Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Knot Me My Kings
The next morning I walked the training yard with fresh purpose: To train these fragile women and girls of age so they can defend themselves when the need aruses. I had the women run the same drill three times, each round faster than the last.
Blades flashed under the weak sun. Sweat flew around spattering on the floor and on each other at the clang of each blade. I moved among them, correcting grips, adjusting stances, pushing them until their arms shook.
Lila watched from the edge, wooden sword in her lap, eyes wide as she tried to copy every motion. The twins slept in a basket nearby, bundled against the chill.
I spent the afternoon in council, listening to disputes over water rights and seed stores. I ruled on each one with quick, clear decisions, my voice steady even when Calder sat silent in the front row. The pack listened. Some nodded. Others shifted in their seats, but no one interrupted.
By evening I was back in the chambers, arms full of the three children. Lila climbed me like a tree, chattering about the blades she had seen. Thorne and Elara crawled across the furs, reaching for anything within reach. I let them explore while I nursed them in turns, the weight of the day settling into my shoulders like a familiar cloak.
The kings watched me from across the room. Darius stood by the window, arms crossed, eyes on the ridges. Kane leaned against the wall, knife in his hand even though there was nothing left to sharpen. Rylan paced near the hearth, his steps short and restless.
They had been like this since the feather arrived. Closer. Tighter. Every time I left the chambers they found reasons to follow. Every time I stepped into the yard one of them appeared at the edge, watching. Every time I held council they flanked me like living shields.
I felt it building all day. When the children finally slept in the big bed, tangled together in a pile of limbs and blankets, I turned to face them.
"Enough!," I said.
Darius looked at me first. "You were almost cut open two nights ago. The east is circling. You expect us to stand aside?"
"I expect you to trust me," I answered. "I am not glass. I am not the girl you pulled from that wagon. I am the queen who stood in that hall with blood on my hands and told the pack exactly who we are. If you keep hovering like I might break, you make me look weak in front of them."
Kane’s jaw tightened. "You carry three children and the weight of every law we’ve changed. The east already drew blood on our marker. We are not hovering. We are protecting what is ours."
Rylan stopped pacing. "You almost died in the nursery corridor. Lila was right there. You think we can forget that?"
I stepped closer, voice low but sharp. "I think you forget that I killed the man who came for her. I think you forget that I rode south and ended the woman who poisoned my sister. I think you forget that I have stood in front of this pack and made them listen when they wanted to tear each other apart. I am not asking for permission. I am telling you I will lead. All of us. Together. Not with you guarding me like a prisoner."
The room went quiet. The fire crackled. The bond between us stretched taut, raw and alive.
Darius moved first. He crossed the space in two strides, cupped my face in both hands, and kissed me hard. There was no gentleness in it. Just need and frustration and the same fire that had kept us alive through every moon. I met him with equal force, hands fisting in his tunic, pulling him closer.
Kane came in from the side, scarred fingers sliding under my shirt, tracing the line of my spine.
Rylan pressed against my back, mouth on my neck, teeth grazing the skin where my pulse beat fast.
We moved together without words, the bond flaring hot and bright between us. Clothes came off in a rush. Hands found skin. The four of us fell onto the furs beside the sleeping children, careful not to wake them, but desperate for each other.
It was raw. It was fierce. It was the kind of intimacy that came after too many nights of holding back fear.
Darius kissed me deeply while Kane’s hands mapped every inch of me.
Rylan’s teeth found the spot on my shoulder that always made me gasp.
We moved in the rhythm we had learned through blood and war and birth, but tonight it felt different. Deeper. Like the argument had stripped away the last careful distance we kept between us.
I moaned loudly from pure ecstasy and pleasure while constantly shouting the words "ohhh yes, knot me my kings, I am all yours. Do to me as you wish Alphas!"
When it was over we stayed tangled on the furs, breathing hard, skin slick. I lay between them, heart still racing, the bond humming steady and warm in my chest. The children slept on, unaware, small bodies rising and falling in the same steady rhythm.
Darius brushed damp hair from my forehead. "We hear you," he said quietly. "We will stand with you. Not over you."
Kane pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "But we will not pretend the east is not coming. We protect what is ours. That includes you."
Rylan’s hand rested low on my stomach. "And we fight beside you. Not behind you."
I closed my eyes and let their words settle. The keep was quiet outside the chamber door. The ridges lay dark beyond the windows. The east would push again, but tonight the four of us had drawn our own line.
I felt the bond settle deeper, stronger than it had been since the night I returned from Shadowpine. The children slept safe between us. The keep held. The wall I had built inside myself was still standing.
Tomorrow I would train the women harder. Tomorrow I would rule from the front. Tomorrow the east would learn that this queen did not wait to be protected.
I let myself drift toward sleep, surrounded by the three men who had become my strength and my equal.
***********************
Dawn light slipped through the narrow windows and woke me with Lila’s small foot pressed against my ribs. She had crawled into the space between me and Darius sometime in the night, her dark curls tangled across my chest.
Thorne and Elara lay curled at the foot of the bed like two small wolves, their breathing soft and even. The kings were already stirring. Kane sat up first, scarred hand rubbing his face. Rylan stretched with a low groan. Darius stayed still, one arm draped across all of us like he could hold the moment in place.
I eased out of the furs without waking the children and pulled on a fresh tunic. My body still carried the pleasant ache from the night before, a reminder that the four of us had finally said what needed saying. The bond felt steadier today, less like a wire pulled tight and more like roots sunk deep into stone.
We were halfway through breakfast when Garrick knocked once and stepped inside. His face was set, the kind of look that meant trouble had arrived before the porridge cooled.
"Scout just rode in from the eastern ridge," he said. "He brought someone with him. Alive."
I set my cup down. "Who?"
"A man claiming to be part of the group that left the feather. He surrendered at the marker stone. Says he has information but only if he speaks to you directly."
Darius stood. Kane’s hand went to his knife. Rylan’s eyes narrowed, but none of them spoke. They waited for my decision.
"Bring him to the hall," I said. "In front of everyone. No private rooms. The pack hears this."
The scout was younger than I expected, barely more than a boy, with dirt-streaked cheeks and eyes that kept darting to the doors. He stood in the center of the great hall with his wrists bound, the pack filling the benches around him.
I sat at the head table with Lila on my hip and the twins in the cradle beside me. The kings flanked me, their presence a wall no one would cross.
"You asked to speak to me and here I am so.... Speak," I told the boy.
He swallowed hard, voice cracking. "We’re not Caius’s men anymore. Not really. A few of us survived the pass fight. We scattered. But some of us regrouped. We want revenge for what you did to him. We want the children. Their blood carries the broken curse. We think if we take them, we can make it work for us. Make ourselves stronger than he ever was."
A ripple went through the pack. Someone muttered. Another person stood up, then sat back down when Garrick shot him a fierce look.
