Chapter 2

Alvina POV:

Standing in the ruined doorway was Princess Jaelyn Christensen, Deacon's younger sister and a pure-blooded white wolf of the imperial line. The silver wolf guard strapped to her right wrist gleamed with a deadly sheen under the flickering torches.

Her pale cyan eyes had shifted into sharp, beast-like slits, burning with pure rage. She crossed the threshold with long, aggressive strides, her heavy leather boots clicking against the marble like a death knell.

Deacon immediately shifted his stance, placing his massive body directly between us, forming an impenetrable wall of muscle that cut off her direct line of attack.

"Brother, why did you stop?" Jaelyn demanded, her teeth bared as she glared past his shoulder, looking at me as if I were vermin beneath her heel.

I rubbed my bruised lower back against the bedpost, forcing my breathing into a steady rhythm to reel in the scent of white tea blossoms so I would not provoke her volatile wolf any further.

Deacon did not turn around. His voice dropped to its usual freezing, commanding tone.

"Jaelyn, stand down. This is between husband and wife."

Jaelyn let out a furious, bitter laugh, pointing a trembling finger straight at my face.

"Husband and wife? She handed our mother the cup laced with silver! Now Mother stands accused of trying to poison the King and rots in the Tower of the Deposed—and you are still shielding this female?"

I took a deep breath and leaned out from behind Deacon's back, meeting the fiery glare of the white wolf princess.

"I did not poison her, Princess. I was framed."

"Silence! Do you think I will swallow another one of your disgusting lies?" Jaelyn growled, a pale, ghostly silhouette of a giant white wolf shimmering around her shoulders.

The heavy weight of her royal Alpha pressure rolled across the room, making my legs tremble, but I dug my fingers into the edge of Deacon's dark tunic to keep myself upright.

"Jaelyn!" Deacon barked, his voice booming like thunder.

His overwhelming Lycan aura burst forth in an instant, instantly smothering Jaelyn's pressure and forcing the air backward like a physical wall.

Jaelyn stumbled back half a step, hurt and disbelief flashing across her youthful face.

"You use your bloodline to suppress me for her?"

I looked at the rigid line of Deacon's jaw, knowing the immense strain he was under. He was caught between his family's honor and the instinctual pull of our bond. I could not let him shoulder this alone.

I let go of his sleeve and took a deliberate step forward, exposing myself entirely to Jaelyn's lethal glare.

"Your Highness, I know nothing I say right now will sound like the truth," I said, keeping my posture straight and my voice completely steady. "But the real culprit is sitting in the shadows right now, laughing while we tear each other apart."

Jaelyn crossed her arms over her leather breastplate, her expression dripping with contempt.

"What, are you going to blame some nameless maid to take the fall for you?"

"Not a maid," I answered without a second of hesitation. "Lord Jens Wolfe."

The name hit the room like an iron anvil dropped into still water.

Deacon spun his head toward me so fast his dark hair whipped across his brow, his golden eyes blazing with raw shock.

Jaelyn froze for a second before letting out a loud, mocking sneer.

"Everyone in the empire knows you worship that hypocrite like a god. You expect us to believe you are turning on him?"

I knew how deep my own blind infatuation with Jens Wolfe had once run—far too deep for simple words to erase. I had to throw down a much heavier card.

"He did not just orchestrate the framing of the Luna," I said, pronouncing every syllable with sharp precision. "He has also conspired with Commander Haven Bates to commit high treason."

The moment Haven Bates's name left my lips, the mocking sneer on Jaelyn's face shattered completely. Haven was the empire's Gamma commander, her betrothed, and the man she trusted above all others.

"You lie!" Jaelyn roared, her control breaking entirely.

She turned into a blur of silver light, lunging straight at me with her curved claws aimed directly at my exposed throat.

I did not flinch, and I did not try to dodge. I knew someone in this room was faster than her.

Deacon moved like a shadow. His large, scarred hand caught Jaelyn's wrist mid-air, the sheer force of the block sending a shockwave that threw her back two full steps.

"Brother!" Jaelyn yelled, clutching her numbed wrist, her eyes rimmed with angry tears.

"Let her finish," Deacon said, his voice dropping into a dark, terrifying register as he stared at me as if looking at a total stranger.

I exhaled a quiet breath, knowing I had bought my first sliver of survival, but the ledge was still narrow.

Before I could lay out the rest of the details, the shrill, piercing sound of an eagle-bone whistle sliced through the heavy night air outside the castle walls.

Deacon's expression hardened instantly. That was the emergency summons signal of the Alpha King, meaning the royal decree for his punishment had already arrived at the gates.