The fire spat sparks like it wanted to join in with the arguments but no one else made a sound.
Adam paced relentlessly around the room. He didn't do it to think, he did it to keep his hands off Brad's throat. His boots bit into stone. His claws kept threatening his skin.
Lord Brarthroroz stood braced like a door frame that had decided it would rather be a battering ram. Brad leaned near the hearth, arms folded, wolf a cold coin in his eyes.
Ann kept her hands on the table because she didn't trust them not to shake if she took them off.
"It's not just politics anymore," Adam said finally, his voice low. Final. "It's a blatant war declaration."
"We already..." Ann began.
"No." He spun, finger stabbing toward the evidence...Allan's cufflink, Greyson's strap, that dark smear that wouldn't leave Ann's head.
"He didn't just test our walls. He ripped right through them. He took my Beta. He took yours. That's war."
"Careful," Maeve murmured. "He's not too far away from chewing the furniture."
Ann kept her voice even as she spoke.
"And if you scream it without a plan, especially in front of the nobles, you give him exactly what he wants...chaos in my halls and a headline that says 'Queen loses control.'"
"I don't care about headlines."
"You should."
He slammed his glass down; whisky leaping up the sides of the glass and spilling out onto the table.
"IThe only thing I fucking care about is Allen, Greyson and Lexi rotting in the daemon realm somewhere while we sit here drafting fucking memos."
Lord Brarthroroz's eyes burned hotter and a smirk played at the edge of this mouth.
"On that, we agree."
Adam latched onto it like a safety net, at least in this he had a solid ally.
"Then we need to stop talking and..."
"You can't just charge in blind." Brad's voice slid into the conversation. "That's what he wants.It's just Bait."
Adam's head snapped toward him. "Of course you'd say that."
Brad didn't even blink.
"Every time something goes wrong...assassins, ambushes, portals...I'm there because I put myself where the knives are. If you're half the protector you claim to be, start using your head as well as your claws."
A snarl rolled out of Adam that made the glass vibrate.
"Every attack, every cut...you're there right on cue. How convenient for you to become the knight in shining fucking armour...You're either the luckiest bastard alive, or the one that's handing them knives."
Brad's wolf flashed in his eyes.
"Careful now..."
"Oh, this is fucking gold Queenie," Maeve snorted. "Two Alphas, one crown, and zero brain cells between them when jealousy starts talking."
"Adam," Ann snapped. "Don't you dare."
He rounded on her, his breathing ragged with barely contained anger.
"Tell me you don't see it. Why does Sebastian pick his door to howl under? Why is he always two steps behind you when blades appear?"
"I see it," Ann said. "And I see what paranoia does to you when you let it take the lead. That wall in front of you, the imaginary wedge that just doesn't feel to youl? That's the Lycan King's work, Adam. That's Ely's grin. That's Eromaug getting everything he wants without lifting a finger, because you'll tear apart the only team that I have left."
It hit him almost as if she had slapped him. Not hard enough, but it landed all the same..
"I can't trust him," Adam growled.
"You don't have to," Ann said. "You just have to not kill him in my lounge while we're already bleeding allies left, right and center."
Lord Brarthroroz's fist met the mantle and the stone cracked.
"Enough of this pointless bickering. Ely. Eromaug. The King. That is your list. Not Brad. Not your pissing contest."
Adam's glare cut sideways. "You think watching him circle my mate is a pissing contest?"
Brad's laugh came sharp and humorless. "If I wanted her, you wouldn't be standing here to argue about it."
Adam lunged half a step before Ann slammed her palm onto the table so hard it stung.
"Both of you shut up before I do something that I might regret later."
Silence like a held breath.
Ann took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"Here's what happens. We lock down. Guard rotations change often and on a whim...no more predictable patterns. Patrols can be staggered; those on nights doubled. Every entrance will be checked twice. Adam, your wolves take the inner ring; nobody gets within ten feet of me without your clearance, not a lord, not a servant, not a courier. Brad..." she cut him a look that was more order than courtesy... "you forward every scrap of the Lycan King's messages, unedited, with the metadata intact. Coral will tear them apart. Eva will cross-check dates against every attack, every 'coincidence,' every surprise visit."
Coral...who'd ghosted in with a clipboard like she had heard a summons through all of the commotion, nodded briskly.
"Already started."
Eva slid in behind her, tablet under one arm, her expression serious.
"If the Lycan King thought that the language he was using to hide this alliance was subtle, he's about to be embarrassed."
Ann turned back to Lord Brarthroroz. "You and Steve should prep a path.Make sure that there's solid anchors and tethers so we have a guaranteed way back. I'm not losing you too because your rage beat your reason. Lexi would never forgive me"
"You don't order me," he said, voice a low burn, "I am happy to help, but my main concern is my daughter, Ann, and that will take priority."
"I will give you commands when my people are already drowning," Ann shot back. "And you want to tear seams between the worlds that they live in. You'll do it smartly, and if you go through, you come back breathing or not at all. "
He stared her down. His rage didn't leave but it shifted shape slightly.
"Fine. Tethers. Anchors. Scouting," he ground out like the words tasted wrong.
Steve's voice rasped like a dry page turning.
"Anchors must be heavy. Names, too. Tethers respond to names spoken with intent."
Ann tamped down a shiver.
"Then carve their names into the stones that will be used."
"Done," Steve said, unsettlingly pleased.
Adam still hadn't unclenched. Blood beaded in the crescent cuts his claws made on his own skin. He didn't take his stare off Brad.
"Fine," he grated. "For now. But the second he slips..."
"Then you'll have proof," Ann said. "Not vibes. Proof. Until then, keep your claws to yourself."
Brad folded his arms, voice flat. "I'll take that deal."
"Good," Ann muttered. "Maybe now we can do the job."
Maeve chuckled in her head. Don't worry. They'll be idiots again in five minutes. Testosterone is a renewable resource, it never runs out.
Ann ignored her and pushed up from the chair.
"One more thing," she said, eyes on Adam first, then Lord Brarthroroz. "We're pulling Dark Moon closer to the palace. If the King wants to test our perimeter, he'll get the opportunity to do it and see the full force of our combined numbers. I believe the settlement perimeter is currently hugging the palace's south and east lines, but it can be extended. No gaps in coverage and no easy routes in that doesn't go through checkpoints."
Adam stiffened. "I'm not leaving you."
"You're leaving me for a few hours at most…perhaps a day,," Ann said, "You'll lead our people to our doorstep where they belong. Then you'll come back and you don't leave again without telling me first."
He hated it. It showed.
"No more than a day," he said, like a promise that he wanted to break.
"Take two surveyors with you as well Adam,," Coral suggested dryly, already flipping a page. "I'll have Logistics continue to clear further into the south grounds. We'll need temporary sanitation, water lines, med tents and I need the plans..."
"Do it," Ann said.
"And the portal building," Eva added, a little softer, eyes flicking to the black shards. "If we're going to bring them home, we need a regulated site. Wardable. Shieldable. Not… this." She gestured at the lounge, the smell of ash still in it.
Ann nodded once.
"Start the plans. Pick a site on the east yard. I want it grounded into the foundations, not a tent that screams 'target.' Quiet contractors only. If a noble's nephew shows up with a trowel, kick him out."
"Gladly," Eva said.
Brad's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, clenched his jaw and looked up.
"There's noise on my borders. Not a breach. Just… wolves I don't like the smell of."
Adam's eyes narrowed.
"So you figured you would go running home to lead them to our door?"
Brad didn't rise to it.
"I'm going to harden my defensive line in accordance with Greyson and Allen's suggestions, and send a liaison here. You'll get updates every hour on the hour. If the Lycan King or his sons make any more moves, you'll know."
Ann held his gaze.
"Go," she said. "And Brad? Keep your house boring. Give them nothing to look at."
A muscle jumped in his cheek as a faint smile played on his lips.
"Boring I can do."
Finally, Maeve purred. We're sending the guard dog back to his kennel and the feral beast set up barricades. Maybe now you can hear yourself think.
"Coral," Ann said, "prepare a statement for the vultures. Brarthroroz leaves at my request to conduct a coordinated response, and if anyone asks about Brad, you tell them he's reinforcing his borders at my instruction. Eva...pre-brief Security on no-contact protocols. If Sebastian shows his face again, I want him breathing and talking, not dead and dramatic."
"Got it," Eva said.
Lord Brarthroroz straightened, heat rolling off him. "When I march," he said, "I march with daemons. Not wolves. When I open a gate, your werewolves do not step through unless I say otherwise they die in my world. My soldiers are not forgiving."
"Understood," Ann said, "Bring them home. We'll keep this side breathing."
He gave a stiff nod and Steve's hands twitched. as the air changed. In the corner, shadows gathered into a swirling mass and gradually, a gaping rip opened in the air before them..
"Soon," Lord Brarthroroz promised, voice a wound. "I'll have them back here one way or another."
He and Steve stepped into a low bloom of light that smelled like thunder and sulfur and the portal sealed behind them with a hiss, leaving a metallic tang to the air and a silence that pressed down on them.
Ann stared at the empty air until her vision steadied and Adam came close enough to her that she could feel his heat brush against her arm.
"I'll arrange the escort for Dark Moon," he said,. "As fast as i possibly can.."
"You'll come back," Ann said, not quite a question but anxiety was already gnawing at her insides.
"Always," he said, and for once she believed him because he looked like a man who couldn't afford to lie.
Brad tucked his phone away.
"I'll head out now."
"Send your liaison to Coral," Ann said. "Not to me. I'm done being the subject of hallway gossip."
He didn't smile. But some knot in his shoulders eased.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Coral gathered pages like a magician pulling scarves and Eva was already busy writing, her pen practically a blur as it crossed the page..
Ann didn't move.
Lexi was gone. Greyson was gone. Allan was gone. Brarthroroz was hunting seams. Adam was about to vanish into logistics and dirt and a hundred tents. And out there...the Lycan King polishing a crown with other people's blood, Ely sharpened his needles, Narcissa was laughing at them without lungs and behind it all Eromaug sat pulling strings that didn't care who choked.
Ann exhaled slowly so it didn't sound like her confidence breaking.
Adam's hand brushed hers...just once, a brief reminder that he was there for her..before he pulled it back into a fist.
"You're not alone," he said, his voice low, "Not ever."
Ann managed the ghost of a smile.
"Tell that to the shadows that wait for me to fail."
Oh, they're crowding round you for sure, Maeve whispered, "You feel it. I feel it. Brarthroroz runs into one conflict, but another's already building here. Darker. Closer. But, amidst all this, we stand as the light for our people. The light that keeps them safe and chases the darkness away.
"Let it come," Ann muttered, "We'll be ready."
Adam's eyes flicked to her questioningly, but she didn't explain.
She just stared at where the air had changed and instantly felt the weight of the world fall onto her shoulders.
She was still queen. Still standing. But goddess, she felt alone in it.
Maeve's laugh, low and cold, filled the hollow.
We are alone Ann. The responsibility lies with us and us alone. There's a storm coming, Ann. And crowns don't keep you dry.