Chapter 45 The Queen in red
IRIS
The dagger feels awkward in my hand now. What once seemed like the perfect gift suddenly feels… fragile. Like it might shatter under the weight of this moment.
Darian stands across the room, surrounded by a group of Lycans in dark, tailored suits, laughing and drinking like royalty that they are. He fits right in, tall and poised, dark eyes sweeping the room as if every inch belongs to him. Which it does. Or will.
I take a breath and walk toward him.
He sees me before I even speak, and his smile, if it ever existed, vanishes the moment I stop in front of him.
“Happy birthday,” I say quietly, forcing the corners of my lips to lift. I hold the dagger out, wrapped in black velvet, the steel hilt peeking out just enough to catch the light.
He looks at it. Then looks at me. His face gives nothing away.
Still, he takes it, slowly. His fingers graze mine, and for a brief second, the chill in his expression falters, but then he hands it off immediately to a guard standing beside him, like it’s nothing more than an object he’s been handed a hundred times before.
No thank you. No smile. No anything.
“I hope it serves you well,” I add.
“Excuse me,” he says flatly, turning from me and disappearing into the crowd.
I blink after him, heat crawling up my neck. I feel like an idiot.
“Okay,” Daisy says at my side, having appeared silently like she always does. “Was it just me or was that weird?”
I let out a slow breath. “It was weird.”
She tilts her head. “Did he even look at the dagger?”
“He glanced at it. Then handed it off like it was a piece of trash.”
“Rude,” she mutters, then grabs two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and hands me one. “You need this more than I do.”
I don’t hesitate. The glass is cold and the bubbly liquid slips down my throat too easily. I’m halfway through it before I exhale.
Daisy’s eyes sweep across the ballroom like she’s scanning for a celebrity. “Have you seen Zeus?”
I snort. “Why would I know where the royal pest is?”
She arches a brow. “Because you and Adrian are joined at the sarcasm. And Adrian shares DNA with Zeus, unfortunately. So…”
“So, by that logic, I’m supposed to have a tracking chip on the family?”
She grins. “Wouldn’t hurt. Zeus is never not in someone’s face. It’s almost his kink.”
I take a sip of champagne. “Maybe he finally learned the concept of boundaries.”
Daisy fake-gasps. “You think Zeus developed emotional growth overnight? Did he fall and hit his head?”
“Hopefully. Repeatedly. On something sharp.”
She laughs into her drink. “Okay, that’s mean.”
“Accurate, though.”
“Tragically.”
Daisy takes another sip of her champagne, eyeing the crystal chandeliers above us like she’s considering swinging from one if the party gets boring enough. “Well, I haven’t seen him. And I find it suspicious. Zeus loves attention more than oxygen.”
“Maybe he found someone else to torment tonight,” I say.
“Who? Adira? Please. She’s too icy. He’d slide right off.”
I nearly snort into my drink. “God, I needed that laugh.”
“You’re welcome.” Daisy clinks her glass lightly against mine. “Still, weird vibes tonight.”
I nod, eyes scanning the room. “Yeah. Definitely weird.”
My eyes scan the room and I spot Darian again, and I’d course, Adira is still glued to his side.
They're having a conversation with someone else who looks like royalty as well. She leans into him, smiling at whatever someone says.
“She gives me the ick.” Daisy says and I agree.
She turns to look at Darian like he’s the most precious thing in the world and he pretends to not notice as he’s engraved in his conversation. Because he damn well knew she was staring at him, he must have felt her gaze.
“Subtle,” Daisy mutters.
I drain the rest of my glass.
“She knows,” I say.
Daisy raises a brow. “Knows what?”
“That I’m the girl he accidentally marked.”
Daisy blinks. “How would she know?”
“Does it matter?” I mutter. “Look at the way she’s clinging to him. Like I’m going to lunge across the room and challenge her in front of a thousand Lycans.”
“Honestly?” Daisy whispers. “I’d pay to see that.”
I finally look away, heart heavier than I want to admit. “It wouldn’t be worth the lawsuit.”
We go quiet for a moment, both sipping our drinks, the buzz of music and laughter swirling around us like static.
“You okay?” Daisy asks gently.
“I don’t know.”
“You want to leave?”
I hesitate. “No. I want to pretend for one more hour that I’m just a guest at a party. That the dagger I gave him didn’t get handed off like a forgotten receipt. That the girl on his arm isn’t the one everyone expects him to love.”
Daisy’s quiet. Then: “Okay. But if you ever change your mind and want to throw your champagne in someone’s face… I’ll distract security.”
I laugh, shaky but real. “You’re the best.”
“I know.” She loops her arm through mine. “Now let’s go find dessert before you end up punching a royal.”
The moment the air shifts, I feel it in my bones. The low murmur of laughter and clinking glasses falters as a commanding presence fills the ballroom. My skin prickles before I even see him.
The Lycan King.
He strides in like he owns the moon, flanked by guards and trailed closely by Zeus, whose eyes immediately find mine like he’s been waiting to watch this unfold.
The King doesn’t stop to greet guests or offer smiles. His gaze sweeps the room once, and locks on me.
“You,” he growls, voice cold and thunderous. “What are you doing here?”
The music dies. Conversations still. I feel hundreds of eyes swinging in my direction like a spotlight. My throat dries up, but I don’t move. Not yet.
Darian steps forward immediately, placing himself slightly in front of me, shoulders squared. “She’s here as my guest,” he says.
“She is not welcome,” the King snaps. “I said she was to be kept away from this family. Has my word lost meaning in this house?”
Adira stands nearby, lips curling ever so slightly. Zeus looks smug as hell.
I open my mouth to speak, to defend my presence, but Darian lifts a hand slightly, asking me to let him handle it.
“Father,” he begins again, voice calmer, “she was invited to celebrate with friends. That’s all.”
“She is a threat,” the King hisses. “To your future. To our order. To everything we’ve built.”
I flinch. It’s not just the words, it’s the way he looks at me. Like I’m a weed growing in the middle of a curated garden.
“Iris is not a threat,” Darian says firmly, but I already know it’s no use. The King’s mind is made up. It was made up the moment he saw me standing near his son.
He waves his hand like I’m an insect. “Get her out.”
Behind me, I hear Daisy gasp. Aiden appears at my side without needing to be called, his face full of quiet apology.
“I’ll walk you out,” he says.
I don’t argue. There’s no point. I catch Darian’s eye, just briefly, and I see it: helplessness. Regret. And something dangerously close to fury.
Daisy hisses a quiet curse as she loops her arm through mine, pulling me gently toward the exit.
As I turn, the final blow falls.
“I have an announcement,” the King says, voice booming again through the stillness. “In honor of this birthday, and in honor of tradition, I formally declare Adira the future Lycan Queen.”
Applause erupts. It crashes around me like a wave, but I can barely hear it.
I don’t look back. I don’t give Adira the satisfaction of seeing my face. But a single tear slides down my cheek, betraying the storm inside me.
We exit through the grand double doors, the warmth of the party slipping away behind us like a dream I was never meant to touch.
Outside, the night is cold.
Daisy squeezes my hand. “I swear to god, if I had claws, I would’ve ripped Adira’s dress right off her fake-ass body.”
I let out a weak laugh. Just one. “Tempting.”
Adrian stays quiet as he leads us down the steps, flanking me like a guard even now. “I’m sorry,” he says, not looking at me.
“It’s not your fault,” I murmur.
The car waits for us at the bottom of the steps, sleek and black like a shadow. Adrian opens the door, and Daisy helps me in first.
Well, tonight was interesting.