Rowena's POV
I'm still covered in blood when Thorne carries me to my new chambers.
Not my blood. The blood of the wolf I killed.
My hands won't stop shaking. I keep seeing it—the moment my wolf grew, the surge of power, my teeth tearing through flesh. I killed someone. I actually killed someone.
"Here." Thorne sets me down on a sofa, then wraps a robe around my naked, blood-stained body. His touch is gentle, careful. "You're in shock. That's normal after your first kill."
"Normal?" My voice comes out high and broken. "I just ripped someone's throat out!"
"You protected yourself. That wolf was trying to kidnap you." Thorne kneels in front of me, his golden eyes serious. "You did what you had to do to survive."
"I didn't mean to—I don't even know how I did it." I look at my hands. They're stained red. "What's happening to me?"
"Your Lycan bloodline fully awakened. Earlier than expected." Thorne's jaw clenches. "Which means we have less time than I thought."
One year. The words echo in my head like a death sentence.
One year before I have to fight him to the death or be executed.
"I need a bath," I say suddenly. "I need to get this blood off me."
"Of course." Thorne helps me stand. "The bathroom is through there. Take all the time you need."
He guides me to the door, then steps back. The mate bond stretches thin, and my wolf whimpers at the separation.
I turn on the water and step under the spray, desperate to wash away the blood. I scrub my skin raw, watching red water swirl down the drain.
But I can't wash away what I did. Can't erase the killing.
Can't escape the Crown Right law hanging over my head.
When I return to the main chamber, Thorne is gone. But there's a note on the bed:
Clean clothes in the wardrobe. Eat something. I'll be back in an hour. - T
I dress in simple pants and a shirt, both too big. My hands are still shaking.
I can't eat. My stomach is in knots.
The door opens behind me. I don't turn around, but I know it's Thorne. The mate bond recognizes him instantly.
"How are you feeling?" he asks quietly.
"Like my life is a nightmare I can't wake up from."
"Fair." He moves to stand beside me. "I spoke with Isolde. Your transformation was triggered by extreme stress—your life being threatened activated your bloodline's defensive response."
"So I'm fully Lycan now?"
"Yes. Which means you're stronger. Faster. More powerful." He pauses. "And bound by the Crown Right law."
"One year," I whisper. "How am I supposed to learn to fight well enough to challenge a Lycan King in one year?"
"You're not." Thorne's voice is firm. "We're not going to fight, Rowena. We're going to find another way."
I turn to look at him. "What other way? I challenge you or I die."
"There have to be loopholes. Exceptions." His golden eyes burn with determination. "I've sent Kieran to research every Crown Right case in history. We'll find something."
"And if we don't?"
Thorne's jaw clenches. "Then I'll forfeit."
"What?" I stare at him. "You can't—"
"If it comes down to fighting you or watching you be executed, I choose neither." His voice is steel. "I'll give up the throne. Let you rule as Lycan Queen."
"That's insane! You can't just quit!"
"I can do whatever I want." He closes the distance between us, his hands gentle on my shoulders. "I already killed your parents. I won't kill you too."
The mate bond flares at his touch, warm and fierce. I can feel his emotions—determination, guilt, and something that feels like... love?
"You'd give up your throne for me?" I ask. "Why?"
"Because you're my mate. Because I owe your family a debt I can never repay." He stops, his jaw working. "Because in one night, you've made me feel alive again in a way I haven't since Elena died."
My breath catches. "Your first mate."
"Yes. She died giving birth five years ago. Our son died with her." Pain flashes across his features. "I thought I'd never feel the mate bond again. Then you stumbled into my forest, and everything changed."
Tears prick my eyes. "I'm not her—"
"I don't want you to replace her. I want you to be you." His thumb brushes my cheek. "Fierce, brave, stubborn Rowena who survived twelve years of poison and still has fight left in her."
The mate bond pulses between us. We're standing so close now.
Before I can decide what to do, the door crashes open.
Kieran bursts in, his face pale. "We have a problem. A big one."
Thorne's hands drop from my shoulders. "What now?"
"I found the Crown Right records." Kieran holds up an ancient book. "There have been seventeen Crown Right challenges in Lycan history. Want to know how many challengers survived?"
My heart sinks. "How many?"
"Zero." Kieran's eyes are grim. "Every single Crown Right holder who challenged died in combat. And the three who tried to forfeit?" He pauses. "They were executed for attempting to circumvent sacred law."
The room spins. "So there's no way out?"
"It gets worse." Kieran opens the book. "The law specifically states that if a Lycan King attempts to forfeit to a Crown Right mate, both are executed for attempting to manipulate the succession."
Thorne's face goes white. "Both?"
"Both. The law prevents exactly what you're planning—a king avoiding combat by handing over the crown." Kieran's voice is heavy. "If you forfeit, they kill you both."
I sink onto the sofa. "So my choices are: challenge Thorne and die in combat, refuse to challenge and be executed for treason, or let Thorne forfeit and we both die?"
"Yes."
"That's not a choice! That's just three different ways to die!"
Thorne is pacing now, hands clenched into fists. "There has to be something—"
"There's one more thing." Kieran's voice drops lower. "The law requires the combat to be public. In front of the entire Lycan Council and all pack Alphas."
"So even if I won," I say numbly, "I'd have to kill Thorne in front of hundreds of people?"
"Yes. And if you show mercy, the Council can rule the challenge invalid and execute you both anyway."
The mate bond between us screams with despair.
One year until I have to kill the man I'm bonded to or watch us both die.
"There's more," Kieran says quietly.
"What?" Thorne demands.
Kieran pulls out a document with official seals. "This arrived by messenger. It's from the Alpha Council."
"What do they want?"
"They're calling for a Summit. All pack Alphas, all Lycan Council members, to discuss 'the Hartwell situation.'" Kieran's eyes meet mine. "They want to meet you, Rowena. See if the rumors about a Crown Right Lycan are true."
"When?" Thorne asks.
"Three days."
My stomach drops. "Three days? But I just matured! I don't know how to control my Lycan form!"
"They know that," Kieran interrupts. "That's the point. They want to see you weak, unprepared. Want to evaluate whether you're actually a threat."
"And if they decide I'm not a threat?"
Kieran and Thorne exchange a look that makes my blood run cold.
"Then they'll petition to have the Crown Right law waived," Thorne says quietly. "Declare you unfit to challenge."
"That sounds good?" I say hopefully. "If they waive the law, I don't have to fight you."
"No." Thorne's voice is heavy. "If they waive the law, they declare you unfit to carry the Hartwell bloodline. And the penalty for that is immediate execution."
I start laughing hysterically. "So if I look strong at the Summit, I'm forced to fight Thorne. If I look weak, they execute me in three days?"
"Yes."
Thorne pulls me against his chest, and I cling to him, laughter turning to sobs.
"We'll figure this out," he murmurs. "I promise."
But through the mate bond, I feel his doubt.
A howl cuts through the night. Long, mournful, unmistakably wolf.
Thorne tenses. "That's a challenge howl."
Another howl joins it. Then another. Dozens, until the night is full of them.
Kieran runs to the window. "Oh no."
"What?" I join him.
The tree line glows with hundreds of pairs of eyes. Wolves. So many wolves.
"It's the packs," Kieran breathes. "Every pack within a hundred miles. They heard about the Crown Right."
"They can't all fit in the Summit," Thorne says.
"They're not waiting for the Summit." Kieran points to a massive silver wolf at the front. "That's Alpha Cornelius. He's invoking Right of Witness."
"What's that?" I ask.
Thorne's face is grim. "Ancient law that allows any Alpha to demand immediate proof of a Crown Right claim. If you don't prove it right now, they can declare you false and execute you on the spot."
The silver wolf howls again. A challenge. A demand.
Prove it or die.
"How do I prove it?" My voice comes out as a whisper.
Thorne turns to me, his eyes filled with pain.
"You shift to full Lycan form and display the Crown Mark—a symbol on the chest of every true Crown Right holder. It only shows in your most powerful form."
"I don't know how to control my Lycan! I just changed an hour ago!"
"I know." Thorne's hands cup my face. "But if you don't do this now, those wolves will storm the castle and tear you apart."
Through the window, I see wolves moving closer. Hundreds of them.
"How long do I have?"
Kieran checks a pocket watch. "Right of Witness gives you until the moon reaches its peak. Twenty minutes."
Twenty minutes to prove I'm worthy of the Crown Right.
Twenty minutes before hundreds of wolves decide if I live or die.
I look at Thorne, terror making it hard to breathe.
"Help me," I whisper. "I don't know how to do this."
A wolf howls, closer now. Impatient.
Fifteen minutes left.
And if I fail, I die.