On the other side of the palace, far from the intimacy of River’s defiant kiss and Heiko’s rage-turned-devotion, Queen Lana stood near the grand arched window of her bedroom, watching the velvet night blanket the sky. The stars twinkled indifferently above the royal estate, unaware of the war raging in the queen’s mind.
Her fingers drummed on the marble sill in rhythm with her rising anxiety.
The words Isabelle had dropped like poisoned seeds at the dinner table still echoed in her head. The omega girl’s dowry. The Delta. The desperate hunt for a chosen bond. It should have been enough—an exposure so scandalous that Heiko would be forced to reconsider.
Should have been. But Lana knew her son far too well.
Stubborn. Loyal. Damned unwavering.
Even as a boy, when he broke his leg taming
