Just as I managed to lock the anger behind iron walls, a deep, raspy baritone cut through the noise of the ballroom—the most beautiful sound I had heard in twenty-four months.

"Hey, sweetheart."

My heart skipped a violent beat. I spun around on my heels, my breath catching in my throat as I collided with a pair of burning, gorgeous hazel eyes. My calculations had been correct: Gideon had grown into a devastating predator. He was massive, his chest broad enough to block out the light of the chandeliers, his jawline razor-sharp.

His eyes swept slowly down my altered, curved silhouette, a sudden, primal golden flash igniting within his hazel irises. Under the sheer intensity of his gaze, a strange, electric heat bloomed in my core.

"So," he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, private register as he extended his massive arms. "The princess returns from Europe, and I don't even merit a proper embrace?"

Every shred of my high-society armor evaporated. I didn't care about the watching pack elders or the political boundaries; I wanted nothing more than to bury myself in his scent. I lunged forward, letting his massive arms lock around my waist, lifting me off my heels as he crushed me against his chest. The moment my face hit the crook of his neck, inhaling his familiar aroma of rain and cedar, the chaotic noise of the world completely fell away.

An hour later, Gideon and I managed to slip past the prying eyes of the vanguard, navigating the dark trails to the secluded ridge overlooking the Silver-Vane valley. I threw myself onto the cool grass, staring up at the vast expanse of California stars, a habit I had maintained in the frosted fields of Budapest.

Gideon’s massive shadow fell over me as he stepped into my view, looking down at me with a soft, amused smile. "Is that an old habit you acquired from the Hungarian courts?"

I nodded silently, offering a small smirk. He let out a low chuckle. "It appears you also brought back their regal head movements, princess."

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him before pushing myself up into a seated position beside him. Gideon’s smile faded into something heavy and solemn. He let out a long, ragged sigh, reaching out to wrap a heavy arm around my shoulder, pulling my back against his side.

"I have a mountain of truths to give you, Evadne," he murmured, his gaze fixed on the valley below. "I don't even know which border to cross first."

"Start by explaining why you were absent from my welcome tribunal," I said, my voice quiet but firm as I looked up at his profile.

He froze, his jaw tightening into stone before he finally turned his hazel eyes to mine. "I ascended to the High Alpha seat of my pack three months ago."

I blinked rapidly, my mind stalling as I tried to calculate the logistics. He was only seventeen years old. He hadn't even reached his final biological maturity. How could he possibly hold a supreme pack throne?

"But before my ascension occurred," Gideon continued, his voice dropping into a gravelly whisper, "my father officially terminated our ancient peace treaty with the Silver-Vane Pack."

A cold dread settled deep in my stomach. I knew exactly what that implied for our borders, but he spelled it out regardless.

"It means our lineages are technically at a state of cold war right now," he sighed, his grip on my shoulder tightening as if he were terrified I would vanish. "I am currently attempting to draft a new sovereign treaty with your father, but the old man is being remarkably difficult to maneuver."

I placed my hand gently over his massive forearm, offering the silent, grounding comfort of my touch. If anyone understood the agonizing rigidity of my father’s political maneuvers, it was me.

Gideon’s eyes instantly locked onto mine, the sheer intensity of his gaze stealing the air right out of my lungs.

"But there is another truth I must deliver, Evadne," he whispered, a flash of profound, sick dread crossing his handsome features. "You were right... years ago."

"Right about what?"

"Me and my territorial hormones," he choked out, looking away as if he couldn't bear to face my reaction. "After you left... I played the field. Hard. I drowned myself in every high-society female who crossed my borders. But... three weeks ago, a verification came back. I got a lineage girl pregnant, Evadne. I am going to be a father."

The words felt like a physical silver blade driving straight through my chest, severing the air from my lungs. The hot, agonizing pain of a shattered illusion blinded me.

I violently ripped my hand away from his arm, scrambled to my feet, and ran.

I ran with everything my Alpha-born legs could muster, tearing through the dark forest trails as tears flooded my vision. I couldn't see the branches slashing at my face, and I didn't care. The burning agony in my chest was suffocating.

I somehow managed to break through the tree line of the estate, bolting up the grand staircase and slamming my bedroom door shut, twisting the lock with trembling hands. I didn't want to celebrate this fractured homecoming. I wanted to build a bridge back to Hungary, back to the frosted stone of Budapest where the laws of war made sense, where there were no venomous secrets, and where Uncle Darrius treated me like a sovereign equal who had a right to know the layout of the land.

Over the next few hours, several family members knocked urgently on my door, but I remained frozen on the bed, refusing to grant entry to anyone who wasn't a literal ocean away. I knew I couldn't evade the reality forever—the elite Lycan Academy started tomorrow morning—But at this moment, all I want to do is shut the whole world out.

The following morning, I sat at the heavy marble kitchen island, listlessly swirling a spoon through a bowl of cereal. The heavy oak doors swung open, and my father stepped into the room. He froze dead in his tracks the moment his eyes landed on me, his jaw dropping slightly in sheer disbelief.

"Hi, Dad," I murmured, not looking up from my bowl.

"You're... you're up remarkably early," he muttered, clearing his throat roughly as he tried to regain his traditional, unshakeable composure. He stepped closer, his posture stiffening into military alignment. "Regardless... we must convene in my private study immediately after your academic hours. We have severe, sovereign matters to discuss."

I merely stared at him, slowly chewing my food with a cold, unreadable expression. He cleared his throat a second time, clearly unsettled by the high-society stoicism I had brought back from the European courts, before spinning on his heel and exiting the kitchen.

I wasn't in a lenient mood today. Finishing my meal, I grabbed my tactical pack and slipped out of the house before my mother or Valen could descend the stairs. I needed the long, solitary walk through the border tracks to burn off the toxic residue of Gideon’s confession.

But the universe possessed a sick sense of irony. I had barely cleared the outer ridge when I collided directly with the last predator I wanted to face: Gideon.

The moment his hazel eyes locked onto me, I spun on my heel to walk away, my posture rigid. But I wasn't fast enough. A massive, iron grip clamped down on my upper arm, spinning me back around to face his desperate expression.

"Evadne, please! Just grant me an audience!" he pleaded, his voice raw.

"What is left to articulate, Alpha?" I sneered, using his supreme title like a weapon.

"Look, I am deeply sorry," he groaned, his grip loosening but refusing to let go entirely. "I... I had no idea your feelings toward me had transitioned into something deeper before your banishment."

My blue eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock. Who the hell had violated my security and delivered that information to him? "So what if I harbored a crush, Gideon?" I snapped, coldly tearing my arm from his grip. "The illusion is dead. The crush is entirely over. Leave my perimeter."

I rammed my shoulder into his chest as I pushed past him, diving into the sea of arriving students to put as much physical distance between us as humanly possible.

My mind spun in a furious vortex as I navigated the crowded school corridors. Who had betrayed my confidence? I hadn't even been certain of my own emotional alignment until I crossed back over the border. I hadn't even dropped a hint to Valen before my exile.

Lost in my own fury, I failed to scan the corridor ahead and slammed directly into a towering high-school female.

"Watch where you're navigating, pup!" she growled out, her aura flaring in a pathetic attempt at dominance.

I rose instantly, my Alpha-born posture drawing me to my full five-foot-six height as I coldly dusted off my jeans. A low, vibrating growl rolled from my chest, heavy with European pure-blood authority that made her instantly blanch.