Chapter 38 · Say My Name

The royal mantle hit the flagstones, and the entire hall stopped breathing.

I’d seen Julian on his knees once before. Six years back. On a marble altar where he hadn’t actually knelt at all—he’d stood over me, ripped our bond apart in front of four hundred wolves, and tossed down a scroll that called me a defect.

Tonight he was on raw granite. Throat bared. The solid gold Alpha ring sat in his flat, scarred palm like a cut of meat he was begging me to take.

"Mama." Maya’s little fingernails dug through my medic sleeve. "Everyone’s staring."

"Good," I muttered. "Let ’em choke on it."

Under the iron chandeliers, the room reeked of sweat, cold silver, and burnt sage. The whole pack stood shoulder to shoulder. Half of them had backed Garrett an hour ago; now they were waiting to see if their true Alpha died on the floor or took his crown back.

Over by the heavy oak doors, Garrett Sterling was still pinned in zip-ties, his jaw slack and leaking drool from my neurotoxin dart. The bastard who tried to burn my twins alive couldn't even lift his chin off the rock.