KADE’S POV
I sat at the long wooden table in the council chamber, listening to the court members drone on about pack business. But I could tell they were building up to something. Their voices had that edge to them that meant trouble was coming.
I was never invited to a council meeting like this unless it was important. Way too important to leave me, the Prince, out.
And I had a feeling I knew what this was about.
It was Ivy.
"Prince Kade," Lord Marcus finally said, "we need to discuss a matter of great importance."
I adjusted in my seat and waited for him to go ahead but he was silent as he shared knowing glances with the others
"What matters?" I finally asked.
"It's about your choice of mate," Lord Felix said bluntly.
Here we go. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms.
"What about my choice of mate?" I asked calmly.
"She's... unsuitable," Lord Marcus said carefully.
"Unsuitable how?" I demanded with a snort.
"Well," Lady Catherine continued, "she was a slave for ten years. A common servant. She has no noble blood, no training in court etiquette, no understanding of politics."
"She also saved my life," I pointed out.
"That's admirable," Lord Marcus agreed. "But it doesn't make her queen material."
"The court has serious concerns about her background," another council member added. "How can someone who cleaned floors and scrubbed dishes suddenly become our future queen?"
"Easily," I said firmly. "Because I chose her."
"Prince Kade," Lady Catherine said in a condescending tone, "you're young. You don't understand the complexities of ruling. A queen needs to be—"
"A queen needs to be strong, loyal, and brave," I interrupted. "Ivy is all of those things."
"She's damaged goods," Lord Marcus said coldly. "Ten years of slavery leaves marks that never heal. Physical and mental scars that make someone... unstable."
I felt my temper rising. "Watch your words, Marcus."
"I'm just being honest," he replied. "The girl has been broken by her experiences. She flinches at loud noises. She keeps her head down like she's still expecting to be beaten. Is that really the image we want for our future queen?"
"She's resilient," I said through gritted teeth. "She survived things that would have destroyed weaker people."
"Survived, yes," Lady Catherine agreed. "But at what cost? She has no idea how to behave in polite society. Did you see how she walked into the throne room yesterday? Like she was still wearing chains."
"She'll learn," I said.
"Will she?" Lord Marcus asked. "Or will she embarrass us in front of other packs? What happens when she meets with foreign dignitaries and doesn't know proper protocol?"
"She's intelligent," I defended. "She'll adapt."
"Intelligence isn't the issue," another council member spoke up. "It's breeding. You can't teach someone to be noble if they weren't born to it."
"That's enough," I said, my voice getting dangerous.
But they weren't finished.
"The servants are already talking," Lady Catherine continued. "They don't respect her. They see her as one of them, not as their future queen."
"Some of them knew her when she was scrubbing their floors," Lord Marcus added. "How can they bow to someone they remember as a slave?"
"The same way you're going to bow to her," I said coldly, "because she's my choice."
"Prince Kade," Lady Catherine said, "we understand that you feel protective of her. But feelings can't override practical concerns. The stability of the kingdom—"
That's when the pain hit me.
It started as a sharp cramp in my stomach, like someone was twisting a knife in my gut. Then it spread outward, burning through my veins like liquid fire.
No. Not now.
"Prince Kade?" Lord Marcus asked. "Are you alright?"
I doubled over in my chair, trying to breathe through the agony. The curse was getting stronger every month. The pain was becoming unbearable.
"I'm fine," I lied, struggling to sit up straight.
"You don't look fine," Lady Catherine observed.
Another wave of pain crashed over me, worse than the first. My vision blurred and I could feel sweat beading on my forehead.
"Excuse me," I said quickly, pushing back from the table. "We'll continue this discussion later."
"Prince Kade—" someone called out, but I was already leaving.
I walked as calmly as I could until I was out of the council chamber. Then I practically ran to my room, the pain getting worse with every step.
I had to get to the dungeons. That's where I always went during my transformations. Deep underground where the stone walls were thick and the iron bars were strong. Where I couldn't hurt anyone when I lost control.
Especially where I couldn't hurt Ivy.
The thought of her seeing me in my monstrous state made my stomach turn. What would she think if she saw what I really was? Would she look at me with the same fear I had seen in so many other eyes?
The idea of her flinching away from me was unbearable.
I reached my room and grabbed the heavy chains from the chest beside my bed. They were made of blessed silver, strong enough to hold even me when the curse took hold.
But as I tried to hurry toward the dungeon entrance, another wave of pain hit me. This one was so intense that I fell to my knees, gasping.
"Come on," I muttered to myself. "Hold it together. Just a little longer."
I tried to control myself, focusing on breathing slowly and evenly. I had learned techniques over the years to manage the transformation. Meditation, controlled breathing, mental exercises.
But tonight was different. Tonight the pain was overwhelming everything else.
I felt my bones starting to shift and crack. My muscles were stretching and changing. My fingernails were growing into claws.
"No," I gasped, trying to reach for the chains. "Not yet."
But before I could lock myself up, my claws broke right through the heavy silver chains like they were made of paper. The metal snapped and scattered across the floor.
The transformation was happening too fast. I was losing control.
I charged forward, my mind clouding over with animal instinct. Everything in my path got destroyed. Furniture, decorations, anything that didn't move out of my way fast enough.
The door to my room splintered when I crashed through it. Servants in the hallway saw me coming and screamed.
"The Prince!" one of them yelled. "He's transforming!"
Guards appeared, but when they saw the state I was in, they all ran away. They knew what it meant. They had standing orders to evacuate the area when my curse took hold.
I was barely aware of my surroundings now. The monster inside me was in control, driven by pain and rage and something else. Something that was pulling me in a specific direction.
I charged through the palace corridors, following some instinct I didn't understand. Past the main halls, up the stairs, toward the guest quarters.
When I reached the door leading to Ivy's chamber, I suddenly stopped.
The rage was still there, burning through my veins. But there was something else now too. A strange calmness that seemed to come from nowhere.
I stood there in the hallway, breathing heavily, my claws still extended and my muscles still partially transformed. But the overwhelming urge to destroy everything had faded.
I came back to my senses gradually, like waking up from a dream. The pain was still there, but it was manageable now.
My wolf was stirring nervously inside me, pacing back and forth with impatience and something that felt like hunger.
"Mate," my wolf whispered in my mind. "Mate, mate, mate!"
And then it dawned on me.
That touch. When Ivy had touched me back at the Northern Pack, I had felt this same sense of calmness. This same peace that cut through all the chaos and pain.
I had thought it was just her healing abilities. But now I understood. It wasn't just the healing. It was her. It was the mate bond calling to me, even before I fully realized what it was.
"She's my mate," I whispered out loud, the truth hitting me like lightning.
Ivy was my mate. My true mate. And my mate will be the only person in the world who could calm the beast inside me.