Victor Calinte
The grass beneath my knees was warm from Denora's body. The appearance of her skin was extremely pale, and her pulse felt delicate under my fingers but maintained a steady rhythm.
I cradled her softly in my arms like she was a fragile relic from another life. Because in reality, she was.
I barely noticed the guards approach until one of them barked, "Who are you?"
The boy, Simon. He answered before I could. His voice trembled, half defiance, half shock.
"I'm Simon Dragos, from the human realm. I came back with Denora. Are you Victor?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. Not with the bride I just married screaming my name behind me, and Denora collapsed in my arms.
He kept talking. "She loves you, man. Did you marry someone else? Did you betray her?"
Those words hit me like a punch to the gut. I looked down at her, whispering her name, brushing a piece of hair off her face. Her power still shimmered faintly across her skin like moonlight trapped under her veins. The damage her awakening had done, her magic blast. It had shaken the entire realm. She'd returned in a storm.
And I had sealed a vow to someone else.
The guards surrounded us then. They looked between Simon and me, raising their soulbound weapons, their helms obscuring faces I once trained beside.
"She is Princess Denora," one of them muttered.
"She is also unconscious," another said.
After calming Simon down, the leader observed him, then spoke.
"And this boy, he almost shifted. A hybrid, uncontrolled."
"This is all my fault. I'll take full responsibility," I said, finally finding my voice.
"Take us to the palace. I'll explain everything to the Alpha King myself."
The lead guard hesitated before nodding.
"Portal team, prepare transport."
The crowd had turned chaotic. Some ran away from the scene, while others stayed to watch. My grooms men, speechless. My mother? Glaring at me with eyes that said:
'What on earth are you doing?"
And Thalia. My newly married wife. She was very much upset and confused, walking towards me.
"Don't you dare walk away Victor. Come back!" She yelled at me.
Thalia's wedding dress was ripped at the bottom into two. Her lower arm was slightly bruised from the power impact, and bleeding.
This is all my fault. Why did I bring everyone into this?
"I'm sorry, Thalia, but I have to head to the palace. With her."
A ring of silver light opened in the air, glowing with threads of runes and war sigils. Simon, now chained and unconscious, was carried by two guards. I carried Denora myself.
Her delicate head rested against my chest, hair brushing my collarbone. Her scent, starlight and vanilla musk, coiled into my lungs.
A memory surfaced, unbidden and sharp.
We were sixteen. Denora had strolled into the royal gardens to find me. She wore a moon-gold tunic and laughed like she owned the wind.
We danced in the air. I carried her, spinning her round till we fell happily on the grass.
"Even if the world forgets me," she whispered that night, "I know you won't. Promise me that, Victor."
I had.
And I broke it.
As I stepped into the portal with her, her head nestled against my chest, the scent of her ancient magic curling into my lungs, I whispered what I hadn't dared to say aloud in years.
"I'm sorry Nora. I should've waited for you."
***
In a matter of seconds, we arrived at our destination. The portal exit took us to the throne room in the palace. As we stepped out, everything was peaceful. Much calmer than the chaos that occurred in Belana.
The scent of olive oil and enchanted flames lingered in the air. I looked to the floors, the dark marble glowed below our feet. The stained glass ceiling, illustrating the phases of the moon, cast colored light on our arrival.
The Alpha King Levi, emerged from the end of the hall, surrounded by his advisors and two of his personal warriors as they walked into the throne room. His presence was evident, like a weight. And his glare? a blade.
"By the goddess! What happened?" he demanded, his voice echoing like thunder.
"Is that my Daughter?" He watched Denora, observed her.
"She appeared in Belana, during my wedding, your grace." I said simply.
"With a hybrid. An uncontrolled one." His voice darkened, his eyes landing on Simon.
"You were getting married, Victor. You were meant to be protecting Esmien's legacy. And now she's unconscious. My daughter. What have you done?"
"I didn't know she would return," I said, unable to meet his eyes for long. "I thought she was gone. Lost. We all did."
"Dead or not, you should have waited. You were her mate. Even if I never approved of you." He stepped down the platform slowly, each footstep like the tolling of judgment.
"And now she lies in your arms, barely breathing. While your new bride weeps in the sanctuary."
"She collapsed from her own power surge, your grace." I said quietly. "Not because of me."
The Alpha King wasn't convinced.
"You say you didn't harm her, but that doesn't absolve you," Alpha Levi snapped, eyes gleaming silver.
"You should have known she would return. That kind of bond does not die, Victor. You are lying!"
His Alpha aura pulsed outward. It hit me like a wall of ice. I felt it crawling under my skin, looking for lies, weakness. I held my ground, but just barely.
Before he could say more, the doors behind him flew open.
"DENORA!"
Her siblings rushed in. Evadne, Asher and Krista.
Asher, the youngest, a broad-shouldered warrior with blonde hair, copper skin and storm-brown eyes, dropped his sword as he ran to her. Evadne, the middle child with blonde-toned curls and a royal blue dress skidded beside me, pressing her fingers to Denora's neck with shaking hands.
"She's alive," she whispered, voice cracking.
"She's back," Asher breathed. "By the moon, she's really back."
Evadne turned her gaze to me, fierce and teary.
"What happened to her? Victor, what happened?"
Before I could speak, the Alpha King raised his hand. "You shouldn't be near her. Not after what happened. Guards, take him—"
"No," Evadne interrupted, standing between me and her father. "He didn't hurt her."
Her voice was calm. Steady. She turned to look her father in the eye.
"Father, you know he wouldn't harm her. He's loved her since they were teenagers. Since Denora was 16. I watched him break when we thought she was gone."
The Alpha King's jaw tightened. His eyes flicked to me with suspicion, then back to his daughters.
"She must be treated," he said coldly. "Take her to her Chamber. Inform the healers to see her at once. And bring the hybrid boy to the dungeons. Keep him under a suppressor field until we understand what he is. His scent tells me he isn't just a wolf."
"I'll go with Denora," Evadne said quickly, already summoning a healer rune into her hand.
"She needs a stabilizer."
Asher nodded and took Denora from me, his grip careful but firm. A piece of me tore as I let her go.
The guards moved toward Simon, dragging him across the corridor toward the dungeons. His face twitched once, like he was half awake. but he didn't speak.
"You," the King said, pointing at me. "Leave. Your presence is no longer needed."
I gave one last glance at Denora as they carried her down the hallway, her hair trailing like a fallen comet behind her.
I turned to leave, but something stopped me.
Evadne was watching me with concern.
Honest concern.
But Krista, the oldest…
She walked slightly behind Asher, her steps hesitant. Her lips were pressed too tightly. Her eyes flicked once toward me, just once but it wasn't grief or worry I saw there.
It was calculation.
Almost. Or was it disappointment?
I paused in the corridor, heart thudding. There was something wrong. Something about the way she looked at Denora, or maybe the timing of the words she didn't utter. Her choice to remain silent while her sister defended me.
She hadn't spoken at all to me. Not even once.
I stepped aside into the shadows of a high pillar, watching as Krista glanced once more over her shoulder, then fixed her eyes ahead again as if nothing had happened.
She didn't look pleased that Denora had returned.
And somehow, I knew this wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
Krista stared at her sister like a problem returned, rather than a miracle.