The healer’s words still echoed in Octavia’s mind as she hurried toward her husband’s chambers. After years of whispers, of pitying looks, of the court wondering why the queen had not produced an heir—she was finally pregnant. Lionel would be so happy. She stopped at his door and froze.
His scent hit her first. Arousal. And beneath it, something sweeter. A woman’s scent.
A woman who was not her. Through the cracked door, she saw Lionel—her Lionel—stripped bare and leaning over a woman sprawled across their sheets. The sound he made, low and rough with pleasure, was one she knew intimately. That sound belonged to her.
“And what if the queen finds out? ” the woman gasped. Lionel laughed, breathless. “She won’t.
And even if she did—” he shifted, positioning himself, “—I need this. I need an heir. She can’t give me one. She’s barren.
Three years and nothing. I’m fond of her, but this is necessary. ”
Octavia closed the door carefully. Neither of them saw her.
She walked back through the corridors with perfect composure, nodding at the same servants she had passed moments ago. In her chambers, she stood alone and felt the world end. Her hand moved to her stomach. The impossible was growing there.
Lionel would never know. She wrote her farewell letter. No mention of the pregnancy. This child was hers.
This joy was hers. She would not give him anything else. —
Seven years later, Octavia stared at the gold-edged invitation on her vanity. Lionel was marrying Lady Emiline.
And he had invited her to watch. “I thought you were over him,” her sister Lorie said. “I am completely over him,” Octavia snapped. “I do not care in the slightest what he does.
”
She had thrown a vase at the wall when the invitation arrived. Now she stood in front of her mirror in a crimson dress the color of wine and vengeance, and smiled. She would walk into that ballroom and show him exactly what he had lost. The twins waited by the door.
Nylo, serious and watchful. Kora, barely containing her wild energy. “Why are we going to this ball? ” Kora asked.
“To deliver an engagement gift and pay our respects. You will smile. You will be polite. You will interact with no one.
”
“And if anyone asks us questions? ”
“You say nothing. Let them assume whatever they want. ”
The ballroom noticed her before she noticed it.
Heads turned. Conversations stalled. La Luna had returned, composed and beautiful, with two unknown children at her side. Then she saw him.
Lionel had changed. The warmth was gone, replaced by something colder. He looked like a king who had forgotten how to be anything else. When their eyes met across the room, something raw crossed his face—stunned, unguarded, devastated.
Then he closed it down and walked toward her. “Octavia. Fancy meeting you here. ”
“Your majesty.
It can’t be a total surprise, seeing as you did invite me. ”
“Ah, yes. All noble families received invitations. Standard protocol.
” A pause. That cold smile. “I didn’t expect you to actually attend. ”
The words landed like a slap.
The invitation had not been personal. It had been protocol. She introduced Duke Flemings as her escort. Lionel’s jaw tightened.
Before he could respond, Emiline appeared, hand sliding possessively onto his arm. “Darling, we really should make the rounds. ”
Octavia watched them go, then turned to Flemings. “Where are the twins?
”
They were already moving through the crowd with singular focus, heading straight for Lionel. “Kora! ” Octavia called. “Wait!
”
But Kora was already there, tugging on the alpha king’s sleeve. “Excuse me,” she said, her voice carrying in the sudden silence. “But you’re our daddy, aren’t you? ”
Lionel stared at the children.
Octavia forced a thin laugh. “You know how children are. Kora has always decided every king must be her daddy. ”
Nylo obeyed, letting himself be turned away.
Kora did not move. “Are you our daddy or not? ”
Lionel’s gaze lifted from Kora and locked onto Octavia. His face was pale.
Understanding was dawning. “You should listen to your mother,” he said. Relief flooded through her so fast her knees went weak. —
That night, a servant arrived at Octavia’s suite.
“His majesty requests your presence in his study. ”
Lionel stood by the window, his back to her. When he turned, the air between them was thick with seven years of absence. “Who are those children?
”
“Mine. ”
“And their father? ”
“He’s not in their lives. ”
Lionel stepped closer.
“They’re mine. My children. You were pregnant when you left me. ” His voice was an accusation.
“Did you know? ”
“Yes. I knew. ”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?
”
“I wanted to leave. That’s all I thought about. ”
“I want to meet them. ”
“They’re mine.
I fed them and nursed them and raised them. ”
“And I would have done all of that too, if I’d known they existed. You didn’t give me the chance. ”
“You didn’t think to check, did you?
”
Lionel stared at her, stunned. “I didn’t think you wanted me to,” he said quietly. “I want to know them, Octavia. Please.
”
She heard him step closer. “Red. Look at me. ”
He had called her that when they were happy.
Her heart twisted so painfully she thought it might stop. But when his hand reached for her, she flinched away like it burned. “One meeting,” she heard herself say. “Tomorrow.
”
—
The next morning, Lionel knelt down to the twins’ eye level, his hands shaking slightly. He extended his arms, an invitation. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then Nylo walked into Lionel’s arms.
And Kora, with a small cry, launched herself at him. Octavia pressed her hand to her mouth, tears streaming down her face. —
Three weeks passed. Three weeks of Lionel with the twins while Octavia kept her distance.
She watched from shadows. The way he played with them, completely present, not performing. The way he knelt to answer Nylo’s quiet questions. The way Kora laughed, hanging upside down from his arm.
The real smile she hadn’t seen in seven years, the one that used to make her heart skip. It still did. She hated that. “When will we return home?
” she asked the twins one evening. “So soon? ” Nylo’s voice was small. “I don’t want to leave,” Kora said, rising.
“Why can’t we stay here? Why can’t we be a family? ”
She ran from the room. Nylo followed after giving Octavia a look far too old for his face.
Lionel found her in the library the next day. “Cora said you’re planning to leave. ”
“You’re engaged. You’re getting married in a matter of weeks.
What happens to Nylo and Kora when you have legitimate heirs? I will not let them build their hearts around a father who will set them aside. ”
“Then I will cancel the engagement. ” He stepped closer.
“I don’t want the life I’ve been forced to construct for seven years in your absence. I want my children. ” He stopped, swallowed hard. “And I want you.
I never stopped wanting you. ”
“I know I hurt you,” he said quietly. “But I need you to understand. I would have done anything to keep you if I had known what was wrong.
”
She wanted to throw the truth in his face. But the words stuck in her throat. “It’s too late,” she whispered. “It’s not.
”
Then he kissed her. Or she kissed him. She did not know who moved first. All she knew was that his mouth was on hers, his hands in her hair, and seven years of distance collapsed into nothing.
Then he stopped. “Wait—I owe it to Emiline to break things off first before we—”
Octavia stared at him. He owed it to Emiline. The courtesy of a clean break.
But he had not owed Octavia the same. “Emiline deserves that much,” he said. She slapped him. The crack echoed in the quiet library.
Then she shoved past him and ran. —
She was packing when Lionel appeared in her doorway, his eyes red-rimmed and wild. “What did I ever do that made you believe you couldn’t trust me? ” he asked.
Rage flooded through her. “How can you look at me and pretend you don’t know? ”
“Tell me. What did I do?
”
Sent the twins away, then she turned on him. “What else was I supposed to do after catching you in bed with another woman? ”
Lionel froze. All the color drained from his face.
“What? ”
“I saw you, Lionel. Heard you talking about how your wife was barren. I was pregnant, finally pregnant, and I walked in on you with another woman because you’d stopped believing I could give you an heir.
It broke me. ”
“I never slept with anyone else,” he said, his voice raw. “I never betrayed you. You’re the one who left without saying goodbye.
”
“You’re saying I made it up? ”
“I’m saying I never cheated. I was devastated to find you gone. It broke my heart.
”
But she had seen it. She had seen his face, heard his voice. She turned away. “I’m going to find our children.
And then we’re leaving. ”
She went to the library. The twins were gone. —
The library was stupid.
That was Kora’s first thought as she stomped across the polished floor. The door opened. Their father walked in. “Do we have to leave?
” Kora asked. “Please say we don’t have to leave. ”
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed.
“Actually, children, I think it would be best if you left. Court is no place for you. I’m about to marry the love of my life. ”
“You’re remarrying mom?
” Kora exclaimed. Their father’s face fell. Something that looked almost angry. “No.
I’m marrying Countess Emiline Doves. ”
Kora turned to Nylo, confused. “He told us mother was his true love. That he never forgot her.
That he wanted us to be a family again. ”
“No, you’re lying,” the man cried. Kora stared at him. The way he held himself was too rigid, too controlled.
His eyes were the right color, but they were looking at her wrong. Her father had never looked at her like that. “You’re not our daddy,” Kora decided slowly. “He looks like father,” Nylo said, pulling her backward.
“But he’s not our father. ”
The man’s face twisted with fury and lunged. They ran. Weaving through shelves, Kora screamed when a hand grabbed her arm.
“Run, Nylo! Run! ” Nylo’s body shimmered, compressed. Fur rippled across his skin.
Within seconds, a small wolf pup stood where her brother had been. It was his first shift. He had done it. The man’s hand clamped over her mouth.
Kora bit down hard. He yelped, a sound that was not their father’s voice at all. When he spun her around, his features were rippling like water. The face above her was not her father’s.
Kora screamed. —
Nylo found Octavia in the corridor, his small chest heaving. “Ka’s in trouble. She’s in trouble.
They can’t be trusted. I don’t know who’s in on it. Hurry. ”
He led her through hidden passages into a long gallery lined with cells.
At the far end—Kora, chained, gagged, shaking her head frantically. Octavia ran toward the cell. Behind her, Nylo had gone very quiet. The blow to the back of her head came hard and sharp.
Everything went black. —
She woke chained. Kora sat beside her, gag removed. “Are you all right, my love?
”
“Emiline was the one who locked us up,” Kora said. Footsteps echoed. Emiline appeared at the cell door, immaculate and calm. “Such a shame you couldn’t stay gone.
”
“Are you insane? Where’s Nylo? ”
“He’ll be caught soon, I’m sure. My brother is looking for him.
”
“That’s not happening. ” Then Emiline changed. Her features rippled, shifted, reformed. Suddenly Octavia was staring at herself—her face, her hair, her exact height and build.
“You’re a changeling,” Octavia whispered. “Anybody I want,” Emiline said easily. “I turned into your son earlier. You didn’t even notice.
”
The realization hit like lightning. The man she caught with another woman. The cheater who had destroyed her. The betrayer she could never reconcile with the devoted husband she had loved.
They were not the same person. “It was you,” Octavia said, her voice blank. “The night I caught him. ”
“Yes.
”
“I spent so much time watching him,” Emiline said dreamily. “His mannerisms, how he talks. The difficult part was convincing him to let you go. Your letter helped, but he tried to come after you that morning.
”
“Where was my husband? ”
“Drugged. In another room. Couldn’t risk him waking up before you were long gone.
”
Octavia saw red. “How dare you. Drugging my mate, impersonating him—and then impersonating you,” Emiline finished. “He begged you to come back, you know.
He even offered to abdicate. I thought perhaps I could pretend to be you for the rest of our days. But I want him to love me for myself. ”
“Either you help me have Lionel or I kill your children.
Starting with Kora. ”
Octavia’s blood ran cold. “Let me think it through,” she said carefully. Emiline nodded.
“I’ll give you until morning. ”
When she was gone, Octavia turned to Kora. “I’m not going to help her. I’m going to get us out of here.
”
—
A small blonde wolf pup appeared at the cell door, carrying keys in his mouth. Nylo shifted back. “I got them from the guard station. ”
The moment she was free, Octavia pulled both children into her arms.
“We have to get Father,” Kora said. “We will. But first I need to get you both to safety. There’s a trap door in the old chapel.
Wait there. If I don’t come back in an hour, run. Get to the stables, ride for your aunt’s duchy. ”
She closed the trap door before they could argue.
She found guards and burst into the main hall. Emiline stood pressed against Lionel’s chest, crying softly. When Lionel looked up, his face was cold. “Emiline told me everything.
How you tried to hurt her. How you attacked her out of jealousy. ”
“Lionel, listen—”
“Take her,” he said to the guards. Octavia looked at him.
The way he stood, too stiff, the set of his shoulders, the way his eyes did not quite track. “You’re not Lionel. ”
A small blonde blur shot into the room. Nylo, in wolf form, launched himself at the king, teeth sinking into his arm.
The king yelped—a sound too high, too sharp—and his features rippled, shifted, changed. A different man stood there clutching his bleeding arm. “Ivor,” Emiline gasped. Cora ran in, slightly out of breath.
“Causing them pain makes them switch back. ”
Octavia pointed her sword at the changelings. “Where is Lionel? ”
Ivor grabbed a weapon, his face twisting.
“If we don’t give him the antidote, he won’t wake up,” Emiline screamed. “I know,” Ivor said coldly. Octavia put her sword to Emiline’s throat. “Where is he?
”
But it was Nylo’s nose that found the hidden door, a narrow passage leading down into darkness. At the bottom, in a cold, damp room, Lionel sat in a chair. Alive. Breathing.
His eyes vacant. “I can recognize my own father, thank you,” Kora told the guards. Octavia knelt beside Lionel, cupping his jaw. “I’m so sorry.
For leaving. For not trusting you. For thinking—” her voice broke. “You never betrayed me.
You never stopped loving me. And I should have known. ”
The guard returned with the antidote. She tipped the liquid into Lionel’s mouth, held his jaw closed, massaged his throat until he swallowed.
Then he blinked. His eyes focused slowly, moving around the room, landing on the children, then on her face. Recognition dawned like sunrise. He smiled.
“Octavia. ”
“I’m here. ”
His hand came up slowly. “Forever?
”
“Yes. ” She was laughing and crying at once. “Yes, forever. I promise I’m never leaving you again.
”
—
One year later, the twins were playing in the garden, their laughter echoing off the castle walls. Octavia watched from the window, her hand resting on the swell of her belly. Seven months along. A girl, the healer said.
Lionel’s arms came around her from behind. “You’re smiling. ”
“They’re happy. Listen to them.
”
His hand spread across her stomach. The baby kicked. “We all are. ”
Emiline and Ivor were locked away in separate cells in separate prisons.
Emiline had cried throughout her trial. Ivor had shown no remorse. Most days, Octavia did not think about them. “Where did you go?
” Lionel asked gently, turning her to face him. “I was thinking about how much time we lost. ”
“We can’t change it. We can only move forward.
”
“I know. But sometimes I think about what we missed. ”
“Red. ” His hands cupped her face.
“The children are happy. We’re together now. That’s what matters. ”
Through the window, Kora’s triumphant shout rang out.
Nylo laughed, picked himself up off the grass, and chased after his sister with renewed determination. Lionel’s arms tightened around Octavia. She leaned back against him and let herself feel the weight of him, the warmth, the steady rise and fall of his breathing. “I love you,” he said against her hair.
“Forever. ”
“Forever,” she agreed. And for the first time in seven years, she believed it without reservation.
