CHAPTER 54
The palace had been loud that morning.
Not with chaos.
But with arrival.
Royal banners hung high, servants moved quickly, and voices filled the grand halls as nobles and family members gathered under one roof.
It had been ten months since the incident in the forest.
Ten months of silence.
Ten months without the seventh prince.
Without his bride.
The Queen sat at the head of the grand hall, composed as always.
Unreadable.
Untouchable.
Her sons had returned.
Their wives stood beside them.
The palace, for the first time in months, felt complete.
Or at least—
It pretended to be.
Then the doors burst open.
The sound echoed sharply through the hall.
Two men stumbled in.
Breathing hard.
Clothes torn.
Faces pale with something deeper than exhaustion.
Fear.
Real fear.
The entire hall fell silent instantly.
Every eye turned toward them.
Whispers began immediately.
"…Aren't those—"
"The seventh prince's men…"
"What happened to them?"
"Where is the prince?"
The two men didn't stop.
They pushed forward, past guards, past nobles, until they reached the center of the hall.
Then they dropped to their knees.
"Your Majesty!" one of them said, his voice shaking.
The Queen didn't move.
But her eyes sharpened slightly.
"Speak."
The man swallowed hard, his breathing uneven.
"We… we were attacked in the forest," he began.
Murmurs spread instantly.
"Attacked?"
"By what?"
"Bandits?"
"No… not bandits…"
The second man spoke this time.
"They were not human," he said.
Silence fell again.
He continued, his voice lower now.
"Beasts. Fast. Strong. We could not fight them."
The hall grew colder.
Even the nobles stopped whispering.
The Queen's voice cut through the tension.
"Where is the seventh prince?"
The question landed heavily.
The two men froze.
Their heads lowered.
"We… we got separated during the attack," one of them said.
That answer wasn't enough.
The Queen's gaze hardened slightly. "Separated… or lost?"
Silence.
Before they could respond—
The doors opened again.
This time, more controlled.
But urgent.
Another man was brought in.
Injured.
Barely standing.
"Your Majesty," a guard said, "this man claims to be from the seventh prince's unit."
All eyes shifted again.
The man struggled forward, then dropped to his knees as well.
"I escaped," he said, breathing heavily.
The hall held its breath.
"Speak," the Queen ordered again.
The man lifted his head.
His eyes were filled with something worse than fear.
Memory.
"The attack… it was not normal," he said slowly. "We have never seen anything like it."
No one interrupted him.
"They tore through us," he continued. "Men fell before we could even react. Their strength… their speed… it was not human."
The words echoed.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
"And the prince?" the Queen asked again.
This time—
There was no hesitation.
"I saw him," the man said.
Silence dropped completely.
"He was protecting his mate," he continued. "He fought… harder than anyone."
A pause.
Then—
"He was badly injured."
That sentence hit harder than anything before it.
Gasps spread through the hall.
Some of the royal women covered their mouths.
Others whispered in fear.
But one person did not react like the rest.
Zack.
Kael's father.
He stood still.
Too still.
His face unreadable.
Cold.
Controlled.
But his silence was louder than anyone's reaction.
"And then?" the Queen asked.
The man's voice dropped.
"…They were surrounded."
The words came slowly now.
Carefully.
Like he was reliving it.
"There was no way out," he said. "We tried to reach him, but we couldn't. The beasts kept coming."
His hands tightened slightly.
"I saw the prince fall," he said quietly.
That was it.
The moment everything shifted.
The hall erupted.
"No—"
"That's not possible—"
"The seventh prince—?"
"What about his mate?"
The Queen raised her hand.
Silence returned immediately.
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"…And his bride?" she asked.
The man hesitated.
Then answered.
"She was with him."
That was all.
But it was enough.
A woman's voice broke from the side.
Alvira.
Kael's mother.
"…No," she whispered.
Her hand tightened against her chest.
"No… my son…"
Tears filled her eyes instantly.
Zack did not move.
Not a single step.
But his presence changed.
The air around him felt heavier.
Colder.
Dangerous.
The man continued, his voice shaking again.
"No one could survive that," he said. "Not with those beasts… not in that forest…"
The sentence hung in the air.
Final.
Brutal.
Unavoidable.
The Queen leaned back slightly.
Her expression remained controlled.
But her eyes darkened.
"Search parties will be sent," she said.
Firm.
Authoritative.
"But prepare for the worst."
Those words settled over the hall like a sentence.
Not hope.
Not comfort.
But reality.
Zack finally spoke.
His voice was low.
Controlled.
But sharp enough to cut through everything.
"…What were they?"
The entire hall went silent again.
The injured man swallowed hard.
"…Werewolves," he said.
That single word changed everything.