Chapter 23: THE KING WHO COULD NOT BREAK

Logan’s POV

I had to leave her.

Not because I wanted to—gods, every instinct screamed to stay, to hold her until the shaking stopped—but because if I didn’t walk away at that moment…

I would hunt down every wolf in the Moon Pack and tear their throats out.

They wanted her dead, my wolf had heard those words, felt them. Absorbed them like a blade pressed to his heart.

Kill them.All of them.Find the one who hurt her—rip, shred, destroy.

My wolf howled in my chest but I silenced it immediately.

“Enough,” I snarled under my breath, pushing the wolf down.

But he pushed back harder.

My claws threatened to break through my skin.

My vision tinted gold. My jaw ached from how hard I clenched it.

Dominic was still in the palace, walking these halls, breathing my air, looking at my people. And Ophelia, my Ophelia was hiding in the shadows because of him.

The wolf wanted blood so I would settle for restraint, for now.

I stormed toward the war meeting chamber, ignoring the startled guards and the advisors scrambling after me. When I entered, the room fell silent.

Dominic sat at the long obsidian table, Eve at his side.

Elders from both kingdoms lined the room, already deep in discussion about rogue border attacks.

I didn’t sit, or greet, I wave away their greetings

Dominic raised an eyebrow. “King Logan. You look… troubled.”

I smiled.

A cold, sharp, dangerous baring of teeth.

“Do I?”

He smirked. “Perhaps your warriors have told you something important?”

“Yes,” I replied, voice steady despite the violence rising under my skin. “I’ve been informed of many things recently.”

Eve watched me too closely. Dominic leaned back, evaluating me like a wolf sizing his opponent.

Let him sense the danger. Let him feel the storm, because it was coming.

“If we are discussing borders,” I said, taking my seat at last, “let’s address the rogue movement.”

One of my scouts, a young beta named Rowan, stepped forward shakily.

“Your Majesty… we spotted a gathering near the northern ridge. Fifty or more.”

Dominic hummed. “Odd. Rogues don’t travel in numbers like that unless someone is directing them.”

Exactly the line I expected him to say.

Exactly the lie.

I kept my gaze locked on him. “And you believe you know nothing about that, Alpha Dominic?”

He blinked, before smiling slowly, patiently, insultingly..“Are you accusing me of something?”

“No,” I said calmly.

My wolf spat yet. “We are simply discussing possibilities,” I added coolly.

Dominic’s eyes darkened. “If you have something to say, King Logan, speak it plainly.”

I leaned forward, letting the table creak beneath my strength.

“Some packs have a… history of disposing of wolves they deem cursed. Perhaps those same packs are not above stirring rogue activity to hide their… mistakes.”

Eve sucked in a soft breath, Dominic went still.

The elders shifted uneasily.

He was too clever not to understand what I was doing.

But I wasn’t accusing him, not fully, but until I find out the whole truth, I am just warning him now

Dominic tapped his fingers on the table. “Our pack does not make mistakes.”

He said it proudly, arrogantly a perfect admission.

My wolf growled inside me. He knows. He’s bragging. He’s proud of what they did to her—

I forced down the shift rising under my skin.

“Let’s continue,” Elder Marlowe interrupted quickly, sensing the tension thickening the room.

Dominic smirked, satisfied as if he had won something.

He had no idea how close he had come to losing everything.

As the meeting dragged on, I forced myself to listen.

Dominic stiffened suddenly, nostrils flaring.

I froze.

He inhaled again, his brows pulled together.

“What is that scent?” My heart dropped.

Ophelia.

She had been here earlier before I pulled her to safety.

A whisper of her scent still lingered in the stone and air.

Dominic stood slowly, scanning the corners of the room.

Eve rose too, curiosity turning sharp. “Do you smell that? It’s familiar.”

Panic flashed through my veins—fast, lethal.

I rose smoothly, placing myself directly between them and the direction of her faint scent.

“You smell nothing,” I said flatly. “This palace is old. It holds many scents.”

Eve’s eyes narrowed. “No… that’s not—”

“Sit,” I commanded.

My tone came out too deep. Too Alpha.

Dominic’s eyes flicked to mine, sensing the shift in my aura.

“What are you hiding, king Logan?”

“The fact that you’re insulting my hospitality,” I said with a cold smile. “Sit down.”

He didn’t, but he didn’t take another step either.

His wolf sensed mine.

Knew mine would destroy him if he moved another inch.

Elders exchanged panicked glances.

Eve sat slowly, still scanning the room.

Dominic reluctantly lowered himself back into his seat.

But he didn’t stop staring.

My muscles stayed coiled, ready to shift if he dared to follow the scent again.

He didn’t.

Because the scent had already faded. I would tear him apart before he reached her.

The meeting ended with tense goodbyes.

No one spoke of what almost happened. No one dared to.

As the leaders dispersed, Elder Kiran cleared his throat.

“There is one more matter,” he said carefully.

Dominic turned.

“The royal ball,” Elder Kiran continued. “We hold one annually during the Gathering of Alphas. Traditionally, visiting leaders attend with honor.”

A cold smile curled on Eve’s lips. “A ball? How lovely. We accept.”

I hated the idea.

A crowded ballroom. Eyes everywhere, Eve sniffing around and Dominic lurking.

Ophelia will have to hide more.

“Who said you were invited?” I asked flatly.

The elder flushed. “Your Majesty—it is tradition—”

“I’ll allow it,” I said through clenched teeth, “because tradition is important to my people.”

Dominic smirked.

“But,” I continued, voice sharp enough to cut stone, “my staff will be limited. Only my most trusted servants will be present. No exceptions.”

Eve tilted her head. “Why limit staff?”

Because one wrong step and she would recognize Ophelia.

Because one whiff and Dominic would find her.

Because Ophelia was mine to protect, mine to shield, and I would not let the pack that tried to kill her lay eyes on her again.

Instead, I said “To ensure discreet service. This ball is political, not indulgent.”

Dominic studied me with a strange expression, suspicions, calculative and curiosity, I let him wonder.

He would never touch her again.

As soon as the meeting ended, I left through the back hallway—fast, urgent, barely holding the shift down.

My wolf was clawing at my insides to find her and hold her to my chest.

I found her exactly where I left her standing near the window of the small chamber, hugging herself, staring out at the training fields.

She turned when she heard me, eyes still red from crying.

Something inside me broke cleanly.

She whispered, “Is everything okay?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But it will be.”

She stepped closer nervously. “Did… anyone notice I’d been there?”

My jaw tightened. “They smelled you.”

Her breath hitched.

“But I stopped them.”

I took her hands, still cold from fear.

“Ophelia,” I said quietly, “there will be a ball in two days.”

She stiffened.

“And I will not let Dominic see you,” I continued. “You won’t go. You will not step foot outside my chambers.”

Her lips parted. “Your… chambers?”

“Yes.”

My thumb brushed her knuckles—slow, deliberate.

“For your safety,” I added, but the way she looked at me… she knew it wasn’t only safe.

It was else pulled between us, her fire and my wolf

The truth binding closer, closer, closer—

Before either of us could speak, a horn blew outside.

A warning horn the elders shouted. The Warriors ran. My head snapped towards the Rogues' window the Rogues, again.

Ophelia gasped Dominic had barely arrived, and the attacks were escalating fast

Someone was playing a dangerous game, and we were running out of time.