Chapter 25 Before I Lose My Shit

Chapter 25 Before I Lose My Shit
Ysara POV

The King and Queen began to move towards me, with fury on their faces, and magic at their hands.

But Etheryn was having none of that shit. Stone rose from the floor like hands, gripping their ankles. Vines lashed out, wrapping their legs and wrists. Creatures slithered from the shadows, all claws and teeth and old-forest judgment. The Thorn Queen and the king were seized, both of them shrieking, thrashing, and hurling insults and threats and promises of retaliation.

It didn’t matter. They were dragged. Out. By their ankles. Across their own throne room floor. The nobles parted instinctively, like nobody wanted to be brushed by that kind of downfall.

The doors slammed behind them.

And the room went dead quiet again, only now it was the stunned silence after watching a crown shatter and a Ravelyn become a high fae. The noble families stood there staring at me like I was a disaster they didn’t know how to survive.

I was still holding the glowing stone. My hands were shaking. Then a stunning noble high fae stepped forward. Her blonde hair was perfect. Her blue eyes were icy. Her mouth curved into a smile that was just a touch too knowing. She lowered herself gracefully into a bow.

“My queen,” she purred. “I live to serve. Please consider the Thornevalis as you build your court."

Kalesh’s body went super still beside me. His voice was calm, but the threat underneath it could’ve split the room in half. “You will leave now Lady Naralyth.”

Naralyth’s smile flickered in annoyance. Like she didn’t like being told what to do. Too bad bitch. But she straightened and stepped back anyway, smooth as silk. “As you wish… Kalesh.”

She turned away quickly, disappearing into the crowd of nobles before she could say something worse.
I stared after her, my heart thudding. I didn't like the way she said his name like she knew him, intimately.

Then...per usual... everything fucking hit me at once. The vines. The crown. Etheryn. I'm fucking high fae. The throne room. The king being dragged out like a tantruming child. The words Ravelyn Queen.

My vision blurred. I turned to my men, my voice trembling. “I’m going to burst into tears. Please take me somewhere safe and private before I lose my shit.”

Five voices answered at once, overlapping, fierce and devoted.

“Yes, my queen.”

Wyatt stepped in first, his hands gentle at my elbows. Rafe moved to my other side, protective and steady. Darken’s palm settled at my lower back like an anchor. Kalesh took my hand, his thumb brushing over my knuckles like he was grounding me into reality.

Tharion loomed behind us, watchful, and possessive, ready to incinerate anyone who breathed wrong. They guided me through side corridors and into a private chamber carved from living wood, and the walls hummed softly like they recognized me too.

The door closed. The moment it latched, I snapped.

A sound tore out of me, half laugh, half sob, and then I was crying so hard I could barely breathe.

“I didn’t want this,” I choked. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I just wanted my mom to live. I just wanted to be normal for five minutes. Five fucking minutes.”

Kalesh caught me before I hit the floor, and put his arms around me, holding me tight.

Wyatt pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re safe little witch.”

Rafe’s hand slid into my hair gently. “We’ve got you, always. No matter what happens.”

Darken’s voice was low and steady. “Let it all out.”

Tharion’s growl vibrated through the room, soft and furious. “No one will take you from us.”

And I clung to them, shaking, crying, and trying to breathe through the wildfire of emotion ripping through my chest. Because apparently I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I was being fucking crowned. And I wasn’t sure whether to scream, laugh, or burn the whole damn world down. Not to mention the whole, more mates on Earth thing.

Lovely. How many mates would I get? No one knows.
~

Kalesh POV

I watched as Ysara slept curled on the bed, wrapped in too many blankets, with vines still faintly glowing beneath her skin like the land hadn’t quite let go of her yet.

She had cried herself to sleep in our arms, and she needed the rest. All five of us surrounded her instinctively, a living wall of bodies and blades and teeth, but the moment her lashes fluttered and she sank deep into sleep, something clicked into place inside me.

Duty. Old, heavy, and absolute.

I straightened and felt it settle on my shoulders like a mantle.

“We’re bonded to a Ravelyn,” I said quietly, but the words carried. “Which means every one of us is now a king consort of Etheryn.”

Silence.

Then Wyatt muttered, “What the actual fuck.”

Rafe ran a hand through his black hair. “You’re telling me I went to bed a lawyer and woke up… royalty?”

Darken’s jaw tightened. “This complicates Earth. Significantly.”

Tharion didn’t blink. He stood at the foot of the bed like a carved statue, his wings folded tight, and his eyes glowing faintly. “Our previous lives no longer matter.”

We all looked at him. He tilted his head slightly, his dragon calm masking something lethal. “We are bonded to the Ravelyn who will change the world. That supersedes everything. And if any of you leave her..” His gaze flicked, sharp and promising. “I will hunt you the fuck down.”

Wyatt scoffed. “Relax, dragon.”

Rafe snorted. “Yeah, no one’s leaving.”

Darken sighed. “But do stop threatening murder in front of the sleeping queen.”

Tharion didn’t move. “I meant every word. You fuckers need to get your priorities straight."

Wyatt’s jaw tightened. “Excuse me?”

“Your lives before her are OVER” Tharion continued, his eyes burning. “They are over. She should be your whole life now.”

Rafe let out a humorless laugh. “Careful, dragon. That’s easy to say when you didn’t have a life to begin with.”

The room went dead quiet.

Tharion turned slowly, predator-slow. “I had a life,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “I gave it up to keep my soul intact. My choice may been the reason our ravelyn is alive today. You sold your soul to boardrooms and power games.”

Wyatt stepped forward, his silver eyes flashing. “I built something. I protected people. I didn’t hide in the wilderness pretending isolation was noble.”

“Isolation kept me from becoming a monster like your father,” Tharion snapped. “What did your empire give you? A tower full of secrets and a woman you watched without touching.”

Rafe snarled. “Fuck you.”

Tharion didn’t blink. “Truth hurts.”

Rafe’s lycan pushed forward, teeth bared. “You don’t get to judge us like you’re some moral high ground. You marked her a day ago. You think that makes you better than us?”

“It makes me honest,” Tharion shot back. “I don’t pretend I can walk away.”

Wyatt growled, his chest heaving. “None of us are walking the fuck away!!”

“Good,” Tharion said coldly.

The air vibrated with restrained violence. Claws threatened. Teeth flashed.

“Enough.”

My voice cut through them clean and sharp. All eyes turned to me.

“I’m going to gather the Dawnbound,” I said. “I am their commander now. You will settle in, rest, and stay with her. Stop fighting. Food will be sent. Wards will be reinforced. If you have excess energy, burn it on the training grounds, not here while our Queen sleeps.”

Wyatt muttered, “Bossy.”

“Efficient,” I corrected.

I spared one last look at Ysara, sleeping, powerful, and terrifyingly vulnerable, then turned and left before my heart could overrule my spine.

The throne room was still crowded when I arrived. Nobles lingered in clusters, whispering, their eyes bright with fear and awe and ambition. They fell silent as I entered.

“I speak for the Ravelyn Queen,” I said, my voice ringing off living stone. “She is exhausted following her awakening wnd transformation and will address the court tomorrow.”

A collective exhale rippled through the room. Then I continued, colder.

“Not all of you will remain seated on this court. Prepare your affairs accordingly. My queen will not tolerate lies, corruption, or political theater.”

Murmurs broke out. Some bristled. Others looked...relieved. A few bowed deeply.

“Thank you, King Consort,” they said, and meant it.
Good. The honest ones always recognize a storm before it hits.

I dismissed them and turned as the Dawnbound gathered, elite hunter fae stepping forward with hands to hearts and eyes alight. As one they kneeled in front of me.

"We live to serve King Consort!"

I placed my fist to my heart and beckoned for them to stand.

“Station extra guards at every known portal in Etheryn,” I ordered. “No unannounced crossings. No exceptions. No one fucking drops in to surprise my Queen.”

They moved instantly. Gods I adored efficiency.

Next came the lower fae servants, wide-eyed and trembling.

“There will be a purge,” I said evenly. “My queen will want to meet you all and decide if you stay. New candidates will be brought for her consideration. She will require three personal maids, ladies in waiting, a cultural instructor, a clothcrafter, and builders with earth or structural magic.”

I paused, then added, softer, “She will want to make changes.”

Hope flickered through them like dawn. When the room finally emptied, I sat heavily on the throne and rubbed my temples. What I had witnessed was destiny unfolding without apology. Prophecy, power, choice, and chaos braided into one woman who laughed and cried and loved too fiercely for a world built on restraint.

And I would make damn sure she was protected.

No matter what it cost.
~

Aldric The Exiled Alpha POV

I finally caved.

The Broker leaned close, his shadow stretching wrong across the stone, and I tasted blood and silver and old magic in the air. I lifted my head slowly and smiled through split lips.

“Fine,” I rasped. “You want her. I want her. We can work together.”

His eyes gleamed, greedy and triumphant. He thought he’d won something.

That was almost cute. I was just impatient to get to her. They dragged me back to my cell afterward, chains biting into my wrists as the door slammed shut. I sagged against the wall, breathing hard, letting my lycan curl inward and lick its wounds. Across from me, the merman watched in silence, his sea-green eyes cold.

He shook his head slowly. “You make me sick.”

I laughed, a wet, broken sound. “You don’t get it, fish. I just bought myself time.”

He didn’t respond at first. Just stared at me. Then his body went utterly still. Frozen. His pupils blew wide, and his breath hitched like he’d been punched in the chest.

I frowned. “What?”

Then he laughed. Soft at first. Disbelieving. Then louder. Rich with vindication.

“Oh,” he said, his voice shaking with delight. “Oh, you poor, delusional creature.”

My stomach tightened. “What did you feel?”

He stepped closer to the bars, his eyes glowing faintly, salt and magic curling around him. “My Ravelyn just crossed a threshold.”

My heart slammed once. Hard.

“The land,” he continued, savoring every word, “has crowned her.”

I swallowed. “Crowned…?”

He grinned at me, sharp and merciless. “Queen of Etheryn.”

The words hit like a blade to the spine.

“No,” I whispered.

“Yes,” he said, laughing again. “The Living Crown recognized her. The fae bowed. The world chose.”

My face drained of what little color it had left.

He leaned in close, his eyes blazing. “She just became unreachable.”

I slid down the wall, chains rattling as the truth settled heavy and cold in my chest.

The merman laughed and laughed and laughed.

And for the first time in a very long time, I felt something dangerously close to fear.