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Something crosses her face—not quite guilt, but at least caution. “How would I know anything about it?”

“The convenient timing. The missing surveillance footage. The guard mysteriously reassigned.” I step closer, looming over her bed. “Strange coincidences, wouldn’t you say?”

“Coincidences happen.” Her voice wavers slightly.

“Not this many.”

Elder Vane moves between us, his face ashen. “Your Majesty, surely you’re not suggesting—”

“I’m not suggesting anything,” I say coldly. “I’m asking your daughter directly if she had anything to do with Helen Sorin’s death.”

“Of course not,” Aria says too quickly. “But I won’t pretend to mourn her. She was just another pest that happened to die. Like mother, like daughter—neither of them belonged here.”

My hands clench into fists at my sides, claws threatening to emerge. “One of those ‘pests’ is the only person who can save your life, Aria. And because of your cruelty, she refuses to help.”

For the first time, fear flashes across her face. “You’re lying.”

“Dr. Sorin developed the antidote that saved the first wave of infected shifters,” I tell her. “She is the only scientist with the knowledge necessary to combat this new strain.”

“Then, force her to help!” Aria demands, desperation creeping into her voice. “You’re the king. Make her!”

“You still don’t understand, do you?” I ask softly. “She has refused specifically because of what you did. Because she believes our kind murdered her mother and then turned our backs on her grief.”

Elder Vane’s face contorts with sudden fury. “This is outrageous! One human life against hundreds of our kind?” He draws himself up to his full height. “I will bring her back myself. I will drag her here and whip her until she saves my daughter’s life!”

The growl that tears from my throat is fully inhuman, my control finally snapping. I grab him by the throat, lifting him until his feet dangle above the floor.

“If you so much as look in Maya’s direction,” I say, my voice guttural and rough with the partial shift, “I will kill your daughter myself.”

His eyes bulge with shock and fear.

“Do you understand me?” I tighten my grip just enough to make him gasp. “You go near my mate, and Aria dies by my hand.”

He nods frantically. I release him, and he collapses to the floor, coughing.

“Guards!” Aria shrieks, her composure finally shattered. “Guards!”

The door bursts open as the palace guards rush in, weapons drawn. They freeze, uncertain, looking between me and the fallen elder.

“Escort Elder Vane to his chambers,” I order coldly. “He is confined there until further notice.”

“You can’t do this,” Aria protests, her face flushed with rage. “Father, tell him he can’t do this!”

But Elder Vane is silent as the guards help him to his feet, his eyes fixed on me with new understanding—and fear.

“I am the king,” I remind them both. “I can do exactly as I please.” I turn to leave, then pause, looking back at Aria. “If I were you, I would get my affairs in order.”

Days pass in tense silence.The palace holds its breath, waiting. The elders whisper behind closed doors, but none of them dare challenge me openly—not after what happened with Elder Vane.

The disease continues to spread. Forty new cases reported. Then sixty. Aria’s condition worsens, her wolf fading rapidly from her.

I throw myself into kingdom business, into reviewing the investigation of Helen’s death, into anything that might distract from the ache of Maya’s absence.

I’m in the war room, poring over maps of recent outbreak locations, when Erik bursts in.

“Griffin,” he says, breathless. “She’s here.”

My head snaps up. “Who?”