[Third Person].
Draven appeared at the doorway of the dressing room just as redith’s maidservants left.
He stopped short when he saw her, but he didn’t smile imdiately.
He simply looked at her, his gaze steady, unreadable at first, then slowly warming with sothing deeper than desire—pride, resolve, and a hint of protectiveness he didn’t bother to hide.
"You look..." He exhaled quietly, as if choosing restraint over words. "Like soone they won’t be able to ignore."
redith turned toward him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "That was the idea."
He walked closer, adjusted nothing, touched nothing—just stood before her as though committing the image to mory. After a mont, his hand lifted and rested briefly at her waist, grounding rather than claiming.
"Be careful," he said softly. "Palaces are worse than battlefields. At least enemies on the field show their claws."
"I know," she replied. "And you will be here when it ends as you promised ."
His thumb pressed lightly once, then he stepped back. "I will co for you after," he confird.
redith nodded, a smile slowly appearing at the corner of her lips.
No dramatic farewell followed. No deep kiss or long hugs. Just a shared understanding that tonight was not about romance, but positioning.
Minutes later, redith descended the front steps of the estate, the sleek black car already waiting. The driver opened the door, and she slipped inside without looking back.
---
The Royal Palace~
By the ti redith arrived at the palace, the sun had dipped low, leaving the sky washed in deep indigo and gold.
Lights blazed across the palace grounds, illuminating polished stone, towering pillars, and the steady stream of arriving vehicles.
Soft, refined music drifted from inside. As redith stepped out of the car, conversations nearby faltered.
So won turned openly. Others glanced, whispered, and assessed. She could feel the shift almost imdiately, the way attention tilted, curiosity sharpening into calculation.
This was not the normal kind of gathering. This was quieter, more political, and certainly more dangerous.
And just then, redith caught sight of Wanda.
Wanda stood near the centre of the hall, dressed immaculately. Her posture was flawless, and her green eyes alight with sothing that looked like confidence to anyone who didn’t know her better.
She was already surrounded by older noblewon, influential matriarchs, and wives of high-ranking Alphas. Wanda laughed softly at sothing one of them said, perfectly at ease, perfectly entrenched.
redith was not surprised to see her here after all, Wanda was fad to be amongst the best female warriors in Stormveil.
Wanda noticed redith seconds later. Their eyes t briefly across the room. Wanda’s smile didn’t falter, but sothing colder slid behind it, a asured appraisal already turning into strategy.
redith moved forward anyway. As she did, reactions split.
So won inclined their heads respectfully, already aligning themselves with the future Queen. Others hesitated, unsure whether it was wiser to approach redith or remain anchored to Wanda’s orbit.
A few bold ones stepped forward, offering polite greetings, introductions and light conversations, testing the waters.
"You hosted that gathering for the won," one said warmly. "It was... generous."
Another smiled a little too carefully. "You are very young to bear so much responsibility."
And then, inevitably, the sharper questions began to surface, thinly veiled and wrapped in civility.
One woman, older and evidently fearless, tilted her head and asked, "Forgive my curiosity, Luna, but it has been over a year since your marriage, has it not?"
A small pause followed. Several ears leaned closer.
"No heir yet?" another murmured, not quite softly enough. "I wonder if the Alpha is simply too busy... or if all is not well behind closed doors."
Wanda didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. In fact, her silence was an invitation, and a few won accepted it—exchanging knowing looks, subtle nods, already weaving implications into the air.
redith responded calmly, her grace unshaken, and her expression unreadable.
Before the tension could settle further, movent rippled through the hall.
"Her Majesty," soone announced.
Queen Loraina entered, and the room shifted instantly.
"Good evening, Your Majesty," voices echoed in practised unison.
Queen Loraina acknowledged them with composed elegance, but her gaze moved quickly and deliberately until it found redith. And then, she smiled.
"Luna redith," the Queen said, stepping toward her without hesitation. "I am pleased you could attend."
Though the words were simple, the ssage was not.
Wanda’s jaw tightened just slightly as she watched the interaction.
Queen Loraina turned, gesturing redith forward. "Co. There are won here you must et."
She introduced redith personally, one after another, to influential figures: pack matriarchs, political patrons, won whose approval shaped territories and alliances.
redith was placed at the Queen’s side, not as an afterthought, but as a focal point.
The Queen’s introductions did not go unnoticed by the other won. As redith moved with her from one influential woman to another, Wanda’s circle subtly rearranged itself.
Smiles remained polite, laughter soft, but the atmosphere had shifted. Wanda no longer held the centre. redith did.
But Wanda adapted quickly. She drifted closer to another group, her voice lowered just enough to sound confidential rather than malicious.
"It is admirable," Wanda said lightly, swirling the wine in her glass, "how devoted Alpha Draven is to his mate. Though, of course, devotion does not always translate into peace."
A few won exchanged looks.
"Especially," Wanda continued, feigning hesitation, "when the pressure of an heir weighs so heavily. So unions thrive under it. Others..." She smiled. "Strain."
The words spread softly but efficiently.
This ti, Wanda wanted to add more fire to the fus on this very topic, unlike the first ti one of the won brought it up with redith.
Sure, and soon enough, the whispers found redith again, sharper this ti.
One of the won, putting on a red feathered jacket, inquired, "Luna redith, but do you actually not find this concerning? A year into marriage, and no pup yet? The people do wonder."
Another added, almost sympathetically, "Or perhaps the Alpha has been away too often. n with power are rarely idle."
The intent was clear now. This was no longer idle gossip. It was a test.
redith t their gazes calmly, her posture unyielding. Since the decision not to bear a pup yet was hers alone, and there was nothing biologically wrong with her, she wasn’t bothered like Wanda intended her to be.
Yet she still wanted to respond to this sa curiosity as she did earlier. But before she could respond, a new voice entered the conversation—firm, composed, and unmistakably unimpressed.
"Interesting," the woman said, "how quickly fertility becos a public matter when a woman rises into power."
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