Later that evening, Derek stood before the full-length mirror in his dressing room and adjusted his collar one final time, smoothed the front of his black jacket, and checked his watch. Quarter past six.

The fundraiser’s main auction began at seven, which gave him enough time to arrive before the room filled properly, before Kira had to stand at the front of it alone with only Connor at her back. For some reason, he didn’t feel very comfortable leaving her alone, knowing the calibre of people that would be there.

Derek turned from the mirror and headed for the grand staircase. His mind was already at the event, imagining the look on Kira’s face when he arrived.

He was halfway down the stairs when the heavy front doors swung open, admitting a gust of evening air and the floral scent of a perfume he knew all too well.

Ruby stepped into the foyer. She wore a gown that was less a piece of clothing and more a weapon. A deep red gown that clung to her curves, cut very low at the back and featuring a slit that revealed a generous length of leg with every step.

Her red hair was down, styled to fall in soft waves across her shoulders, and she tilted her head as she looked up at him on the stairs, a slow smile spreading across her face

"Leaving already, Your Grace?" she purred.

Derek did not slow his descent, though his eyes narrowed as he took in her seductive appearance. She looked ready for a gala, yet he knew she had not been invited to this particular one. "What are you doing here, Ruby?"

She stepped further into the room, her hips swaying with grace, and the light caught the curve of her breasts. Once, that sight would have stirred something in him, but tonight it pissed him off.

"I wanted to see you briefly, Derek. I thought... well, I thought you might have a moment before you disappeared into the night."

Derek reached the bottom of the stairs and walked past her without stopping. He headed toward the large marble centre table where he had left his phone and car keys. "Whatever you have to say can wait until tomorrow. I am on a schedule."

"Even if it concerns the safety of the borders?" Ruby blurted out, her tone shifting from seductive to urgent in a heartbeat.

Derek halted. His hand was inches away from his keys, but he did not pick them up. He turned slowly to look at her.

Ruby smiled inwardly, knowing Derek never ignored pack safety.

"What about the borders?" he demanded.

Ruby reached into her clutch bag and pulled out a slim tablet. She walked toward him, her perfume filling his personal space, and handed the device to him.

"There have been suspected Umbra activities between the borders of your pack and the Crimson pack," she said, referring to Kai’s packs.

The Umbras had been quiet for too long. If they were stirring again...

"It came through about a few minutes ago," Ruby continued. "They are moving closer to the residential zones than they ever have before. I thought you ought to know before you left the grounds."

Derek took the tablet and gave Ruby a wary, searching look. However, as he looked down at the screen, his frown deepened.

The thermal heat maps and the movement logs were clear. There was a concentration of shadow energy near the border that looked like a precursor to a breach.

"Dammit," he hissed under his breath.

The timing was atrocious, and he needed to act fast. He turned back immediately and began taking the stairs two at a time back towards his study, his mind already shifting into battle-commander mode.

"Reach out to Declan immediately. Tell him to double the patrols and alert Tan. Now!"

"Of course," Ruby said.

She watched him go, her eyes tracking the powerful movement of his shoulders until he disappeared into his study at the top of the landing.

The second he was out of sight, the mask of concern melted away, replaced by a triumphant smile.

A small laugh bubbled up in her throat. Perfect, she thought.

She had no intention of letting him run off to that stupid students’ fundraiser. She had spent the last forty-eight hours ensuring that not a single member of the Wolfe family would attend that event.

Tonight would be hers. She would remind Derek exactly who had stood beside him through the darkest years. And if she left this palace carrying his child, the little wolfless queen would become nothing more than a footnote in history.

Ruby reached into her purse and produced a small glass vial filled with a bright green liquid. It was a potent fertility herb, a concoction she had made. She had sourced the herbs herself, the same way her mother had taught her, ground and steeped and measured. She popped the cork and drank it in one go.

Her face squeezed into a grimace as the bitter liquid coursed down her throat, leaving a trail of heat in its wake, but she swallowed every drop. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, held the grimace for a second, then smoothed her expression back into place and returned the empty vial to her purse.

She rummaged for a while, searching for the second vial, but saw nothing.

"Shit," she muttered.

That was the aphrodisiac perfume she had prepared for tonight. Derek would go crazy when that scent hit him. She was sure she had put it in her purse, how come it wasn’t there? She emptied the content of her purse on the centre table but couldn’t find it.

"Oh, goddess," she whispered. "What kind of bad luck is this?"

As she gathered her belongings back into her purse, her eyes landed on a phone on the table. Derek’s phone. He had forgotten it in his haste to deal with the "emergency" she had fabricated on the tablet.

The night had just become far more promising.

She picked it up and checked the screen. There were no new notifications. She smiled to herself. Without his phone, he was cut off. Without his presence at the auction, Kira would be humiliated, standing alone in a room full of people waiting for a husband who would never arrive.

She stood, straightened her dress. If she tried harder like she had done before, Derek might still lose control tonight.

She picked up her own phone and dialled Declan’s number as she started up the stairs, heels clicking as she went, each step bringing her closer to the study where Derek was currently panicking over a fake threat.