Vireya hadn't stopped pacing since the moment she stepped foot back inside the castle.
The blood from the shadowbound assassins had barely dried in the courtyard. Guards scrambled to clean up the wreckage—both bodies and magic—and the scent of ash still clung to her hair, even after her third attempt to wash it out.
She felt wired.
Like something inside her was still vibrating from the shift. From the violence. From the bond.
Ashira, for once, was silent.
But not in the distant, withdrawn way she had been before.
This silence was watchful.
Coiled.
Vireya didn't trust it.
Kael sat in the war chamber, braced against the table, eyes locked on a map that had gone irrelevant the moment those assassins crossed his gates.
Iska was there too—half-covered in ink and dirt, hair in a messy braid, eyes still sharp as knives.
And across from her, Beta Theron.
Who was definitely not watching Iska every time she shifted in her seat.
Totally not.
Definitely not.
Vireya rolled her eyes and paced harder.
"They were shadowbound," Kael growled. "Which means someone powerful enough to breach the kingdom's seals is working with dark blood."
Iska didn't look up. "Or someone with access to the kingdom's wards."
Kael went still.
"Someone inside."
Vireya stopped pacing.
Ashira stirred.
He's feeding them.
The words came faint, like a shiver across her spine.
The traitor. The one who gave you away.
Vireya's stomach twisted. "My father."
Kael's jaw locked. "You're sure?"
"Not yet," she admitted. "But Ashira is."
"Then we find him."
Iska hummed like that wouldn't be easy. "We can track him, sure. But you think he's acting alone? Shadowbound aren't mercs. They're loyal to blood pacts. That means somebody signed for this shit."
Kael's eyes darkened.
"There will be consequences."
Vireya sat down finally, heart still pounding.
Her ribs ached. Her wrists throbbed.
But it wasn't pain that made her fingers tremble.
It was the nausea.
The heat.
The pounding at the base of her skull.
It hit her all at once.
She doubled over, breathing sharp.
Kael was on his feet instantly. "Vireya—?"
"I'm fine," she snapped.
But her body said otherwise.
Ashira flared.
Something's shifting.
And then—
Drekken howled through the bond.
Kael staggered back a step, clutching his chest like he'd been hit with a hammer.
"Gods," he muttered. "What—what is that?"
Vireya's vision blurred.
Then cleared.
And then it clicked.
The sharp ache in her lower back.
The heat. The nausea. The sudden bursts of magic rolling beneath her skin.
"Fuck," she whispered. "Ashira—?"
You already know.
The bond wasn't just sealed. It was fertile. And Drekken knows it too.
Kael reached for her, grounding her, but his eyes were glowing—silver bright, wild with something feral.
And in his head?
Drekken was screaming.
OURS. Ours. She carries us. She carries the heir. The blood. The legacy. SHE CARRIES LIFE.
Kael's pulse exploded.
And then he dropped to one knee in front of her, forehead pressed to her thigh, growling low and primal like it was the only sound he could make.
"Say it," he breathed.
She blinked. "What?"
"Say it's real."
Vireya hesitated.
Then whispered, "I think I'm pregnant."
Iska straight-up dropped her cup of tea.
It shattered on the floor.
Theron choked on his breath and coughed into his elbow.
"Oh gods," Iska muttered. "This is so much faster than I expected. Did you even wait a full moon cycle before breeding the heir, Your Majesty?"
Kael ignored her.
He stood slowly, one hand still on Vireya's thigh like he couldn't quite pull away.
"Is it safe?" he asked, voice low.
Iska blinked. "Safe? I mean, it's you two. The kid's probably going to be born with claws and a kingdom complex."
"Not funny," Kael growled.
"I'm serious," Iska said, turning sober. "The bond flared. Her wolf is rising. If she's pregnant… that child is going to have two active bloodlines trying to imprint at once. That's rare. Dangerous. Powerful."
Vireya touched her stomach, still stunned. "I didn't even… feel it happen."
"You wouldn't," Ashira said gently.
It wasn't about feeling. It was about fate. That night? You didn't just take a mate. You lit a spark that kingdoms have tried to bury for centuries.
Kael turned to Theron.
"Triple the patrols. I want every inch of this mountain watched. If they got in once, they'll try again."
Theron nodded. "Already on it."
Iska started gathering scrolls. "And I'm going to need blood. Lots of it. For testing. For warding. For whatever the hell is coming next."
Kael glanced at her. "How much time do we have?"
Iska didn't look up. "Before the council finds out? Not long. The magical surge from her awakening and now this? They'll come back. You know they will."
"They'll want to control it," Vireya muttered.
Kael's gaze sharpened. "They'll try."
Ashira rumbled in her head.
Let them come. If they try to touch you now, I'll burn their bones before they speak.
And from somewhere deeper?
Drekken echoed back.
They touched what's mine once. Never again.