The drive to the Lycan Palace took three hours. I spent most of it staring out the window, watching the familiar buildings of my pack territory fade into forest. Cara had tried to follow us in her car, but Marcus had somehow made that impossible. One minute she was behind us, the next she was gone.

"What did you do to my friend?" I asked.

Marcus glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "She is safe. She will remember falling asleep and waking up in her own bed tomorrow morning. It is better this way."

"Better for who?"

"For everyone."

I wanted to argue, but I was too tired. The pain from the broken mate bond was turning into a dull ache that spread through my entire body. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried not to think about what was growing inside me.

A baby. Derek's baby. And he would never know.

Maybe that was better too.

As we drove deeper into the mountains, the trees grew taller and thicker. The moon rose higher, full and bright. We passed through three checkpoints, each one guarded by Lycans who nodded at Marcus and stared at me with curious eyes.

Finally, we reached a massive iron gate. It opened slowly, revealing a long driveway lined with torches. At the end of the driveway stood the palace.

I had seen pictures of it before, but pictures didn't do it justice. The palace was carved from black stone and rose five stories high. Towers stretched toward the sky like claws. Every window glowed with golden light.

It looked like something from a fairy tale. The scary kind where people got eaten.

"This is where the king lives?" I asked.

"This is where the king rules," Marcus corrected. "He has many residences. But this is his seat of power."

The car stopped in front of wide marble steps. Marcus opened my door, and I stepped out on shaky legs. The air here felt different. Heavier. Like it was pressing down on me with invisible weight.

"Follow me, please."

Marcus led me up the steps and through enormous wooden doors. Inside, the palace was even more impressive. The entrance hall had floors made of white marble with veins of gold running through them. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, dripping with crystals. Paintings of fierce wolves covered the walls.

And there were Lycans everywhere.

They lined the hallways in perfect rows, all wearing black uniforms with the king's symbol on their chests. Every single one of them was bigger and stronger than any wolf I had ever seen. Their eyes tracked my movement as I passed.

I felt like prey walking into a den of predators.

"Don't be afraid," Marcus said quietly. "No one here will harm you. You are under the king's protection now."

"Why?" The question burst out of me. "Why does the king care about me? I'm nobody. I'm just an Omega from a small pack."

Marcus stopped walking and turned to face me. His silver eyes studied me carefully.

"The king's reasons are his own," he said. "But I will tell you this. Raphael does nothing without purpose. If he has called for you, it is because you matter."

"I don't understand."

"You will."

He started walking again, leading me through a maze of corridors. We passed rooms filled with books, rooms filled with weapons, rooms filled with things I couldn't even name. Every door we passed was guarded. Every corner held shadows.

Finally, we stopped in front of a set of double doors larger than any of the others. They were made of black wood and carved with images of wolves hunting under the moon.

"The throne room," Marcus announced. "His Majesty is waiting for you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "What should I say? How should I act? I've never met a king before."

"Be yourself," Marcus said. "That is what he wants to see."

Before I could ask what that meant, the doors swung open.

The throne room was the biggest space I had ever been in. The ceiling disappeared into darkness above. More torches lined the walls, casting dancing shadows across the floor. At the far end of the room sat a throne made of twisted metal and bone.

And on that throne sat the Lycan King.

I had heard stories about King Raphael my entire life. They said he was a monster who could tear apart ten wolves with his bare hands. They said he was cursed and could never take a mate. They said he was ancient, that he had lived for hundreds of years and would live hundreds more.

They never said he was beautiful.

But he was.

Raphael sat on his throne like he owned the world. Because he did. He was tall even sitting down, with broad shoulders and long legs. His hair was black as midnight and fell past his shoulders. His face was all sharp angles and strong lines, with a jaw that looked carved from stone.

But it was his eyes that made me stop breathing.

They were gold. Pure, bright gold like the sun. And they were looking straight at me.

"Come forward, Maya," he said.

His voice was deep and rough, like rolling thunder. It made my wolf sit up and pay attention in a way she never had before.

I walked toward the throne on legs that felt like water. With every step, I felt his power pressing against me. This wasn't just an Alpha. This was something far beyond that. This was a being who could crush me without even trying.

I stopped about ten feet from the throne and dropped to my knees. I had seen people bow to Alphas before. Surely you were supposed to bow even lower to a king.

"Stand up," Raphael commanded.

I stood quickly, keeping my eyes on the floor.

"Look at me."

I forced myself to raise my head. Our eyes met, and I felt something snap into place inside my chest. Something that felt like the mate bond but stronger. Deeper. More permanent.

No. That was impossible.

"Do you know why I called you here?" Raphael asked.

"No, Your Majesty."

"I have been watching you, Maya. For longer than you know." He stood up from his throne and began walking toward me. Each step echoed through the massive room. "I know about Derek. I know about tonight. I know about the child you carry."

I stumbled backward. "How?"

"I know everything that happens in my territories." He stopped a few feet away from me. Up close, he was even more intimidating. He towered over me, and I could feel the heat radiating from his body. "And I know something else. Something you haven't realized yet."

"What?" I whispered.

He smiled, and it was not a kind smile. It was the smile of a predator who had just cornered its prey.

"Derek was never your mate," Raphael said. "I am."

The world tilted sideways. I felt my knees give out, but before I could fall, Raphael caught me. His hands were gentle as they steadied me, so different from the power I knew he possessed.

"That's impossible," I managed to say. "I felt the mate bond with Derek. I felt it break tonight."

"You felt an imitation," Raphael said. "Derek is a dominant wolf. You are an Omega. Your wolf sensed his strength and mistook it for a mate bond. But it was never real. What is real is this."

He placed his hand over my heart. Immediately, I felt it. A golden thread that connected me to him. It thrummed with energy and life, so much stronger than what I had felt with Derek.

"No," I shook my head. "No, this can't be happening."

"It already happened." Raphael let me go and stepped back. "The bond formed the moment you were born. I have known about you for twenty-three years. I have been waiting for you to be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To be my queen."

I started laughing. I couldn't help it. This was too insane. Too impossible. I had gone from losing my mate to finding out I was mated to the Lycan King in the space of a few hours.

"I can't be a queen," I said between laughs that sounded dangerously close to sobs. "I'm an Omega. I'm nobody. I clean houses and serve food and get rejected by ordinary Betas. I can't rule a kingdom."

"You will learn."

"I'm pregnant with another man's baby!"

That was the thing that would end this madness. No king would accept a mate who was carrying someone else's child.

But Raphael just looked at me with those burning gold eyes and said, "The child will be mine. I will claim them as my own. No one will dare question it."

I stared at him. "You're serious."

"I have never been more serious about anything in my life." He moved closer again, and I felt his power wrapping around me like a blanket. "You are mine, Maya. You have always been mine. And I protect what is mine."

"Why?" The question came out as a whisper. "Why would you want me?"

For the first time, his expression softened slightly. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture was so gentle, so intimate, that it made my breath catch.

"Because the moon goddess chose you for me," he said simply. "And she is never wrong."