Chapter Two Hundred And Eighy

Chapter Two Hundred And Eighy
Theo’s POV

Ethan knocking at my study door that early wasn’t normal. His knocks were sharp, controlled, and too urgent for a quiet morning. I already knew this wasn’t a simple update.

“Come in,” I said.

Ethan stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and his expression told me everything before he spoke.

“There’s been… new developments about Miles,” he said.

My jaw tightened. “Go on.”

He stood straighter, like he needed the posture to deliver the weight of it. “The Patron didn’t collapse naturally. He was poisoned.”

I stilled. Completely.

“Sonia?” I asked.

Ethan nodded once. “Yes. She poisoned him. The Patron is still alive but barely. And in the chaos, Miles took control of all his father’s operations.”

So that was it. The sudden boldness. The calls. The threats.

“He’s running the empire?” I asked quietly.

“For now. And he’s using the power like a rabid dog off the leash.”

My fingers curled on the armrest. Everything in me steadied, cold and focused.

“What else?”

Ethan took a breath. “Miles is working with a shadow organization. The type that deals with sabotage, kidnappings, and disruption. Their specialty is crashing high-profile weddings. They already know your wedding date.”

I closed my eyes for one second.

Then opened them with a clarity that almost tasted like steel.

“Are you telling me he intends to ruin the wedding?” I asked.

“He intends to destroy it,” Ethan replied. “And he already has a team planted in the city. Watching. Waiting.”

My wolf pushed against my skin, angry and ready to hunt. “Does he plan to appear in person?”

“Yes,” Ethan said. “We intercepted a message this morning. He said he wants to see Camille’s face when everything falls apart.”

Silence filled the room, heavy as lead.

I stood. The calm inside me wasn’t peaceful, it was the quiet before violence. It wrapped around me like armor.

“Listen carefully,” I said. “Nothing in this wedding is changing. Not the date. Not the venue. Not one single detail. The world will watch Camille walk down that aisle with me.”

Ethan nodded but didn’t relax. He’d seen this version of me before, the one ready to wage war.

“We’re doubling the guards,” I continued. “All human workers replaced with our wolves. Snipers stationed on surrounding rooftops. Every vendor, every delivery, every person entering that venue will be screened.”

Ethan scribbled notes silently.

“And send Kai to shadow Camille all day,” I added. “Discreetly. She doesn’t need to know the full danger yet.”

Ethan nodded again. “Understood.”

But he didn’t leave.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Miles is unravelling fast,” Ethan said. “A dangerous man with nothing left to lose is the worst kind. He’ll come harder than we expect.”

I looked at him, steady. “Then we’ll be harder to break.”

When he walked out, something in the room changed; the calm was gone, replaced by a quiet edge that warned me trouble was closer than it looked.

I walked to the window, watching the city stretch beneath me. Somewhere out there, Miles was pulling strings with dirty hands. And somewhere in his shadow, Sonia was no longer running, she was trapped exactly where he wanted her.

And somewhere inside this house…
Camille was smiling, planning colors and flowers and walking toward a future she finally believed she deserved.

I would burn the world before I let anyone take that from her.

I sat back at my desk and reached for my phone, prepared to call someone from a part of my past no one else knew.

But before I could dial, footsteps approached the door, soft and familiar.

The door opened, then closed with a quiet click.

Locked.

I didn’t turn around. Not yet.

“Theo,” Camille said gently, “why did you leave me alone on the bed this morning?”

Her voice softened, almost teasing, but her eyes held something warm. Something that made the shadows of the room ease.

I turned to her. She was still wearing the soft robe she loved, hair in loose waves from her shower. Her gaze moved over me, tense shoulders, stiff posture, too-wide silence.

She walked closer, slow, steady, like approaching a wild animal she wasn’t afraid of.

“You disappeared before I woke up,” she said lightly. “I don’t like waking up without you.”

That simple sentence cracked something inside me.

I reached out, pulled her gently into my lap, and buried my face in her hair.

“I had things to handle,” I murmured. “But none of them matter the way you do.”

She cupped my jaw, her thumb brushing the tension there. “Are you alright?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But I will be. With you.”

She leaned her forehead to mine. “Whatever storm is coming… we face it together.”

My chest tightened at her certainty.

“Miles can try,” I whispered, pulling her closer, “but he won’t stop me from enjoying the woman I love. He won’t stop this wedding. He won’t stop us.”

Her breath hitched, soft and warm against my lips. “Good,” she whispered. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

I kissed her, slow and certain, the kind of kiss that anchors a man who’s been carrying too much.

Her fingers tangled in my shirt. My hand slid to her waist. The world outside disappeared.

For a moment, there was no danger. No threat. No Miles.

Just Camille. My future. My peace and my fire.

When we finally pulled apart, she leaned into me, breath warm against my lips.

“Take me home, Theo,” she whispered.

I held her tighter, brushing my thumb along her cheek. “You’re home the moment you’re in my arms.”

She smiled, soft, teasing and slipped her fingers through mine. “Then let’s go inside,” she said. “You haven’t eaten, and I made something special. Our wedding is in a few days, and I’m not letting my king show up looking slim or stressed.”

Her playfulness melted straight into my chest. I kissed her forehead, already losing whatever resolve I had left. “Lead the way, Camille.”

The storm was coming, but so was our wedding, and I would fight the world before I let anything touch her. She was the woman who made me believe in myself again, the only person who ever looked past the crown and saw the man beneath it.