together," she said before accepting the mashed potatoes he wanted to give her.

"I made up my mind last moonfall," he said, his tone steady, though beneath it lingered a quiet certainty that he had been holding this decision alone for longer than he should have.

"You should have told me," she said again, enjoying the gentle feeding, even as a small part of her wondered why he always chose timing over transparency.

"I don’t want to wake you up," he replied softly, his thoughts briefly flickering with guilt for choosing her rest over her awareness.

"We don’t have time," she murmured, though her mind was already racing ahead, measuring moments they might not actually have.

"We have," he said and continued feeding her, calm on the surface, but firm in a way that suggested he wasn’t willing to let urgency shake him.

"What do you have in the bag?" she asked, curiosity breaking through her focus as she tried to guess what he was still hiding.

"You will find out when we get there," he replied, and though his voice was light, his thoughts were already set on the surprise he intended to reveal in his own time.

She relaxed and enjoyed her meal because she knew with him, she was fully shielded. The King would never get mad at her for coming late when he was around.

At exactly 11:51 am, the flight crew arrived and they left for the meeting. Brooklyn stayed behind while Ken left with them.

They arrived at the royal mansion at high moon and slowly disembarked. She heard noises behind her and turned. There were more than twenty newswolves and pack media wolves beckoning her. Conceivably, Lunara told them about the meeting during her prior vision hearth program she called; ’Inside The Alpha’s Keep’.

They were not allowed to move beyond a specific perimeter and she had nothing to discuss with them. She turned her head and walked beside her mate. Brandon handed her over to Ken and took another route. She stood still, and tears began to flow effortlessly down her cheeks.

"What is it, Moonlit?" Ken asked, lowering his head to her level so his gaze met hers, though a quiet concern lingered in his eyes as he tried to read what she wasn’t saying.

"Two weeks ago, I attended the meeting without pack-kins because I had none."

"It’s okay, moonlit. Now, you have a caring father, a wonderful mother, and of course, a sibling who loves you very much," he said, and kissed her forehead. A smile returned to her face and they began to walk towards the entrance. They entered the automatic door.

The entrance Ken used scanned him successfully, but she was rejected because of the laptop bag she was carrying. Ken came out again and led her through the High Fang Regent’s entrance. The security wolves that were safeguarding the place recognized him and bowed to him. He waved at them and they walked past them without saying a word.

The crimson drape unfurled—

and the moment she stepped into the throne hall...

she realized something was terribly wrong.