Alpha Nocturne's Contracted Mate

348 That's Not Over

Ann lifted her chin.

"Welcome to your new home," she called, letting her voice carry across the stones. "You've stood with me ever since the first time that we met. As Luna of the Dark Moon, and now, Alpha Queen, you'll stand here at the heart of this kingdom. Not apart from our goddess given bond, nor below, but together."

Some of the refugees muttered louder.

"Together? With them? They're Dark Moon…"

A woman spat into the dirt. "It wasn't so long ago that the Royal line and the Dark Moon wore thinly veiled hostility…perhaps its the take over they always wanted…"

One of the Dark Moon flinched...the smallest twitch of his jaw...but didn't move otherwise. Another's wolf bristled, teeth flashing for a blink before he reined it back.

Ann saw it. So did Adam.

His snarl broke the silence, sharp enough to cut stone.

"Enough!" His voice cracked across the yard. "You dare spit on those who will bleed for you? Who left everything behind to stand here and protect you with their lives?"

The refugees shrank back.

But one man, drunk or just stupid, shouted back,

"They're beasts! You bring beasts inside the walls to stand with the lycans and call it protection? What happens when they turn on us?"

Before Ann could speak, Adam was already moving...down the steps, across the yard, aura spilling like fire. The man stumbled as Adam closed in, his wolf surging so hard others staggered just from the force of it.

"Do you want to test that theory?" Adam growled. His claws had already broken skin, his chest rising and falling like a storm about to break.

The man crumpled to his knees, choking on the pressure, but Adam didn't ease.

"Adam," Ann said sharply, stepping down after him.

He didn't move. His wolf was too close, his fury too raw.

"Adam!" she snapped, this time cutting through the haze.

He turned his head just enough to meet her eyes. The fury there made her breath catch...but so did the hurt.

Slowly, he pulled back his aura, leaving the man gasping in the dirt.

Adam's soldiers hadn't flinched once. The refugees, however, were pale and shaken, their fear stinking in the air.

Ann lifted her voice again, cold and clear.

"If anyone here doubts their loyalty, doubt me instead. These wolves stand where I place them. If you can't live with that, leave my gates now."

Silence followed. Heavy and uneasy, but no one moved.

Adam's wolf still burned in his gaze as he climbed the steps again. He leaned close enough that only she could hear. "They insult them again, I won't stop."

"Then just don't make me drag you off the yard," Ann murmured back.

For a second, they glared at each other like enemies. Then he exhaled, sharp, and pulled away.

Maeve hummed.

Ah, only just reunited, and it feels like a fistfight waiting to happen.

By the time evening fell, the palace was seething. Nobles whispering in their halls, servants gossiping in kitchens, refugees muttering in tents.

"…look at them...parading like conquerors…"

"…she surrounds herself with Lycans and outcasts…"

"…favoritism, plain as day. What happens when they turn their claws inward…"

Ann shut it out as best she could. Adam didn't.

Every whisper seemed to cling to him, every mutter pulling his jaw tighter, his hands flexing like claws.

It all broke at supper.

They sat together in the private dining hall, with Coral reading off logistics reports between bites of bread, Eva quiet but attentive. Adam barely touched his food, his gaze sharp and restless.

"They're still talking about Brad." he said finally, his voice low and harsh.

Ann froze.

Adam's eyes cut to her, wolf just under the surface.

"You think I don't hear it? Every hall, every mouth. Your nobles love the story. Brad at your side, Brad shadowing you, Brad's absence explained in whispers I want to rip out of their throats."

Her hand tightened around her cup. "They're lies."

"Are they?" His tone was too sharp, too fast.

Ann's chest went cold.

"Do you really think that I'd..."

"I think he was here when I wasn't," Adam snapped, his voice cracking sharply like a whip in the air.

Silence slammed into the room and Coral looked away, suddenly very focused on her notes. Eva's mouth thinned, but she didn't speak.

Ann forced her voice steady.

"He was here. Because there was a blade at my throat and you were three days away. Because I would rather endure the whispers than bleed out in a garden."

Adam's jaw worked, wolf flashing in his eyes. He leaned closer, every word a snarl.

"You let him stand where I stand."

Ann shot to her feet, chair scraping back against the floor.

"I let him stand where no one else was. Don't twist it."

Maeve growled low in her chest.

Here we go. Round one.

Adam's fists clenched on the table, claws biting wood.

"They look at you and see him. They look at me and see a fool."

Ann's nails bit her palms until she tasted iron in her mouth.

"Then stop fucking acting like one."

The words landed between them like a blade.

For a moment, she thought he'd roar. Or break the table. Or both. Instead, Adam shoved back from his chair, the sound violent in the quiet room.

"I won't hear it tonight," he snarled. And then he was gone, boots striking like hammers down the corridor.

The silence he left behind was heavier than the whispers.

Ann lowered herself back into her chair, palms flat on the wood, breath shaking.

Coral cleared her throat carefully. "Majesty…"

"Not a word," Ann said, her voice flat.

Eva, blunt as ever, muttered, "That's not over."

"No," Ann admitted softly.

Maeve hissed a laugh in her skull. Relief, dread, betrayal, fury. You've got an all you can eat buffet in front of you now, Ann. Better hope it doesn't choke you.

"Does your sarcasm come without food references Maeve?" she snapped back irritably,

"Not at the minute..no. You have the pups to thank for that. Sarcasm and steak is the vibe I'm going for." Maeve purred back completely unbothered.

Ann stared at the doorway Adam had stormed through until her eyes burned, filled with relief that he was back and dread at the cracks widening between them.