The doors to King Elijah’s private chamber burst open so violently against the walls that the guards outside nearly reached for their weapons.

"Alpha Xander—"

Xander ignored them completely.

He strode into the room with fury already burning visibly beneath his skin. Torak followed directly behind him, far calmer in appearance, though the tension in his shoulders betrayed enough.

Inside the chamber, King Elijah stood near the large council table with several opened documents spread before him.

He looked up immediately.

The atmosphere changed at once.

"Elijah," Xander said sharply. He didn’t even bother with titles. "Get her out."

The king’s expression hardened instantly.

The room fell silent except for the crackling fire near the far wall.

Torak quietly shut the doors behind them.

Xander didn’t wait.

"I need Aire out of that dungeon tonight." His voice came out rough, furious, and frayed at the edges. "Or I will take her out myself."

Elijah stared at him for a long moment. "No."

"No?" Xanden repeated softly, pinning King Elijah down with a challenging gaze.

Elijah stepped away from the table slowly. "The kingdom is unstable enough already."

"The kingdom?" Xander snapped immediately. "Letting you take Aire down there is already enough for the kingdom."

His voice echoed sharply through the chamber.

"Aire is chained beneath this castle while wolves scream for her death outside, and you’re speaking to me about stability?"

Elijah’s jaw tightened faintly. "She is not safe outside containment right now."

"Containment?" Xander repeated, disgusted. "Is that what we’re calling it now?"

Torak remained silent behind him.

Xander took another step forward. "You put silver on her wrists."

Elijah’s expression shifted slightly at that. "You think I wanted that for your mate?"

"I think," Xander cut in sharply, "that you allowed fear to make this kingdom cruel."

The temperature inside the room seemed to drop slightly.

Outside the windows, distant thunder rolled quietly across the sky.

Elijah’s gaze sharpened. "Watch your tone."

"No." Xander’s voice rose again immediately. "No, you should watch your actions." He pointed toward the floor beneath them violently. "She is beneath us right now."

Xander’s chest rose harshly with every breath now. Fury radiated off him almost visibly. "She did not kill anyone."

King Elijah stared at him like he had lost his mind. "She lost control of dangerous abilities inside the palace."

"She was terrified!" Xander shouted over him. "Terrified wolves cornered her with silver weapons in her own chambers!"

Elijah’s expression darkened. He felt insulted by a tone raised over his. "The kingdom saw what happened."

"The kingdom saw what they wanted to see."

Xander moved again before Torak could stop him. He crossed the distance toward King Elijah in seconds.

"I took an oath before the Moon Goddess and men to protect that woman," he snarled directly in his father’s face. "The wolves should be upset with the goddess who made her my mate, not Aire."

Silence slammed into the room immediately afterward. Even Elijah went still for half a second.

Torak stepped forward immediately. "Xander." He called, his voice calm, firm, and warning all at once.

Xander dragged a hand through his hair violently before turning away from Elijah. He paced around once.

His wolf was too close to the surface tonight, and angry. He was barely containing himself.

Every instinct inside him screamed that something unnatural was happening. His mate sat chained underground while he stood here arguing.

It made him sick.

Elijah watched him carefully now. "You think I do not understand what this is costing you?"

Xander turned sharply. "No," he said instantly. "You don’t. You don’t have a mate after all."

Elijah’s gaze hardened slightly. His claws elongated at the meeting of his mate, and disappeared almost immediately as he took a deep breath to calm down.

This was his son before him. Not another blood.

"You think because you care for her, you can ignore the state of the kingdom?"

"She is the state of the kingdom now!" Xander barked. "Prophecies can change."

Torak shut his eyes briefly.

The room pulsed with tension again.

Xander pointed toward the door now. "They are turning her into a symbol."

Elijah remained silent.

"They are afraid, King Elijah," Torak finally said quietly.

Both men looked toward him.

Torak stepped forward slowly. Unlike Xander, his anger stayed controlled, and contained.

"The wolves believe the prophecy is unfolding in real time," he continued. "And every hour she remains visible only as a threat, the fear worsens."

Xander laughed bitterly. "So the answer is to throw her underground like an animal?"

"No," Torak answered immediately.

Xander looked at him sharply.

Torak’s jaw tightened faintly. "But panic spreads faster than reason."

Xander stared at him for a second before looking away again in frustration.

Torak exhaled quietly. He couldn’t say he fully understood what Xander felt right now but he imagined Adele in chains for even one second with fear in her eyes.

Torak’s expression darkened instantly at the mere thought. No force in the realm would keep him calm through that.

He’d burn the kingdom himself first.

Torak looked back toward Elijah slowly.

"She should not remain down there long," he said carefully. It wasn’t a question.

King Elijah looked exhausted suddenly. At the moment, he looked less like a king and more like a man cornered by impossible decisions.

King Elijah turned away briefly toward the fire. "The council is demanding execution."

Xander went still.

Torak’s expression sharpened immediately.

Elijah continued before either could interrupt. "Half the military heads agree with them." His voice lowered further. "And the common wolves are beginning to organize publicly."

Xander’s hands curled into fists again.

Elijah looked back at them now. "If I remove her from containment tonight, the kingdom will interpret it as weakness."

"She is not a criminal."

"She frightened the kingdom."

"She’s frightened herself," Xander snapped immediately. "We terrified her."

Xander’s breathing roughened again. "She cried while they chained her. Soemone as fragile as she is would never have the simplest idea of organising a rebellion, let more an army to end our race. We’re the ones enforcing that into her right now."

The room went quiet.

Xander looked away sharply afterward as though the memory physically disgusted him.

Torak’s expression shifted slightly at that.

Xander swallowed once before speaking again. "I’ll do it. I lay my life down, to make sure she curse no harm to the realm."

Elijah shut his eyes briefly.

Xander stepped closer again, quieter this time. "She was just beginning to trust us."

Torak looked down briefly.

Even Elijah’s shoulders seemed heavier now.

"And now?" Xander asked quietly. "Now she probably believes every cruel thing they ever called her before she arrived."

Elijah did not answer.

Xander dragged another breath into his lungs. "When I saw her down there..." His voice roughened suddenly.

Torak glanced at him.

"I stood there while they chained her because I trusted you as a father to know what to do, and not as a King."

The self-hatred beneath the sentence settled heavily into the room.

Torak finally moved closer. "Xander."

Xanden body trembled dejectedly. "I should have stopped it."

"You would have started a civil fracture inside the palace."

"I don’t care."

Torak grabbed his shoulder firmly before he could turn away again. "You do care."

Xander clenched his jaw.

Torak lowered his voice. "If you lose control now, you make her situation worse."

Xander’s eyes burned with frustration.

Torak understood the feeling more than he wanted to admit. If Adele had been beneath this castle instead, he genuinely didn’t know what he would have become.

He’d be damned before silver ever touched her skin. The thought alone nearly made his wolf surface even if they weren’t mate.

Torak exhaled slowly through his nose before looking back toward Elijah.

"There has to be another way."

Elijah looked toward the council documents again. "The prophecy has poisoned reason."

Xander scoffed bitterly, but said nothing.

A knock on the chamber doors interupted King Elijah next line of sentence. Everyone turned immediately.

One of Elijah’s guards entered carefully.

"My king."

Elijah straightened slightly. "What is it?"

The guard hesitated. Letting out a tight breath, he reported. "There has been another disappearance."

The room froze.

Elijah’s eyes sharpened instantly. "What?"

The guard swallowed. "A patrol near the eastern borders failed to return."

Torak’s expression changed immediately. "How many?" he asked.

"Six."

Xander frowned sharply.

The guard continued carefully. "One body was found."

Elijah stepped forward slowly. "Condition?"

The guard hesitated again. That hesitation alone changed everything.

Torak noticed it first. "How bad is it?"

The guard looked visibly uneasy now. "Silver wounds with abrupt disturbance to him changing."

"Suppression damage," the guard added quietly. "Like the reports from the northern territories months ago."

Xander’s eyes narrowed instantly.

Torak’s posture straightened sharply.

Elijah’s expression darkened fully now. "Bring the report."