"No way!"

"How is that even possible? That doesn’t make sense!"

"Violet Purple? But she was with us this whole time! How the hell did we not know?"

The room practically shook with the shouts of disbelief and confusion. To think Violet Purple had been among them all along and they had not recognized her as Angus spawn. No, the shock was too much for them to handle.

It was only Irene who remained unsurprised and calm in the middle of the uproar because she knew the truth.

Nancy had opened up to her. Probably because she was a fellow woman. A mother too. And perhaps because, out of all the Alpha parents, Irene had always shown the strongest support toward Violet from the very beginning.

Sure, the other parents of the Cardinal Alphas were tied to Violet now through their sons being mates and all. But they had never been close enough for Nancy to trust them with something this enormous.

Telling them their sons were alive and relatively unharmed had been enough. At least, until Angus and his reckless mouth decided otherwise.

Unlike Angus, who looked positively delighted by the commotion his confession had caused, Ziva stood beside him with a darkened expression.

Her hands were clenched so tightly at her sides that her nails nearly cut into her palms.

She hated this. Hated the way Angus’s chest had practically puffed with pride the moment Violet’s name left his mouth. As if she were some prized treasure. As if she were the only daughter worth claiming.

Ziva’s jaw tightened. She was the one who had done all the heavy lifting. The one who had stayed by his side. The one who had schemed, bled, and dirtied her hands for him.

And yet even now, standing right beside him in the middle of his grand return, he had not once introduced her as his daughter.

Only Violet.

Always Violet.

No one cared about her. No one ever did.

And what made it worse was the ugly little truth curling at the pit of her stomach, that

even if Angus did announce her now, it would never hold the same weight.

Because she was only a witch hybrid. She was not powerful or politically useful like Violet. Not like his precious half-Fae, half-werewolf daughter. His beloved daughter. The same daughter who was actively working against him even now.

The thought made something vicious twist inside her. It made her want to tear someone apart. But Ziva swallowed it down. For now.

Soon enough, Angus would be King. When that happened, Violet would no longer be useful to him. Then Ziva would have her revenge.

The thought alone made dark satisfaction settle in her chest. It would be fun, she thought, to break Violet. To strip away all the things that made people look at her like she was special. Maybe then, they would all finally see there was nothing so extraordinary about Violet after all.

While the room still spiraled from Angus’s confession, Irene faced Angus.

"If Violet is your daughter," she said, "then doesn’t that make her your heir?"

That got Angus’s attention. So did the room’s.

Irene continued smoothly, her expression unreadable. "Is that your intention? To place her on the throne? Because if so, that would make sense."

Her eyes flicked briefly toward Elijah’s unconscious body on the floor before returning to Angus.

"Elijah, after all, has no heir. And Violet, in this case, is more than strong enough to become the next Alpha Queen."

For the briefest second, Angus looked caught off guard. Then he recovered quickly, a slow smile creeping across his face. It seems Irene Hale was more conniving than he thought.

While it seemed like she had asked an innocent question, all she did was plant the dangerous idea into the minds of the gathered alphas. And in doing so, she had very deliberately shifted the attention in the room from him to Violet.

"Of course, Violet is my heir," Angus agreed, his voice carrying with ease. "And she will rule one day."

He emphasized the words "one day". Not now. Not while he was still breathing.

Then he continued, with the same calm arrogance that made several wolves bristle from their position, "But for now, I am here to take back my rightful position as King."

Leon scoffed.

"Rightful position as King?" he repeated in disbelief, as though the very phrase had insulted him personally. "Are you kidding me?"

His face hardened almost instantly.

"Elijah wronged us by lying about your death, but you, Angus, committed a far worse crime by practicing dark magic."

A murmur rippled through the room.

Leon pressed on.

"We should be discussing your execution right now."

"He’s right," Caspian concurred, stepping in before the silence could settle. "For someone who committed such a heinous crime, you should be here on your knees begging for forgiveness, not standing there making foolish claims to the throne."

Just like that, the sub-alphas found their courage, encouraged by the confidence of their Alphas.

"The Alphas are right. Dark magic is forbidden."

"You should be punished!"

Angus let out a long, almost bored sigh.

Then he turned his head toward Ziva, and in that brief look, something passed silently between them.

Ziva slowly spread out her arms and began to murmur under her breath, her lips moving in a low chant that seemed to curl unnaturally through the air.

At first, nothing happened. Then every wolf in the room screamed, the pain hitting all at once.

A vicious, blinding force that felt like something was splitting their skulls open from the inside out. It drove straight through their minds mercilessly, as though invisible claws were tearing into their brains.

Several of the sub-alphas buckled immediately to one knee. Others crashed to the floor entirely, clutching their heads as guttural cries tore from their throats.

Even the stronger wolves staggered. Their bodies trembled under the assault, their wolves snarling restlessly beneath their skin, trying and failing to fight off the invasion.

While most of the wolves could at least endure the torment, the same could not be said for Nancy. Her scream ripped through the room, raw and horrifying, as she clutched her head and collapsed hard to the floor. Blood trickled from her ear, bright and terrifying against her skin.

Ezra’s eyes widened in pure horror.

"Nancy!"

He tried to get to her but the sound was incapacitating. Every attempt only made his knees buckle harder.

He shouted anyway, his voice rough with desperation.

"Stop it! You’re hurting her!"

But Ziva only continued, her chanting growing steadier now, almost stronger, as if she were taking pleasure in Ezra’s helplessness. And maybe she was.

Then Irene and the others were shouting too, their voices strained through the pain.

"Stop it already!"

"The woman is pregnant!"

"Enough!"

Angus finally lifted a hand in a lazy gesture and Ziva stopped at once.

The silence that followed was almost as brutal as the spell itself. Ziva looked annoyed, if not petulant. Her father could have let her enjoy herself a little longer. If the human woman died from it, then perhaps it would have served as a lesson to them.

"You can’t be crowned King," Leon snapped, his voice rough with rage and pain, still shaking from the remnants of Ziva’s attack. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. Not when Elijah’s blessed by the Goddess to rule."

That was the truth.

Each time an Alpha King was crowned, it was done under the blessing of the Goddess herself. The ceremony, while political, was sacred and final. Bound by their law so there would never be two kings rising at once and tearing the territories apart in the name of power.

The Council of Elders must approve it.

The Priestess seals it and finally, the Goddess gives her blessing. That was the law.

To everyone’s surprise, Angus said.

"You’re right, I cannot be King while my brother lives." his eyes darkened, "And that is why you should all encourage my younger brother to relinquish the throne to me."

A wave of murmurs spread through the room almost instantly. As if Elijah would ever surrender the throne willingly. This was bound to end in blood and war.

Then suddenly, a great roar rent the air outside, shaking the entire house to its foundation.

"What was that?" someone asked, voice edged with alarm.

"Griffin," Irene whispered. And for the first time in what felt like hours, hope entered her eyes.

Angus clearly sensed the shift in the air too and knew a fight was coming.

"You have three days," he said to them. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Three days to make your decision. Otherwise, I won’t be blamed for whatever happens."

Then, without another word, Angus turned and strode out of the meeting room.

Ziva followed closely behind him, watching and making sure no one tried anything stupid. Then she disappeared after her father.

The second they were gone, Ezra rushed to Nancy so fast he nearly slipped to his knees beside her.

"Nancy," he called, his voice breaking around her name as his hands hovered over her body, terrified to touch too hard and terrified not to touch at all.

But his mate didn’t respond and his stomach dropped. Just like that, all the fury left in Ezra was replaced by fear.

"Someone call for help!" Irene thundered.