Corvin’s forces hit outpost Seven like a wave. The attack came at midnight.

Outpost Seven was a small garrison on the eastern border—forty soldiers, a stone watchtower, and a wooden palisade that had stood for twenty years. It was not strategically important. It was not heavily defended. It was simply there, a marker on the map, a place where young soldiers cut their teeth on patrol duties before being assigned to more prestigious posts.

Fifty wolves, moving fast, striking hard. They came out of the darkness with no warning, no horns, no challenge. They overwhelmed the guards at the gate, breached the palisade, and set fire to the barracks while soldiers slept inside. The fighting lasted an hour—chaotic, brutal, desperate. When it was over, forty royal soldiers lay dead in the mud. Corvin’s forces retreated before reinforcements could arrive, melting back into the eastern forests like ghosts.

The message reached the palace at dawn.

Seren read the report in the council chamber, her hands steady despite the rage burning in her chest. The parchment was stained with blood and smoke. The handwriting was hasty, the words clipped.

*Outpost Seven destroyed. Forty dead. Corvin claims responsibility. Requests immediate reinforcements.* 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The triplets stood around her. Kael’s face was stone, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Theron’s eyes were cold, calculating, already running through intelligence reports in his head. Aeron’s jaw was tight, the muscles working beneath his skin.

"Forty soldiers," Seren said, her voice flat. "Forty deaths."

"Corvin’s calling it a test," Theron said, spreading a map across the table. "A demonstration of his capabilities. He wants to see how we react. If we hesitate, he’ll hit more outposts. If we overreact, he’ll claim we’re brutal tyrants."

"Forty deaths are forty deaths." Kael’s voice was hard, edged with fury. "Test or not, he crossed a line. He killed our people. He burned our outpost. He declared himself our enemy."

Aeron nodded slowly, his fingers pressing into the wooden table. "Then we respond in kind. No more negotiation. No more offers of council seats. He had his chance. He chose violence."

He turned to the map, tracing the border with his finger.

"Kael, you’ll lead the military response. Take two hundred soldiers—integrated units, wolves and humans. Move fast, strike hard. I want Corvin’s army scattered within a month. I want his supply lines cut. I want his allies questioning whether they chose the right side."

Kael nodded, his eyes blazing. "And Corvin himself?"

"Take him alive, if possible." Aeron’s voice was cold. "Dead, if necessary. I don’t care which, as long as he’s no longer a threat."

Seren stepped forward.

"I’m going with him."

The room went silent. Every eye turned to her. Kael’s expression flickered between surprise and concern. Theron raised an eyebrow. Aeron’s jaw tightened further.

"Seren—" Aeron started.

"I’m not asking permission." Her voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it. "Kael leads the military response. I’ll serve as a political advisor. The soldiers need to see that the crown is united—that the queen is willing to stand beside them, not just send them into danger. The eastern villages need to see that the queen is willing to risk the same dangers they face. They need to look at me and see someone who understands fear, not someone who hides behind palace walls."

"You’re a target." Aeron’s voice was strained. "Corvin would love to capture you. To kill you. To use you as a bargaining chip."

"I’m a symbol." She met his eyes, unwavering. "Corvin’s followers believe I’m a human who stole wolf power. They believe I’m a monster who manipulated their alphas. They need to see me. They need to look into my eyes and understand that I’m not a monster. I’m just someone who wants peace. Someone who started with nothing and built something. Someone who bleeds red, just like they do."

Aeron was silent for a long moment. The council chamber seemed to hold its breath.

Then he nodded, the movement slow and reluctant.

"Theron, you’ll manage intelligence from the capital. I want Corvin’s every move before he makes it. Supply lines, troop movements, weaknesses, defectors—anything that can give Kael an advantage."

Theron nodded, already making notes on a scrap of parchment. "I have agents already in place. Some have been embedded for weeks. I’ll send word ahead."

"And I’ll hold the capital." Aeron looked at each of them—his brothers, his wife. "The council, the Pure Blood League, the southern packs, the northern villages—I’ll keep them in line while you’re gone. No one will exploit your absence. No one will undermine the crown. I will not let the kingdom fall apart while you fight for it."

They held a council meeting that lasted three hours.

Lord Pemberton protested the military response, arguing for further negotiation, for more time, for a diplomatic solution that didn’t involve bloodshed. Lady Ashworth demanded faster action, worried that the eastern instability would spread south, emboldening other ambitious lords. Elowen, summoned from her stronghold, sat in stony silence, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

"You should have let me handle this," Elowen said afterward, catching Seren in the corridor. Her voice was low, bitter. "I know the east. I know Corvin. I could have crushed him before he became a threat."

"You had your chance." Seren didn’t slow her pace. "Corvin grew under your watch. While you were negotiating trade deals and consolidating power, he was building an army. The crown gave you resources. You didn’t use them effectively."

"Because the crown refused to give me the resources I needed."

"He grew because he’s ambitious and you underestimated him." Seren stopped and turned to face her. "Now we both pay the price. Forty soldiers are dead because we didn’t take the threat seriously enough. I’m going east to fix that. You’re staying here to help Aeron hold the capital."

Elowen’s jaw tightened. "I’m coming with you."

"You’re staying here." Seren’s voice was firm. "Aeron needs you on the council. The Pure Blood League respects you—or fears you. The southern packs listen when you speak. Your presence here is more valuable than another sword in the east."

"I’m not a child."

"No. You’re a princess with a complicated history." Seren’s voice softened, just slightly. "Stay. Prove your loyalty. Earn the trust you’ve been demanding from us for years. When this is over, we’ll talk about what comes next. But right now, I need you here."

Elowen stared at her. Then she nodded, the movement sharp and reluctant.

"Fine. But I hope Kael doesn’t get himself killed."

"He won’t."

"You don’t know that."

Seren touched her locket, feeling its warmth through her shirt. "I know that he has something to come home to. Someone who loves him. Someone who will not let him forget that he matters more than any war."

Dawn came too quickly.

Seren stood in the courtyard, dressed in traveling clothes—leather and wool, practical and unadorned. A sword hung at her hip, unfamiliar but comfortable. The weight of it reminded her of everything she was risking. Lysa fussed over her cloak, adjusting the clasp, straightening the collar.

"You don’t have to come," Lysa said, her voice thick.

"I know."

"You’re not a soldier."

"I’m a queen." Seren smiled softly. "Same thing, sometimes."

Lysa’s eyes glistened. "Come back."

"I will."

Rowan stood behind Lysa, his hand on her shoulder. He nodded at Seren—a soldier’s acknowledgment, a promise that he would protect Lysa while she was gone. Iris stood beside him, her arm still in a sling, her expression fierce.

Kael appeared at Seren’s side, already mounted, his armour gleaming. "The column is ready."

Seren mounted her horse, settling into the saddle. The soldiers fell in behind her—wolves and humans, their armour gleaming in the pale light, their faces set with determination. At the head of the column, Kael raised his hand.

"Move out."

The army marched east.

Seren looked back once. Aeron stood on the walls, his silhouette sharp against the grey sky. Theron stood beside him, his face unreadable. Lysa waved, a small, desperate gesture.

The bond hummed.

*Come back,* Aeron sent.

*I will.*

*All of you.*

*All of us.*

She turned forward and rode into the east.

Corvin had made his gambit.

Now they would make theirs.