Alistar was already waiting in front of the beach house when their car rolled to a stop, a group of warriors from the lower villages standing silently behind him. They weren’t in suits like the guards at the banquet; these men looked rugged, holding silver weapons that gleamed under the moonlight. Alistar stepped forward the moment Derek opened the car door, holding out a thick robe.

Derek took it, pulling it over his blood-stained shirt, but his eyes were already scanning the dark perimeter of the property. "Alistar," he called out, his voice rasping. "Take the Queen inside. I want every door locked, and I mean every single one. Do not open for anyone until I return."

Kira climbed out of the car, clutching Derek’s suit jacket tighter around her shoulders. She watched as Derek turned and led the rest of the men toward the beach.

Her stomach twisted with worry. She turned to Alistar. "Where is he going?" she asked.

"The King just wants to make sure the grounds around the beach house are truly safe, Your Highness," Alistar replied, and gestured toward the front door. "Please, let us get you inside."

They moved into the warm glow of the kitchen, where Flora was already standing by the stove, brewing a pot of tea. The moment the older woman saw them, she rushed over, her hands reaching out to clutch Kira’s cold fingers. Flora’s eyes moved quickly from head to toe, worry etched deep into every line of her face.

"Oh, my dear! Are you alright?" Flora asked. "The King called ahead... he told us what happened. You poor thing."

Kira gave her a tired smile and squeezed the older woman’s hands. "I’m fine, Flora. Really. Just a few scratches."

Flora did not look convinced. She quickly draped a soft, warm blanket over Kira’s shoulders. "You must be freezing. Come, sit down."

As Kira sank onto a kitchen stool, Alistar moved through the house. She watched him go from door to door, checking the windows, the terrace doors, and finally the service entrance, ensuring the house was sealed like a fortress.

Flora handed Kira a hot cup of tea, the steam rising in gentle curls and carrying the soothing scent of chamomile and honey. Kira wrapped her fingers around the mug, letting the heat seep into her palms.

She took a slow sip, the tea warming her from the inside. She looked at Alistar as he returned to the kitchen. "How is this possible?" Kira asked, her brow furrowed. "I thought King Maurice wiped the Umbras out years ago. How are they back?"

Alistar checked the last window, then came and leaned against the counter, his expression darkening as he shook his head slowly. "Even though King Maurice led a great purge, it is far too easy to raise another army of those things, Your Highness."

Kira frowned, holding the warm cup closer to her chest. "How?"

Alistar sat down on the stool opposite her. "King Maurice was a great warrior, but he wasn’t a Nexus," Alistar explained.

"Only a Nexus has the power to truly destroy the essence of the Shadow King. Maurice didn’t kill him; he only managed to bind his powers and scatter his followers. There was never any guarantee that every Umbra was gone."

"Those creatures can assume the bodies and shapes of their victims. They have likely been lying low for decades, hiding in plain sight within the packs."

Kira felt a cold knot form in her stomach. "What’s prompting them to come out now, then?"

Alistar sighed. "There are only two explanations. Either they have caught the scent of a new Nexus and are searching for it... or someone is using them as a weapon against the Lycans."

His fingers tap nervously on the island. "The Umbras need a Nexus. To unbind their King, his blood must be merged with the power of a Nexus. If that happens, he could rule over everything—Lycans, werewolves, humans, again."

He shook his head slowly. "It would be the end of the world as we know it. That power must never fall into his hands, or any evil hands for that matter. It would be a catastrophe for everyone."

Kira tried to process his words. "But how would they even know a Nexus is available? How could they find them?"

"A Nexus reaches its full potential at a certain age," Alistar replied.

"That is when the powers truly begin to manifest, and when they do, it’s like a beacon to those shadow wolves. They are drawn to that energy. They will keep searching until they find what they need."

He sighed heavily. "Or, as I said, it could be that someone has found a way to control them to fight our kind."

Kira sat quietly for a moment, letting the information sink in as she swirled the tea.

Alistar continued, his voice heavy.

"It was the Umbras who started this whole war between Lycans and werewolves a long time ago."

"Werewolves were the first to walk these lands, and when the Lycans appeared—larger, stronger, faster—the werewolves became uncomfortable."

"They feared losing their superiority. To stay on top, they actually aligned themselves with the Umbras to try and suppress the Lycans."

Kira sighed. Her face flushed with embarrassment. She knew that very betrayal of the werewolves.

"But after King Maurice Wolfe defeated the Umbras and pushed the werewolves back, he didn’t want more blood."

"He wanted lasting peace. He actually reached out to the werewolves, offering an alliance so everyone could stand together if the Umbras ever returned. He set up a peace treaty banquet—much like the one tonight."

Alistar’s voice turned bitter and he stared at Kira with a guarded expression.

"But on the night of that treaty, Alpha Rolf Thornclaw betrayed every Lycan in that hall. He had arranged for the massacre of the Lycans. The assassins killed almost all of them — adults, children, Lunas."

Kira’s heart didn’t just plummet; it felt like it stopped beating entirely. She stared at Alistar, her breath hitching. "My... my father?"

Flora, who had been quietly sorting out the first aid box, sat down beside her husband and took Kira’s hand gently.

"Yes, dear. Rolf Thornclaw is the reason for the blood feud. That betrayal triggered another deadly war, one that left scars that haven’t healed. You see, this is why the Lycans do not want to trust the werewolves anymore."

Kira’s entire system went still as the pieces fell into place inside her mind. No werewolf talks about this.

All she had ever heard was that after King Maurice died, Lycans decided to remain superior. Was this the reason Derek had terrorised the werewolves for years?

Then, the words Derek had spoken to her the other night echoed in her mind, unbidden and vivid: "I never forget. I can still recall vividly the day my family were ambushed and killed by a traitor." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The traitor was her father. That night, the real reason behind the deep resentment Lycans held for werewolves, was because of what her own father had done. The realisation sat heavily in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Later that night, after Flora had cleaned and bandaged the scratches on Kira’s arms and legs, Kira lay in the large bed, staring at the ceiling, her mind looping over Alistar’s words.

Was it true that the man she had called father was the true villain? Why was it never documented in their histories?

All her life, she had seen the Lycans as the oppressors. Because growing up, she had always heard about how Lycans try to stay on top. She was going through all of it in her head when she fell into a fitful sleep.

Sometime that night, she felt the bed dip and felt the warmth of Derek beside her. To her surprise, he shifted closer and wrapped one strong arm around her, pulling her gently against his warm body. His heat enveloped her completely, chasing away the last traces of cold.

In the silence of the room, she could hear his steady heartbeat against her back. He didn’t speak, but the way he held her—tight and protective—said more than he ever had. Kira closed her eyes, her heart aching with a mixture of warmth and a new terror as she lay in the arms of the man who had sworn to destroy everything about Rolf Thornclaw.

For the first time since she got married, she wondered if this marriage was going to be her ruin.