Aria's father ordered his soldiers to kill the prisoner before anyone saw her face. Cassiel moved first. He stepped between Aria and twelve silver blades, but Aria's newborn power reached them before his claws did. One command left her lips, and every sword struck the stones.
“Kneel.”
The soldiers obeyed the wolfless girl they had mocked.
Aria tore open the hidden cell. Her mother, Queen Selene, was thin and scarred but alive. The reunion lasted only seconds. Selene grabbed Aria's wrists and stared at the royal markings moving beneath her skin.
“You accepted his crown?” she demanded, looking at Cassiel. “You do not know what he did.”
Lucian tried to pull Aria away, insisting their rejected bond still gave him rights over her. Cassiel caught Lucian's hand before it touched her. The Lycan King's control was terrifying: no raised voice, only enough pressure to force an Alpha to his knees.
“She said no to you once,” Cassiel said. “You will hear it for the rest of your life.”
His other hand settled at Aria's waist to steady her. The contact sent a royal mate bond through both of them—hotter and deeper than the broken thread Lucian had used to control her. Cassiel released her immediately, but Aria had already felt the loneliness buried beneath his power.
Selene led them through the underground cells and showed Aria the order that had kept her imprisoned for twenty years. The command bore Cassiel's royal seal.
Aria looked at the king who had just defended her.
“Tell her the rest,” Selene said. “Tell our daughter why you signed the order to bury her mother alive.”