Gage.
The air in my private council chamber was thick enough to choke on. It smelled of old leather, beeswax, and the cold, sharp scent of my wife’s fury.
Sienna stood by the fireplace, her arms crossed. She had not looked at me once since we left the ballroom. Her silence was louder than any scream.
General Lycan stood by the door, his face an unreadable mask of stone. Lord Valerius, the ancient, hawk-faced head of my council, sat at the table, his fingers steepled. Beside him, High Priest Theron stared into the fire, his expression pious and grave.
“Well?” Sienna’s voice cut through the quiet. “Are we to stand here all night, or are you going to explain why the entire court witnessed their king lose his mind over a servant girl?”
I gripped the back of my chair, my knuckles white. “It was an… unexpected complication.”
“A complication?” She laughed, a sound with no humor in it. “You looked at her and the world stopped. Do not insult my intelligence, Gage. I am an Alpha. I know what I saw. I know what I felt coming off you.”
Lord Valerius cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, if I may. What exactly did you feel?”
My wolf snarled inside me, a caged beast rattling its bars. It hated them for this. It hated them for talking about her.
“It was the bond,” I said, the words tasting like poison. “The mate bond.”
High Priest Theron made a small sound, a soft tsk of disapproval. Sienna’s jaw tightened until I thought her teeth might crack.
“Impossible,” Valerius said, though his tone suggested he knew it was the truth. “With an omega? A no name from the slums?”
“Her rank does not matter to biology, my lord,” I ground out. “It is what it is.”
“It is a mistake,” Sienna snapped, finally turning to face me. Her eyes were burning. “A cosmic, unforgivable mistake. And one that must be corrected. Immediately.”
“The girl has been secured in the West Tower,” Lycan interjected, his voice a calm anchor in the storm. “She is unharmed.”
“Why is she unharmed?” Sienna demanded. “Why is she not in a dungeon? Better yet, why is she not already on a cart leaving the city?”
My wolf surged, a wave of protective fury so strong it made me dizzy. “She will not be harmed.”
The possessiveness in my own voice shocked me. It was not the King speaking. It was the Alpha.
Sienna’s eyes widened with hurt and rage. “You defend her already?”
“I am defending a person who has committed no crime,” I said, forcing my tone back to something regal, something controlled.
“Her crime is her existence!” Valerius slammed his palm on the table. “Your Majesty, you must understand the gravity of this situation. Our alliance with the Ironwood Pack, with Queen Sienna’s father, is the single most important political treaty this kingdom has. It is predicated on your union. On your loyalty.”
“My loyalty is not in question,” I said.
“Is it not?” Sienna asked, her voice dangerously soft. “Then what is this bond? A fleeting fancy?”
“The ways of the Goddess are mysterious,” High Priest Theron said, finally speaking. His voice was smooth as oiled river stones. “She gifts us with blessings, and she burdens us with tests.”
“And which one is this?” I asked, my patience fraying.
“It is a test, Your Majesty,” Theron declared, his eyes gleaming with certainty. “A test of your devotion. Your sacred, blessed union with our Queen is the foundation of this kingdom. This… creature… is a temptation sent to challenge that foundation. To prove your strength.”
“So I am to simply ignore it?” I asked, a bitter laugh escaping me. “It is not a stray thought, High Priest. It is a fire in the blood. It demands.”
“Then you must extinguish it,” Sienna said, her voice like ice. “There is a way. A ritual.”
I knew the one she meant. The Rejection Ritual. An ancient, brutal ceremony designed to sever a mate bond. It was rare. So rare, it was spoken of only in whispers. It was said the pain could drive a wolf mad.
“It is a dark ritual,” I said quietly.
“It is a necessary one,” she countered. “Do you have any idea what will happen when word of this reaches my father? He will see it as the deepest insult. He will believe you have set me aside for an omega whore.”
“That is not what happened.”
“It is what it will look like! He will pull his armies from the Northern border. He will cancel our trade agreements. He will demand satisfaction. This is not just about our marriage, Gage. This is about war.”
Every word was a nail in the coffin of my hope that this could be handled quietly.
“The Queen is right,” Valerius said, his voice grim. “The girl must be publicly and spiritually rejected. We must show our allies that this was a freakish anomaly, a mistake that has been swiftly and decisively corrected.”
“The ritual requires both parties,” I said, stalling. The thought of bringing that terrified girl before my court and formally severing the connection between us made my stomach turn.
“She will consent,” Valerius said with a dismissive wave. “What choice does she have? Consent, or be named a traitor who tried to magically ensnare the King. The outcome is the same for her. The bond is broken.”
I looked from Valerius’s cold, political maneuvering to Theron’s pious certainty, to Lycan’s stoic silence. I saw no way out. No path that did not lead to bloodshed and chaos.
My wolf paced inside me, howling in protest. *No. Not her. Never her.*
I shut it down. I was a King before I was a wolf. I had duties. Responsibilities. A wife who had stood by my side for a decade.
I finally met Sienna’s gaze. I saw the fear beneath her anger. The desperate plea for me to choose her, to choose our life, to choose our kingdom.
“The ritual will cleanse this stain,” High Priest Theron added soothingly. “It will reaffirm your vows to the Queen in the eyes of the Goddess and the people. It is the only way to restore order.”
“When?” I asked, my voice hollow.
“At dawn,” Sienna said immediately. She would give me no time to reconsider. No time to let the bond sink its roots any deeper. “There can be no delay. I want this thing, this connection, gone from you by sunrise.”
I felt a profound sense of loss, a grief for something I had never even had. A phantom pain that was already beginning to ache in my chest.
I had built my world on duty and logic. I would not let it be torn apart by a scent and a pair of terrified eyes.
I gave a single, sharp nod.
“Fine,” I said, the word feeling like a betrayal to a part of my soul I had only just discovered. “Prepare the ritual.”
