The elevator doors opened at exactly at seven-thirty.
I stepped out in the red dress and felt the entire penthouse inhale.
Cassian was waiting by the floor-to-ceiling windows, adjusting a cufflink that didn't need adjusting. Black tuxedo, crisp white shirt, no tie. The top button undone like a dare. When he turned, the city lights behind him made his silhouette look carved from darkness.
His gaze slid over me, slow, deliberate, possessive.
For three full heartbeats he didn't speak. He just looked, jaw tight, pupils blown wide.
Then, very softly: "Fuck."
The word was reverent.
It still made heat flood my cheeks and places lower.
He crossed the marble in four strides and stopped just short of touching me. Close enough that the scent of cedar and storm and him wrapped around me like a leash.
"You wore the red," he murmured.
"You told me to."
"I hoped you would." His voice dropped another octave lower. "I didn't expect to survive it."
I lifted my chin. "Try not to drool on the tux, Mr. Lockwood. You have a reputation to uphold."
A low growl rumbled in his chest. Not angry. Pleased. The sound vibrated straight through my sternum and settled between my thighs.
He offered his arm. "Shall we?"
I slipped my hand through it. His bicep flexed under my fingers, hard as steel. The moment skin met skin, something electric snapped between us. His nostrils flared; he inhaled like he was memorizing me all over again.
The ride down was silent except for the soft ding of passing floors. When the doors opened into the private garage, six black SUVs idled in perfect formation. Men in dark suits stood at attention, eyes forward, but every single one of them dipped their head the second Cassian appeared.
I felt it then, the invisible weight that pressed on the air around him.
Power.
Not the billionaire kind.
The kind that made grown men bare their throats.
One of the guards opened the back door of the middle SUV. Cassian handed me in first, then followed, the space suddenly too small for both of us and the storm he carried.
As the convoy pulled out, I finally asked the question that had been clawing at me since the hospital hallway.
"You're not just a werewolf, are you?"
He turned his head, golden eyes glowing faintly in the dark interior. "No."
"You're an Alpha."
A slow nod.
I swallowed. "The Alpha?"
Another nod.
I stared at him. "As in… king-of-all-wolves Alpha?"
"Alpha King," he corrected quietly. "Or I will be, thirty-six days from now, if I present a Luna at the coronation."
The pieces slammed together so hard my ears rang.
The coronation headlines I'd dismissed as tabloid nonsense.
The council dinner tonight.
The way grown men in tactical gear had just bowed their heads like he was a god.
I pressed a hand to my stomach. "And our baby…"
"Will be heir to the throne," he finished. "The first in three centuries born to a true mates."
True mates. The words hit like a second heartbeat.
I stared out the tinted window so he wouldn't see the panic. "You never mentioned the crown when you were sliding that ring on my finger."
"I was trying not to terrify you more than I already had."
"Mission failed."
He exhaled through his nose. "I know."
Silence stretched, thick and dangerous.
Then, softer: "I won't let anything happen to you, Aurora. Not tonight. Not ever."
I turned back to him. "You keep saying that. But tonight I'm walking into a room full of people who want me dead because I'm human."
His hand moved, slow enough I could have stopped him. I didn't. He cupped my jaw, thumb brushing my lower lip, eyes burning gold.
"They won't just want you dead," he said, voice velvet over steel. "They'll want you broken. On your knees. Begging. Because a human Luna is an insult to centuries of tradition. Because I chose you and not one of their pureblood daughters."
My pulse thundered in my ears.
He leaned in until his lips almost touched mine. "So tonight you walk in like you already own them. You look every single one of them in the eye. And when they try to make you feel small, you remember one thing."
"What?"
His thumb pressed harder, possessive. "You're the only woman in the world who can bring the Alpha King to his knees. And I'm already there."
Then he released me and sat back, leaving me shaking and wet and furious at my own body for reacting.
The convoy stopped in front of a historic mansion lit up like a palace. Valets in black, red carpet, cameras flashing even though this was supposed to be private.
Cassian stepped out first. The second his shoes hit the ground, every head turned. The energy shifted, like the air itself bent toward him.
He reached for me.
I took his hand and let him pull me out. The red dress caught the floodlights and turned into liquid fire. Cameras went insane. I heard someone whisper, "That's her? The human?"
Cassian's arm slid around my waist, fingers splayed low on my bare back, branding me through the silk. He leaned down, lips at my ear, voice pitched for only me.
"Breathe, little fox. I've got you."
We walked the gauntlet of stares and whispers. Every step felt like walking a tightrope over a pit of wolves, literally.
Inside, the mansion was old money and older magic. Chandeliers dripping crystals, portraits of wolves in human skin glaring down from the walls. The scent hit me first: pine and snow and wild things barely leashed.
And power. So much power it made my teeth ache.
A man approached, tall, silver-haired, eyes the cold blue of winter. He bowed to Cassian, but his gaze slid over me like I was dirt.
"Nephew," he greeted. "You brought… entertainment."
Cassian's arm turned to iron around me. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
"Careful, Uncle Elias," he said, voice deceptively soft. "That's my mate you're speaking to."
Elias's smile was thin. "A human mate. How progressive."
Cassian's answering smile showed too many teeth. "Progressive enough to rip your throat out in front of the entire council if you look at her like that again."
Elias paled and stepped back.
Cassian guided me forward, murmuring, "First test passed."
I was still shaking, but something fierce and hot flared in my chest.
We moved through the crowd like a blade through silk. Every Alpha, every elder, every pureblood daughter wearing diamonds and contempt, they all stared. Some sneered. Some looked curious. A few looked hungry.
Cassian never let go of me.
At the head table, a woman with white-blonde hair and eyes like chipped ice rose. Beautiful in the way knives are beautiful.
"Cassian," she purred, voice carrying. "The rumors are true. You've brought a human to council."
Cassian pulled out my chair, then stood behind me, hands on my shoulders, thumbs stroking the bare skin there in slow, deliberate circles.
"Luna-to-be Aurora Vale," he announced, loud enough for the entire room to hear. "My true mate. Mother of my heir."
A collective inhale. Glasses stopped halfway to mouths. Someone actually dropped a fork.
The blonde's smile turned razor-sharp. "A human true mate. How… unprecedented."
Cassian leaned down, lips brushing the shell of my ear, voice a growl that made my spine melt.
"Unprecedented," he echoed, "and mine."
Then, louder, to the room: "Does anyone have a problem with my choice?"
Silence.
You could have heard a pin drop on marble.
No one spoke.
Cassian's fingers tightened on my shoulders, triumphant.
I felt it then, the full, terrifying weight of what he was.
Not just an Alpha.
The Alpha.
And tonight, for better or worse, I was standing at his side wearing his ring and his child, wearing red like a declaration of war.
The blonde sat down slowly.
Cassian took his seat beside me, hand sliding possessively to the back of my neck, thumb stroking the pulse that was racing under my skin.
He leaned in one last time.
"Welcome to the monster's penthouse, little fox," he whispered. "Try not to enjoy it too much when they all bow."
I turned my head just enough that my lips grazed his jaw.
"I make no promises," I breathed.
His sharp intake of breath was the sweetest sound I'd heard all night.
The war had officially begun.
And I was done playing prey