Chapter 127 CHAPTER 127
Lunch at Lora’s house was usually loud, warm, and chaotic in the best way. Plates clinked, voices overlapped, and someone was always laughing too loudly at something only half-funny. Today, the table felt wrong. Too quiet. Too careful. Sunlight poured through the wide kitchen windows, settling gently on untouched food and folded hands, but no one seemed hungry.
Lora noticed it immediately.
She set down her fork and looked between the two men seated across from her. Liam sat stiffly, shoulders drawn tight, his gaze fixed somewhere between his plate and the window. Ethan sat beside him, hands clasped together, jaw locked in a way that told her he was bracing himself.
“So,” Lora said lightly, forcing a smile, “why exactly did you two decide to have lunch here today when Lisa is at school?” She glanced at the empty chair beside Liam. “I was planning to make something special for her later. Now that my son has finally gotten himself a girlfriend, I wanted her to have a proper meal from her future mother-in-law.”
She chuckled, expecting at least a groan.
Nothing.
Neither Liam nor Ethan smiled. Even Celine, seated quietly at her mother’s side, tried to add something about the weather before her voice trailed off awkwardly. She could already sense the tension her brother and Ethan carried with them.
Lora’s smile slowly faded.
She studied them more carefully now. “Alright,” she said, her tone sharpening. “What’s going on?”
Liam and Ethan exchanged a glance, brief but heavy, and then their focus shifted inward.
“You tell her,” Ethan said through the Mind Link. “You’re her son. She won’t be as angry with you”.
Liam exhaled sharply. “And let her think I hid all this from her on my own? You’re the king. You tell her. If she gets angry, you can say it was by your authority.”
“You think she’ll buy that?" Ethan shot back. "You know how she is.”
“Exactly,” Liam replied. “She’ll shout either way. At least if you tell her, you can survive it.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “You’re passing the blame.”
“You’re avoiding the conversation,” Liam countered.
Lora slammed her hand down on the table.
“Enough,” she snapped. “Stop it. Both of you.”
They froze instantly.
“I can see it on your faces,” Lora continued, eyes narrowing. “You’re speaking to each other. And you’re doing it right in front of me.” She leaned back in her chair. “Ethan, you may be king, but when you walk into this house, you leave the crown at the door. This is where you grew up. And here, I’m still the head of this house.”
She folded her arms. “I can tell you’re hiding something. Or trying to decide who’s brave enough to say it. So I’ll ask one last time. What is it?”
Silence pressed down on the room.
Ethan looked at Liam. Liam gave a slow nod.
Ethan took a breath. “There’s a lot we need to tell you,” he said carefully. “And first… we’re sorry we didn’t say anything sooner. We didn’t know how. But everything that’s been happening lately… it all involves Liam.”
Lora didn’t interrupt. She didn’t move.
Ethan spoke, laying everything out. The ritual. Lisa being pulled into other realms. The imbalance no one had anticipated. The wolf realm. Kael’s condition. Kane’s touch. Celestine’s research. Nolan’s findings. And finally, the truth that had shaken them both.
When he finished, the room felt hollow.
Lora sat perfectly still, hands resting flat on the table, eyes fixed on a spot just beyond Ethan’s shoulder. Celine stared at her mother, wide-eyed, fear creeping into her expression.
Liam shifted uneasily. “You’re king,” he murmured to Ethan through the Mind Link. “Can’t you see what she’s thinking?”
“She’s still an elder,” Ethan replied quietly. “I can’t.”
Lora didn’t shout. She was silent in a way that unsettled them more than anger ever could.
Celine broke the quiet first. “What does that mean for you?” she asked Liam softly. “Being a warden… does it mean you have powers you don’t understand yet? Is it dangerous?”
Liam hesitated. “I don’t feel different,” he admitted. “I still feel like me.”
“We only found out last night,” Ethan added. “Celestine and the Fae elder, Nolan, understand it best.”
“Nolan,” Lora snapped suddenly. “That Fae again.” Her hands curled into fists. “Every time he steps into our lives, something happens. Last time it was the fae spy….” Her words trailed off painfully.
“Mom,” Liam said calmly, “even without Nolan, this would still be true. If I was born with this, then it’s always been there. He didn’t bring it. He just uncovered it.”
“I don’t like it,” Lora said, her voice trembling despite her effort to control it. “I don’t like the idea of you carrying something this heavy. Power we don’t understand. Power we don’t know how to control.”
“I won’t let anything happen to him,” Ethan said firmly.
Lora turned to him sharply. “And how exactly do you plan to do that?” she demanded. “If he can move between realms, how do you protect someone who can disappear into places you can’t follow? With every power comes enemies. If Liam is guarding the realms from something, then that something will come for him.”
She stood, emotion finally breaking through. “I’m his mother. I’m allowed to be afraid.”
Then she stopped. Took a breath. And turned back to Ethan.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. I know you’re afraid too.”
Ethan nodded slowly. “I am.”
Lora’s gaze hardened with resolve. “Then promise me this. Make sure he takes the training seriously. Protect him from anyone who might try to use or harm him.” Her voice softened. “I’m trusting you with my son.”
Ethan met her eyes. “I won’t fail him.”
Liam reached for Ethan’s shoulder. “We’ll take care of each other.”
Lora nodded, holding onto that promise like a lifeline.
Lora stayed where she was as the two men stood, watching them with a mixture of fear and trust that felt heavier than any crown. She didn’t walk them out. She didn’t need to. When the door finally closed behind them, the house felt quieter than it had in years.
Outside, the afternoon air was warm, the sky stretched wide and blue above the gravel path that led back toward the palace. Liam exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding his breath since the moment they sat down at the table.
“That,” he said at last, rubbing the back of his neck, “went better than I thought.”
Ethan gave a tired smile. “Much better. I was bracing myself for flying cutlery.”
“She didn’t throw anything,” Liam said, almost amused. “That’s how you know it was serious.”
They walked side by side, boots crunching softly against the path. The palace wasn’t far, but neither of them rushed. It felt like one of those moments where slowing down mattered.
After a few steps, Ethan glanced at him. “How’s Kane taking all this?”
Liam’s expression softened, but the uncertainty didn’t leave his eyes. “About the same as me,” he admitted. “Confused. Grounded. Trying not to overthink what hasn’t happened yet.”
He paused, then added, “We talked. Agreed to take it one day at a time.”
Ethan nodded. “That’s probably wise.”
“If there’s training,” Liam continued, “we train together. If there’s research to be done, we do it ourselves too, not just rely on Nolan. And if complications come…” He let out a quiet breath. “We deal with them as a team.”
Ethan stopped walking.
Liam noticed immediately and turned to face him. Ethan’s gaze was steady, sharp in that way it always got when he was weighing something important.
“As a team,” Ethan repeated.
“Yes,” Liam said without hesitation. “No one gets left behind. Not me. Not Kane. Not Lisa. Not Celia. If this thing is real, then it affects all of us.”
Ethan studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. “Good. Because that’s exactly how I see it too.”
They resumed walking.
“There’s something else,” Ethan said after a moment. “I’ve been thinking about what happened to Lisa. How the separation affected her bond with Celia….”
Liam’s jaw tightened slightly. “I have too.”
“If imbalance could do that to them,” Ethan went on, “then it’s possible the same thing could happen between you and Kane. Nolan said all the previous warden have been fae – never a were werewolf, lycan or otherwise. This may bring reactions Kane and you that are unheard of.” There was a pause.
“We can’t rely on Nolan’s information alone. We have to keep digging. Quietly. I’ll reach out to other kingdoms, old archives, places that won’t ask too many questions.”
Liam glanced at him. “Without telling them who the warden is.”
“Exactly,” Ethan said. “If anyone out there knows something about this power, I’ll find it. And I’ll do it without putting a target on your back.”
Liam stopped again, this time placing a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
Ethan shrugged it off lightly, but his voice was sincere. “You’d do the same for me.”
“I already am,” Liam said.
They shared a small, understanding smile before continuing on.
They were just nearing the palace gates when Liam felt it.
Tension. A tightening deep in his chest, like something unseen pulling at a thread he didn’t even know he carried.
He slowed instinctively.
Ethan noticed. “What is it?”
Before Liam could answer, Kane surfaced in his mind, his presence snapping into place with urgency. “Something’s happening,” Kane said.
Liam’s heart skipped as he linked Ethan onto the conversation. “Where?”
“The wolf realm,” Kane replied. “I can’t explain it properly. But something is shifting.”
Ethan’s gaze flicked between them. “You’re sure?”
“No – I’m not. But I still want to check it out.” Kane responded.
Liam didn’t hesitate. “You’re not going alone. If something’s changing, I need to see it too.”