By the time our caravan returned to the estate hours later, Aria had to command three fully armed vanguard warriors just to transport our haul up the grand staircase. As we crossed the threshold, one of the younger enforcers—a stallion named Russell—stopped dead in his tracks the moment his eyes landed on my altered form. A deep, heavy flush crept up my neck; no male had ever looked at me with that kind of raw, predatory intensity before.

"Keep those eyes moving, Russell," Aria warned coldly, her voice sharp as glass. "Unless you desire Derrick to use your skull for target practice in the morning pits."

The warrior blanched, instantly dropping his gaze to the floorboards and scurrying toward the western wing.

When I finally reached my private quarters, I paused in surprise to find Uncle Darrius and Derrick already waiting for me, their faces grim, a thick cloud of volatile emotions radiating between them.

"Uncle Darrius? Derrick?" I asked, setting my small clutch down. "What’s happened?"

"We came to deliver the mandate," Darrius said, his deep voice carrying a strange, hollow resonance.

"What mandate?"

The two alphas exchanged a heavy, unreadable look before my uncle turned his piercing blue eyes back to my face. "You return to the American territories tomorrow evening. Your father initiated an emergency frequency an hour ago."

I stared at him blankly, the words bouncing off my mind like ice against stone. I didn't know how to process the sudden collapse of my reality. "Are you... are you serious?"

They both offered a solemn nod. The sudden realization that I was going back to Valen, back to my mother, back to the dirt tracks of my childhood shattered my stoicism. I lunged forward, throwing my arms around both of them in a fierce, desperate embrace. I was ecstatic to see my twin, but my heart ached at the thought of leaving the fierce, protective family that had raised me in the snow.

"Well," Derrick grunted, patting my shoulder with a heavy hand as we pulled apart. "You had best begin clearing your quarters."

I nodded silently, pulling the old leather suitcases out from the depths of my closet. Within an hour, Aria slipped through the door, her beautiful emerald eyes red-rimmed and clouded with unshed tears.

"Tell me the fearsome Luna of the Winter Throne isn't weeping over my departure," I teased softly, attempting to inject some levity into the suffocating sadness.

She tried to offer a watery laugh, but it broke into a quiet sob. I instantly dropped the silks I was holding, stepping into her space to pull her against my chest, holding her steady just as she had held me during my transformation storm.

"Forgive me, Evadne," she whispered into my shoulder. "I know how desperately you have missed your twin, and I am not making this transition easy for you."

"Do not dare apologize, Aria," I murmured fiercely. "I will return to Europe. I will visit you constantly—regardless of whether my father approves of the flight coordinates."

She squeezed me one last time before slipping away to let me rest before the long journey.

The seventeen-hour transatlantic flight was every bit as agonizing as the first. The moment the wheels slammed onto the California tarmac, my muscles locked in deep tension. Customs passed with excruciating slowness; my new, dense Alpha-born signature triggered several security alerts at immigration before they finally cleared me to enter the baggage claim. Retrieving my designer luggage, I took a deep breath and pushed through the heavy double doors of the arrivals gate.

The very first scent that hit my nose was iron and pine. Valen.

Before I could even scan the crowd, my heavy bags dropped to the linoleum. A massive, towering figure blurred through the sea of humans, colliding with me and lifting my entire five-foot-six frame completely off the ground, spinning me in a ferocious, bone-crushing circle.

"Well, hello to you too, big brother," I gasped, a breathless laugh escaping me as the pure, sacred twin bond flared between us like wild fire.

Valen set me down, his dark blue eyes wide with absolute awe as he took in my altered stature, before I turned to step into my father’s stiff, traditional embrace.

"Welcome home, Evadne," my father murmured, his baritone tightly controlled.

I turned toward my mother, but before I could speak, she burst into a violent torrent of tears, throwing her arms around my neck. "Oh, look at you! You are an absolute vision of majesty! I am so deeply sorry, my sweet girl... I should have been across the ocean for your transformation."

"It’s alright, Mother," I said softly, rubbing her back. "Derrick and Aria took perfect care of me."

At the mention of my dominant male cousin, a low, territorial growl vibrated deep within Valen's barrel chest. I whipped my head around, glaring at my twin with cold authority. "He is our first cousin, Valen, and he is happily bound to an incredible Luna. Control your instincts."

Valen shifted uncomfortably, his jaw tightening as my father hoisted my heavy bags into his arms. "Let us depart. The trek back to the Silver-Vane territory is substantial."

We navigated to the waiting SUV in a tense, loaded silence. As the car tore down the highway, I leaned against the door, studying my twin through the reflection in the glass. The past two years had remade him entirely. My Nicky was no longer a scrawny, hollow-cheeked teenager; he was a mountain of dense, functional muscle—a true Alpha-in-waiting. His presence made me wonder, with a sudden, dangerous spike in my pulse, just how massive Gideon had become in my absence.

"Valen," I murmured quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Have you seen Gideon lately?" I bit my inner lip, watching his reflection as his heavy eyebrows snapped together in a dark scowl.

"Can't say I have, Evadne," he muttered, his eyes darting out toward the dark rows of pine trees passing by, effectively shutting down the inquiry. "A lot has shifted since they shipped you across the Atlantic. And I'm not just talking about our physical status."

I could feel the suffocating wave of anxiety radiating from his side of the twin bond, heavy and toxic. What exactly was he hiding from me?

Arriving at the Silver-Vane estate felt like a bizarre exercise in déjà vu. The grand stone facade looked exactly as it had the night I was banished, untouched by the passage of time. But the moment I pushed the heavy oak front door open, a deafening roar shattered the silence.

"SURPRISE!"

I instinctively recoiled a step, my European training screaming at the sudden security breach before I forced my features into a flawless, diplomatic smile. Did my father truly possess so little political tact that he thought a crowded, loud pack party was an appropriate welcome for a returning royal bloodline?

Stepping into the sea of pack members, I quickly realized Valen’s warning had been an understatement. The entire social hierarchy of the Silver-Vane Clan had fractured and reformed. Lesser wolves had risen to warrior ranks; old childhood acquaintances were mated; the geeks of our middle-grade classes had transitioned into high-society sirens. The sheer volume of new information was staggering.

My eyes continuously cut through the crowd, desperate for a glimpse of sandy-blonde hair and hazel eyes, but the room was entirely devoid of Gideon’s signature scent. Pulling out my phone, my fingers flew across the glass as I sent a direct frequency to his line.

Gideon. I’m at the grand estate. Where are you?

Before the message could even register as delivered, a soft hand clamped down on my forearm. I turned sharply, my inner wolf snapping to attention, only to find myself staring into the wide, crystalline gray eyes of Morrigan.

She had grown taller, her sleek black bob now falling past her shoulders, but she was still substantially shorter than me. Where the twin bond had gifted me with an athletic, powerful stature, Morrigan had matured into a classic, soft womanly silhouette.

"Evadne! I cannot believe you are finally back on our soil!" she gasped, throwing her arms around my neck.

We locked into a fierce embrace, but the moment we pulled apart, I noticed a flicker of profound dread crossing her features. My eyes narrowed, my posture turning rigid as I gave her a cold, calculating look. Morrigan caved under the weight of my gaze.

"I wanted to deliver the news myself," she whispered, her hands trembling slightly against her silk dress. "Before some high-society gossip column ruins it for you."

"What news, Morrigan?" My voice was flat, dropping into a dangerous register that made her flinch.

"I’m dating Valen. We’re... we've been together for six months."

A sudden, blinding spike of possessive fury flared in my chest. My twin. My Morrigan. The old triad was being overwritten by mating politics. I felt the familiar red flush threatening to creep into my vision, but I was no longer an untrained child. I closed my eyes, drawing on the ice-cold discipline Uncle Darrius had beaten into my bloodline. Control it. Stifle the wolf. Bury the fire.