Chapter Twelve – The Invitation
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Elara’s POV
The dining hall of Valemont Pack was unusually quiet for breakfast. Which meant something had to be wrong.
Aeron wasn’t trying to climb onto the table. Ca’ssia wasn’t narrating Aeron’s every move like she was hosting a reality show. Even Caius, who usually muttered sharp little comebacks between bites, was uncharacteristically silent.
The only sound was Alpha Darius at the head of the long table, methodically cutting into his eggs like a man who’d already accepted his life would never be peaceful again. His sharp gray eyes flicked up when the pack messenger entered, boots thudding against the floor.
The young wolf bowed deeply. “Alpha. A courier arrived at dawn. Two letters -one addressed to you, one to Elara Quinn.”
Every head at the table swung toward me at once.
I froze, fork halfway to my mouth. “Me?”
Cassia’s gasp was loud enough to draw attention from three tables over. “Oh my Goddess. Elara has mail. Real mail. From who? What if it’s from your mystery Paris man?”
“Cassia,” I hissed, cheeks heating.
The messenger ignored her chaos, stepping forward to present two envelopes. One thick and heavy, sealed with Ashthorne’s crest in gold wax. The
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other thinner, also carrying the same crest.
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My stomach twisted the second I saw it. The Ashthorne Pack. My father’s pack. My old pack.
Alpha Darius broke the first seal with his thumb, scanning the parchment with a flat expression. The air in the hall seemed to grow heavier as silence stretched. Finally, he read aloud, his Alpha voice carrying to every corner:
“By decree of Alpha Marcus Ashthorne, the union of his eldest daughter, Sera Ashthorne, to His Majesty, the Alpha King of the Northern Crescent, shall be held in four weeks’ time. All allied packs are invited to witness the sacred bond.”
The room buzzed instantly with murmurs, speculation, awe. Cassia nearly
choked on her juice.
“THE Alpha King?” she whispered dramatically. “As in, the most powerful wolf on the continent? As in, tall, dark, broody, and probably terrifying?!”
Caius smirked. “You’ve never met him, Cass. For all you know, he could be short, bald, and fond of crocheting.”
Cassia slapped his arm. “He’s the Alpha King. There are RULES. He’s obviously devastating. It’s in the job description.”
Meanwhile, I sat frozen, heart racing for reasons I didn’t understand. The words blurred in my head: Alpha King. Wedding. Sera Ashthorne.
Sera-the bride. The girl my father died saving years ago. Lucien Quinn, Beta of Ashthorne, who gave his life so she could live. I remembered that day with bone-deep clarity, even though I’d only been a child: the messengers arriving, the hushed voices, my mother’s tears.
And now she would marry the Alpha King.
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Chapter Twelve The Invitation
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I reached for my own envelope with trembling fingers. The parchment was addressed to me in elegant script: Elara Quinn, daughter of Lucien Quinn, former Beta of Ashthorne Pack.
A lump formed in my throat as I cracked the seal. Inside, the words were nearly identical-except this invitation bore personal lines.
In honor of Lucien Quinn’s sacrifice and his service to Ashthorne, his daughter is formally invited to witness this union.
My chest tightened. They remembered. They still remembered him.
Cassia, naturally, leaned halfway across the table to peek at the paper. “Let me see! Oooh, fancy lettering. Elara, this is a sign. You’re being summoned to a royal wedding. Fate is calling.”
“Fate is not calling,” I muttered, shoving the letter back into the envelope.
“Yes it is.” She poked my arm. “Fate is yelling. Fate is waving a banner. Fate is basically shoving you toward destiny wearing a sparkly dress.”
Across the table, Alpha Darius exhaled slowly, eyes scanning me with the same sharpness he used when evaluating warriors. “You’ll be expected to attend. Ashthorne hasn’t forgotten your father’s loyalty. Neither should you.”
“Yes, Uncle,” I said softly, unable to meet his gaze.
Luna Lyanna placed her delicate hand over his, her eyes warm as they landed on me. “It’s an honor, Elara. A chance to stand among your family’s legacy.”
Cassia, meanwhile, was practically vibrating out of her seat. “And a chance to wear something scandalous! And maybe catch the eye of a devastating Alpha King’s guard. Or his brother. Or-oh Goddess-what if the Alpha King himself is actually super young and handsome?”
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I nearly choked on my tea. “Cassia!”
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“What?!” she said, grinning wildly. “A girl can dream.”
Caius groaned. “For the last time, you’re not marrying into royalty.”
“Not me,” Cassia said slyly, turning to beam at me. “Her.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Absolutely not. The Alpha King is some… distant political figure. He doesn’t even know I exist.”
Cassia waggled her brows. “Oh, you never know.”
I rolled my eyes and focused on Aeron, who chose that moment to smush jam into his curls and proudly announce, “Sticky, Mama!”
Everyone groaned. The moment broke.
But inside, the weight of that gold-sealed letter sat heavy in my chest.
The Alpha King. The Ashthorne wedding. My father’s name remembered after
all these years.
And me-swept back into a world I thought I’d left behind.
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Cassia slammed her palms onto the table like she was launching a war campaign.
“Attention, soldiers. Operation Wedding Glow-Up 2025 begins now.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Cassia…”
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“Don’t Cassia me. This is serious. You, Elara Quinn, are going to show up at Ashthorne looking like a goddess sculpted by destiny and couture. You’ll leave them stunned, whispering, weeping into their overpriced wine.”
“Wine!” Aeron squealed, banging his cup against the table. “Wiiiiine!”
“Milk,” I corrected firmly, switching cups before he baptized the entire table in grape juice.
Caius arched a brow. “Three years old and already developing bad habits. He really is a Valemont.”
Cassia gasped. “How dare you insult my nephew during his formative years!
He is an icon.”
“MEN-iss!” Aeron announced proudly, repeating Caius’s earlier insult like it was a new title. He thumped his chest. “Alpha MEN-iss BOOM!”
Luna Lyanna, sipping her tea with unshakable calm, murmured, “Well, at least
he’s self-aware.”
Cassia scooped Aeron up, ignoring the jam on his fingers. “He’s perfect. Look at that face. Look at those golden-flecked eyes. He’s destined for greatness- and fabulous outfits. Speaking of which, I’ve already sketched three options for your gown, Elara.”
“You what?” I asked, half horrified.
Cassia pulled a crumpled paper from her bag like it was treasure. One dress looked like a ball gown had been murdered by glitter. The second resembled a weapon disguised as fashion. The third-oh Goddess, the third-had so many slits I was pretty sure it counted as pack indecency.
“No,” I said flatly.
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“Yes,” Cassia countered.
“NO.”
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“Yes times infinity!” She plunked the drawings in front of Aeron. “Which one do you like, Baby Alpha?”
Aeron, bless him, pointed at the indecent one. “Boom dress!”
Caius choked on his coffee. “Absolutely not.”
Alpha Darius finally set his mug down with a heavy thud. His sharp gray eyes swept over the chaos-jam stains, dress sketches, Aeron now attempting to wear the napkin as a crown. He exhaled, slow, controlled, but with the weight of a man who regretted allowing three children (two grown, one miniature) to rule
his household.
“Enough,” he said. The room quieted, barely. “We’ll discuss this invitation. properly. Ashthorne is no game. The Alpha King is no fool. If you think this is just about gowns and gossip, you’re mistaken.”
Cassia pouted but didn’t argue for once.
Aeron banged his spoon like a gavel. “Boom glow up!” he declared.
And just like that, laughter spilled again, even as my stomach twisted.
Because behind the jokes and the chaos, I couldn’t shake the feeling that walking into Ashthorne meant walking straight into danger.
Cassia wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.
She plopped Aeron into a chair like he was her tiny general and spread the gown sketches in front of him. “Alright, my co-commander. Which one makes Mama look like the queen she is?”
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Aeron squinted down at the papers, tongue sticking out in concentration. His curls were wild, his cheeks sticky with jam, but he tapped each drawing like he was delivering verdicts.
“This one… boom.” Tap.
“This one… no boom.” Tap.
“This one… too many booms.” Tap, tap.
Cassia gasped like he’d delivered divine wisdom. “He’s a genius. He gets
fashion.”
“He gets sugar rush,” Caius muttered. “Kid’s brain is 70% jam.”
“Jam BOOM!” Aeron crowed, slapping his sticky hands on the table.
Luna Lyanna, calm as ever, dabbed his face with a napkin. “Maybe we should let Elara choose her own dress,” she suggested.
Cassia clutched her chest. “Betrayal. My own mother, siding against me.
Unbelievable.”
“Cassia, you made one look like a murder weapon,” I said.
“That’s couture!”
“No, that’s indecent exposure,” Caius corrected dryly.
Alpha Darius’s gray eyes cut across the table. “No daughter of Valemont is leaving this house wrapped in glitter knives.”
“THANK YOU,” I said, throwing my hands up.
Cassia flopped back in her chair, sulking. “None of you understand art.”
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Aeron climbed down from his chair and tugged on Alpha Darius’s sleeve. “Grampa Alpha?”
Darius crouched down, massive hands resting on his knees. “Yes, pup?”
Aeron beamed, holding up Cassia’s sparkliest sketch. “Mama wear boom dress. Boom boom BOOM.” He mimed an explosion with both sticky fists.
Caius nearly spit out his coffee. Lyanna smothered a laugh behind her teacup. I buried my face in my hands.
Alpha Darius didn’t even blink. He just plucked the sketch out of Aeron’s hand, folded it neatly in half, and set it aside. “No.”
Aeron scowled, tiny fists on his hips. “YES.”
The entire table erupted in laughter, Cassia fanning herself dramatically. “The heir has spoken! Democracy rules!”
“This is not a democracy,” Alpha Darius said flatly, reclaiming his seat. “It’s my table. And my word is final.”
“Alpha MEN-iss,” Aeron mumbled, echoing Caius from earlier, before cramming a piece of bread in his mouth.
Cassia squealed. “He called you a menace, Daddy!”
Caius smirked. “Guess he’s not wrong.”
Alpha Darius pinched the bridge of his nose like he regretted every life choice that had led him here. “You’re all insufferable.”
Luna Lyanna’s soft chuckle drifted across the table. “And yet, you love us.”
“Debatable.” But his mouth twitched at the corners.
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Chapter Twelve The Invitation
For a few minutes, the air was warm again, filled with laughter and Aeron’s babbling. For a moment, it was easy to pretend this was just another family dinner.
But when the dishes were cleared and the laughter ebbed, Alpha Darius leaned back in his chair, his gray eyes sharp as steel.
“Enough games,” he said quietly. “We need to speak of Ashthorne.”
The shift in his tone chilled the air. Cassia went still, Caius sobered, and even Aeron seemed to sense the change, going quiet as he gnawed on his bread.
I straightened, heart thudding.
The dinner table was still alive with chatter when Alpha Darius cleared his throat. Instantly, the noise dimmed. His gray eyes-sharp as ever-moved between me, Caius, and Cassia.
“You’ve all had your fun,” he began. “But Ashthorne is not a jest. It’s not a holiday. It’s not a chance for Cassia to parade sequins like a peacock.”
Cassia gasped. “Excuse you, Father, sequins are a war strategy. They blind enemies at twenty paces.”
Caius smirked. “Or they just blind everyone unfortunate enough to look directly at you.”
Cassia flicked a grape at him. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
Alpha Darius ignored them, voice firm. “The Ashthorne Alpha is tying his bloodline to the crown. That wedding will be a gathering of power unlike any this continent has seen in decades. And where there’s power, there’s danger.”
I shifted uneasily in my chair. My invitation still sat folded on my desk upstairs, the weight of my father’s name pressed into its seal. Lucien Quinn. Beta who’d
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died saving Sera Ashthorne. My father. My debt.
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“Which is why you, Elara,” Alpha Darius said, gaze fixing on me, “must be cautious. They remember your father’s sacrifice. They’ll expect you to represent him and your mother. Do not let them use you.”
Luna Lyanna set her teacup down softly. “You won’t face it alone. You are
Valemont now.”
Cassia clutched my arm dramatically. “And you’ll have me. Operation Wedding Glow-Up 2025 is in full effect. I’ve already scheduled emergency spa time.”
“Emergency spa time,” Caius repeated dryly. “That’ll save us when half the continent’s Alphas are circling like wolves.”
“Exactly,” Cassia said sweetly. “At least we’ll look flawless when we die.”
Alpha Darius pinched the bridge of his nose. “Goddess grant me patience.”
From his highchair, Aeron banged a spoon on the table. “BOOM wedding!” he declared proudly.
Cassia squealed, kissing his cheek. “See? Even Aeron’s on board!”
Darius groaned, but his mouth betrayed the faintest twitch of amusement. His gaze returned to me, softer but no less commanding. “This is your choice, Elara. But remember-Ashthorne doesn’t invite out of kindness. It invites out of
expectation. Go with your eyes open.”
I nodded, though my stomach knotted tight.
Because I knew. Whatever came next, it wouldn’t be lighthearted.
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