Chapter 192: War On Our Table

Leo’s POV

The moment the mindlink pulsed…sharp, urgent…I knew the hour had come for me to face my people.

I lay there for one last breath, watching my mate sleep.

Ivy’s lashes like two dark crescents against her cheek, the slow, even rise and fall of her chest. The cold tremors were gone and the shudders that were wracking her earlier had stilled.

Relief uncoiled inside me, a soft, dangerous thing I refused to name. I brushed hair from her face and felt the fine silk of it on my fingers, warm and real.

She tucked herself deeper into me and murmured something I couldn’t quite catch, and something in my chest unclenched.

For the first time in an age, my head did not hum with Dina’s whispers. The claws that had raked at me in dreams, the dark corridors of memory where her shadows had held me captive…gone.

It felt obscene to be so simple…alive, whole, and wanting nothing more than to press my face into her hair and memorize the way her scent mingled with mine.

I smiled and the memory of our lovemaking flared…an ache turned to ease, a hunger finally sated.

The gratitude I owed the goddess tasted like fire and wine. I made a promise to the nothing-and-everything above…I would wear this gift like armor for as long as I breathed. I would die for Ivy.

I searched for her everywhere I could think of. Day and night, I never stopped looking, until the emptiness of her absence started to drive me insane. I thought I had lost her for good.

But in the end, she was the one who found me.

The mindlink pulsed again…closer, insistent. I slid from the bed, careful not to make a sound and then, pulled the duvet up to her neck. Her eyelids fluttered but did not open when I dropped a kiss on her forehead.

The shower was quick and hot, washing away the weight of everything that has happened.

Steam filled the bathroom as I worked through the rough mess of beard that had grown too long, each stroke of the blade scraping me back to reality.

The sting on my skin reminded me I am finally here, that I’m still me. I trimmed my hair fast, uneven scissors tugging at the ends, but it was enough.

When I finally looked in the mirror, I didn’t see a prisoner or a shadow anymore…I saw a man who could take back his throne.

How much time had slipped by? The question hovered in my mind as I dressed…simple trousers, a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, nothing fancy.

The royal ring on my finger caught my eye for a moment…once it had felt like a shackle, but now it felt like a compass, pulling me forward.

I glanced at Ivy once more…sleeping, undisturbed…and something hard and protective settled into my bones. Then I left.

The corridor smelled of old wood and polish and a hundred small neglects. Tapestries that had once brightened the halls hung dulled, weighed by dust.

The palace itself moved like an animal wounded and wary…its halls whispered of fear and of patience, of days waiting for a heartbeat to return.

Mine. And I’m here.

Guards shifted aside, bowing with reverence whenever I passed. I could read the questions in their eyes.

It didn’t take me long to realize that my madness had been a secret.

When the guards pushed the war room door open, warm light spilled across the stone.

Ezra was already there…tall, shoulders rounded by the weight he’d carried in my absence. He rose at the sound of me and the room pivoted, my eyes glued to the man who had been the kingdom’s anchor while I drifted.

He walked toward me like both a brother and a soldier, steady but worn down. His eyes were tired, ringed with shadows, and the new lines on his face told the story of months I hadn’t been there for…months that had weighed on him because of me.

“Your majesty.” He closed the distance and hugged me as if to check that the warmth was not a trick. His voice cracked on the last word. “I thought we lost you. I thought I would never see you again.”

I hugged him back. There was so much between us…things to explain, to apologize for…but in that moment, none of it mattered. We were just two men who had survived the same storm. I tried to lighten the heaviness.

“Aren’t you too grown to be crying, Ezra?” I said, and he sniffed, forcing the kind of half-smile he always wore when he wanted to hide his fear.

“You have no idea how betrayed I felt when you ordered them to lock us up,” he said, and the words cut…blunt and true.

Damn that girl who bewitched me. I still can’t fully remember how she even got into the chamber where I was locked up, or how I reacted to her. All I know is that, for a time, she had me convinced she was my mate…and that I had to protect her and destroy anyone who stood in her way.

I started to speak, to explain the fog that had been laid over me, to peel back the truth of Dina’s influence, but Ezra cut me off with a plea that was almost laughable in its simplicity.

“Don’t apologize, your majesty. Just give me the house by the east of the estate…the one with the river. I’ll be the happiest man.”

He’d always loved that land, talked about it like it was a dream. I had planned to give it to him during the moon festival, a way of honoring everything he’d done while I was gone. So when he asked, the words slipped out before I could even think. “It’s yours.”

“Your majesty, I know that I'm asking for much. It’s just that I don’t want to stay here anymore. I know you’ve allowed me in the palace since I was sworn in, but this place is meant for you and the queen…maybe a few servants…not me. I just… wait…did you say I can have it?”

His words trailed off as the realization hit, and then he pulled me into another hug, tighter this time.

“Can we get to the meeting now?” Shina’s voice broke through, steady but tired. She bowed, always precise in the way her role demanded. When her eyes lifted to mine, I saw how worn down she was…the dark hollows at her temples, the way her fingers pressed against the bridge of her nose like she was holding herself together. Carrying the weight of priestess, prophet, and healer had clearly taken its toll.

“It’s good to have you back to your usual self, your majesty,” she said. The warmth in her words was real, but it couldn’t hide the exhaustion behind them.

Both she and Ezra carried the marks of everything they’d been through while I was gone, lines I knew I was partly to blame for. I sat down at the head of the table, the war map laid out between us…covered in pins and markings.

“Shina,” I said as I settled. “Thank you.”

She nodded and got straight to the point. Ezra filled me in on everything…raids from Malrik’s men testing our borders, clashes between packs, disputes among the council, rogue attacks. Then came the names… Isabella’s betrayal, my uncle’s treachery. Each word hit hard, stacking up until the weight of it all settled heavy in the room.

“And now,” Shina said, her tone turning heavy, “we’re at war. Dina has declared it. We need to act first…hit before she does. There’s something she fears more than any protective spell, and for once, it’s on our side.”

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“Your mate. The Queen.” Shina didn’t hesitate. “We need to train her for this fight. She’s the only one who—”

“Absolutely not,” I cut in.