And just like that—my world cracked wide open.
It wasn’t relief I felt. It was something heavier. Something deeper.
Hope. Terror. Awe.
She could’ve stopped there. She *should’ve* stopped there.
But she didn’t.
“There’s something else,” she said, voice softer than ever. “We need the Queen’s blessing.”
I blinked.
“The Queen? Vaden’s mate?”
She gave me a tearful laugh and shook her head.
“No, not that Queen. Not your kind of Queen.”
“My kind?”
“I mean your Alpha King’s mate isn’t who I’m talking about,” she said. “I mean *the* Queen. The Witches’ Queen. The leader of the Green Coven. Luna Alice of the Blackwood Pack.”
I stared.
Never heard of her.
Lyra nodded at my confusion, eyes solemn now. “You will. Because without her blessing, I can’t be unbound. I can’t be yours—not truly
