"The hallway is a two-way track, bimbo," I muttered coldly, deliberately clipping her shoulder with mine as I continued toward my classroom. I had forgotten just how utterly pathetic high-school politics could be.

Stepping into my first-period class, my jaw tightened in deep annoyance. Standing right in front of the teacher's podium were my twin brother and Morrigan, their lips locked in a public display of affection. Rather than causing a political scene on my first day back, I navigated straight to the isolated rows at the back of the room, completely ignoring their existence. Today was going to be an excruciatingly long day.

The moment the final bell rang, I climbed into the front passenger seat of my mother’s SUV. Valen and Morrigan slid into the back row, their hushed whispers filling the cabin. Oh, joy. Morrigan was joining us for evening rations at the estate. Lucky me.

"How was your definitive return to the academy, sweetie?" Mother asked hopefully as she shifted the car into drive.

"The sheer volume of empty-headed bimbos your administration manages to condense into a single stone building is a mathematical miracle," I replied flatly, staring out the window as the trees blurred past.

"Evadne," a sharp voice warned from the back. I ignored it. "Evadne, I know your twin bond is active. Turn around."

I slowly turned my head, fixing my traitorous brother with a chilling, predatory glare that I had learned from Uncle Darrius. "Oh, look at that. I exist in your perimeter again, do I? Let me make this entirely transparent, Valen: I possess zero interest in anything you have to say. Return to sucking the face off your girlfriend and leave my mind-link alone."

The remainder of the transit passed in a suffocating, dead silence. The absolute second the vehicle broke the driveway perimeter, I vaulted out of the door before the tires had even come to a complete stop. I bolted toward the foyer, only for my father’s massive frame to block the archway.

"We shall have that tactical briefing now, Evadne," he commanded.

I let out a heavy, exhausted sigh but fell into alignment behind him, following his heavy footsteps into the grand administrative study. I remained standing flat against the heavy oak door, my posture indicating I intended to vacate the room the moment his decree was delivered.

"Evadne, sit down," he muttered, navigating behind his desk.

"I prefer the tactical stance, Alpha," I replied, my voice clipping like ice. "Deliver the mandate."

He drew in a sharp, ragged breath, his dark eyes hardening into cold flints. "We must establish your new operational responsibilities..." He held up a sharp hand as I opened my mouth to protest. "Effective as of last week, following John’s official retirement from the council... you and your twin brother are the new designated Betas of the Silver-Vane Pack."

The words hit me like a physical blow. My mind spun into a chaotic vortex before my European training took over, locking the shock behind a flawless mask of neutrality. A Beta? He was elevating me to the second-highest seat of command? Is that why he had recalled me from the snow?

"So," I murmured, my voice dangerously calm. "If I am officially a ruling Beta... does that imply I will finally be granted access to the tactical intelligence of this clan?"

"Naturally," my father grunted. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I have been systematically kept in the dark my entire life," I sneered, stepping closer to the desk, my posture radiating raw authority. "Yet the moment I return from the High Court of Darrius, you thrust me into a supreme seat of power. I am questioning your motives, Alpha."

A low, threatening growl vibrated in his chest. "Are you daring to challenge my executive sovereignty, girl?"

I merely offered a slow, smug smirk, tipping my chin up in definitive defiance.

My father surged out of his chair with terrifying alpha speed, crossing the distance to tower over me in a cloud of furious aura. I didn't flinch an inch. I didn't even blink. Derrick’s defensive anger was ten times more lethal than this, and I had stood in the center of European warlords. My father had truly lost his edge; his presence was no longer enough to make me bend.

Furious at my lack of submission, his fist violently punched the reinforced drywall mere millimeters from my ear. The plaster shattered. I didn't even blink, my blue eyes locked onto his in cold amusement. It was a shame Valen wouldn't ascend for another few winters; my father’s reign was growing ancient and weak.

He pulled his fist back, his features twisted in deep irritation before he stepped out of my personal space. "Do you desire to return to your uncle’s courts? Is that it?" He meant it as a lethal threat.

I offered him a radiant, devastating smile and a crisp nod. "Excellently deduced, Father."

"Too bad," he snapped, turning his back to me. "This soil is your jurisdiction. Whether it suits your high-society tastes or not, you are the ruling Beta of this pack. Now, vacate my study."

I spun on my heel and marched straight up to my quarters, slamming the door. Within minutes, the familiar, heavy sequence of knocks rattled the wood. I didn't answer. I knew it was Valen. After a few more failed attempts, I heard the heavy thud of his back hitting the exterior paneling as he slid down onto the hardwood floor.

I crossed the room, sinking down against the interior side of the door, matching his position so our backs were separated by nothing but a few inches of solid oak.

"Evadne... I know I executed this return poorly," his voice drifted through the gap, thick with a deep, exhausting sorrow. "I have missed my other half terribly. I was simply terrified of how your wolf would react to the shifting boundaries."

My mind flashed back to his anxious reflection in the SUV.

"You know," I murmured softly, a small, sad laugh escaping me as I shook my head against the wood. "As Lycan twins, optimal tactical efficiency requires us to function as best friends."

"Are you entirely certain this emotional distance has nothing to do with our new Beta mandates?" he sighed, and through the twin bond, I felt the sheer weight of his own reluctance. He hadn't wanted the crown either.

"I couldn't care less about the Beta title, Valen," I whispered, the back of my throat burning as I fought back a sudden wave of tears. I could never remain truly estranged from my twin. "I just want my brother back."

The door behind me vanished as Valen opened it sharply, a massive, brilliant grin plastering his features. Before I could even stand, he scooped me into his arms, swinging me in a fierce, chaotic circle just as he had done before the Atlantic separated us.

The sudden peace was shattered an hour later. Valen and I stood by the grand eastern windows of the tactical wing, watching as Gideon’s fully armed border vanguard hastily evacuated our courtyard, their expressions tight with panic.

"Valen... what is happening?" I demanded, my inner wolf snapping to high alert.

He didn't offer a verbal answer, his dark blue eyes continuously darting between the dense tree lines of the perimeter as if he expected a vanguard to breach the gates.

"Valen! Speak to me!" I panicked, my hand gripping his shoulder.

"We are facing two massive structural crises, Evadne," he choked out, turning his pale face to mine. "A pack of feral Rogues has just breached our southern border markers... and the ruling Warlord of the Midnight-Eclipse Pack has just entered our airspace to demand a total renegotiation of our territorial sovereignty."

The blood instantly drained from my face, a cold terror freezing my veins. The Warlord of the Midnight-Eclipse Pack. Even in the high-society courts of Europe, his name was spoken in terrified whispers—a brutal, iron-fisted alpha whose strategic massacres provoked nightmares in mature wolves across the Northern Hemisphere. And he was coming to our door.