"You need to actually run away from there!" Jessica said. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"And go where?" Kira countered, leaning her head against the headboard. "Do you honestly think he wouldn’t find me? And what about the packs? If I vanish, he’ll take it out on them. It would only make things a thousand times worse."

They were on FaceTime. Derek had been gone as usual by the time Kira woke up that Saturday morning. She had stared at the cold, empty side of the bed for a moment and genuinely wondered if the man had ever heard of a weekend.

The rest of the morning had passed the way most of her mornings in Dravengard passed since they returned from Snow Crest—slowly, and with far too much quiet. By early afternoon, with the sun sitting warm and lazy over the estate grounds, boredom had settled in properly.

She had to call Jessica for their charity fundraiser preparations, to review notes, and send emails. But somehow, the conversation had taken a detour straight into the more pressing matter of her actual marriage.

After Kira had told Jessica everything, Alistar’s story, the blood feud, Rolf’s role in the massacre, and Derek’s cold, vow for vengeance, her best friend had completely lost her mind

"Babe, you literally just found out your husband has a personal vendetta against your entire bloodline, and you’re sitting there worrying about the packs?" Jessica’s face was pushed right up against her camera lens. "What if he kills you in your sleep one day?"

"He won’t do that," Kira said quickly.

But even as the words left her mouth, she sat with them for a moment. Wouldn’t he?

Since learning his history, she had been obsessing over the real reason he had proposed this marriage. But, being Kira, she did what she did best: she buried the dread under a layer of bright, bubbly optimism. With the palace staff watching her like hawks, she couldn’t afford to show any discomfort or let on that she had been quietly researching. That kind of thing would only give them more reason to keep her under a microscope.

"Are you being serious right now?" Jessica’s voice snapped her back to the present. "Don’t be delusional, Ki! He’s Derek Wolfe! Have you forgotten who we’re talking about?"

Kira glanced around the bedroom as though she half-expected someone to be lurking by the wardrobe. "I haven’t forgotten, Jess. But... he’s not exactly the monster from the stories."

"What?" Jessica shrieked. "Is this Stockholm Syndrome? Is that what’s happening right now?!"

"No! I’m not in love with him."

"You’re acting like it! You cannot start catching feelings for a man who wants to dismantle your life."

"I’m not," Kira said, pulling her knees to her chest. "Besides, you were the one telling me to make him fall for me a week ago!"

"That was before I knew he married you for some twisted revenge plot! I was advising you based on the fluffy romance novels I read, Ki. This isn’t a book. This is your actual life."

Kira exhaled. "I know that. But I can’t run. Think about it properly. We’re bound by a contract, and breaking it gives him legal grounds to rain chaos on everyone, including people who have nothing to do with any of this. And besides," she added, glancing toward the door again, "he’s suddenly surrounded me with a fleet of bodyguards. Getting out wouldn’t exactly be a quiet stroll through the gates."

There was silence on the other end, then a long, defeated sigh. "So what do you plan to do?"

Kira shrugged at her own reflection in the vanity mirror across the room. "I don’t know. Maybe try to find out more from him directly. He’s been a lot softer with me lately."

"I’m scared for you, Ki. I really am." Jessica’s voice dropped to something quieter and more genuine. "Just please be careful. I don’t even understand why your life keeps unravelling like this."

Kira smiled despite herself. "Neither do I, honestly. I’m just a girl."

A sharp rap at the door made her jump. Petra’s head appeared in the gap. "You have a visitor, Your Highness."

Kira’s brows shot up. She turned back to the screen. "I’ll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too. Stay alive!" Jessica said.

Petra had already slipped back out by the time Kira ended the call.

She padded down the stairs towards the entrance area, still wondering who on earth would show up unannounced on a Saturday afternoon.

Then the front door swung open and Kai sauntered in with his signature grin, looking for all the world like someone who had never experienced a bad day in his life.

"Your Highness," he announced grandly to the entrance hall, arms slightly spread as if the palace had been waiting for his arrival. "Your entertainment has arrived."

"Kai!" Kira’s face lit up, all the heavy thoughts about contracts and vengeance vanishing in an instant.

"Look at you!" Kai exclaimed, spreading his arms wide as Kira rushed over to give him a brief, happy squeeze. "The Queen of Dravengard, alive and well. I was half-convinced Derek would have bored you to death by now."

"It was a close call," she laughed, dragging him away with her down the corridor.

Connor followed close behind, exchanging a nod and a brief handshake with Kai.

Kira had not seen Kai since they got back from Snow Crest, and she had genuinely missed his particular brand of chaos.

Within minutes they had settled into the lounge. Kira curled into the corner of the large sofa, Kai flopped into an armchair and immediately helped himself to the grape bowl on the coffee table, and Connor took up residence on a sofa nearby.

"Where have you been hiding?" she demanded.

"Security work for Tan," Kai said, waving a hand dismissively. "Very serious. Very boring. Nothing as exciting as nearly being killed by Shadow Wolves on a honeymoon, which I hear was your situation."

"It was a very eventful trip."

"I heard you bit one."

"I did bite one, yes."

Kai raised a hand for a high five. "Legendary behaviour."

Even Connor let a small smile widen his face.

"How was the trip otherwise?" Kai asked. "Apart from the Umbras choosing to completely ruin it?"

Kira groaned, leaning back. "Don’t even get me started. I spent the other half of it fending off a very delusional, very persistent ex-girlfriend."

"’Delusional’ is putting it mildly," Connor muttered, his shoulders shaking.

Kai paused, a grape halfway to his mouth. "You met Sandra?"

"With her son. Who, I should mention, has the exact same eyes as Derek." She gave Kai a pointed look. "But he says the boy isn’t his."

"Nah, that’s not Drek’s kid," Kai said, popping the grape. "That’s Brian’s spawn."

Kira’s jaw practically hit the floor. "Bri-Brian? As in his cousin?"

"Mmhm."

Now everything clicked rather horribly into place. No wonder Derek’s hatred for his cousin ran as deep as it did, and no wonder he had refused to say the name of the man Sandra had cheated with. That particular betrayal would cut anyone to the bone.

"She had everyone convinced the boy was Derek’s," Connor said, with the tone of a man who had lived through every excruciating minute of that saga. "Thank the goddess for DNA testing."

"Yeah, the lady was obsessed," Kai said. "She started to self-destruct when she realised she couldn’t win, which is how she ended up in the asylum."

"She’s clearly still obsessed," Kira said, shaking her head. "The audacity of that woman is genuinely something to behold."

"Right, enough about women obsessed with my cousin," Kai said, leaning forward and dragging the chessboard from the coffee table toward him. "Let’s have some real fun."