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"What do you think you’re doing?" Elijah whispered to his wife, who had made herself comfortably at home on his lap.

"Isn’t it obvious?" she said coolly, then turned her attention to the others across the table.

It was clear that power had changed hands, and they all knew to act accordingly. Beatrice wasn’t Elijah, and right now, she seemed far more terrifying than him.

With her arm resting on the table, Luna Beatrice leaned forward and declared, "You can all argue about options and power plays all you want, but I’ve made my stance clear. Elsie is done. I will never accept her as the next Luna."

Murmurs rippled through the room, especially from Henry and Zara’s side. If anyone looked most pleased by the news, it was Irene. Who would’ve thought Beatrice had this kind of fire? The woman had been silent for far too long.

"With all due respect, Luna Beatrice," Henry said, "Alpha King Elijah gifted Elsie to the Cardinal Alpha who emerges as heir after graduation. You can’t just change that."

"Well, you heard my wife," Elijah cut in, his voice edged with both amusement and danger. "Looks like we’ll be needing a new bride list."

But Beatrice said firmly, "There will be no bride list."

"What?" Elijah blinked, disbelief spreading across his face.

The murmurs in the room grew louder. Beatrice might be Luna, but she was human and challenging Elijah’s authority was unheard of.

Beatrice turned to him, eyes steely. "There will be no gifting of a bride. The greatest gift you could give your heir is the freedom to choose."

For a moment, Elijah didn’t speak. He stared at his wife, his expression unreadable and stormy.

To the others, it looked like a stare down.

None of them saw how his hands shifted, and claws sprouted and dug into her waist, drawing blood beneath her gown.

But Beatrice didn’t flinch. She bore the pain in silence, holding her ground with regal stillness.

"I agree with Luna Beatrice," Irene said suddenly.

The sound of her voice snapped Elijah from the bloodlust that had begun to cloud his judgment. His claws retracted, the blood on his fingers disappearing just as Beatrice let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

"Me too," Zara added, to everyone’s surprise.

With Elsie out of the picture, she could finally position a respectable North girl for her son, and get rid of that purple-haired menace.

"Let the boys do what they want," Leon Draven shrugged. "I mean, it’s free to love."

Now all eyes turned to Henry.

He paused. And then, with tight reluctance, said, "Whatever you say, Alpha King. I’ll follow your lead."

As soon as the words left his mouth, attention returned to Elijah. Beatrice kept her back to him, never turning to see the expression on her husband’s face. Even Irene, fierce as she was, had to admit she was impressed. Beatrice was bolder than any of them had ever given her credit for.

After a tension-laced silence that stretched unbearably, Alpha King Elijah finally said, with a smile that didn’t touch his eyes, "Who am I to go against my wife’s decision? Wife knows best, right? The heirs are free to date whoever they want."

Irene didn’t show it, but she was relieved. The boys were going to love this. Still, beneath that triumph sat something uneasy.

Elijah never made decisions that favored the Cardinal Alphas. Right now, this felt too easy.

It felt like the calm before the storm.

Hopefully, in her quest to make things right, she hadn’t fallen into Elijah’s trap and made things worse for the boys.

"Now that that aspect of the conversation is over, let’s move to the next segment of this meeting," Luna Beatrice announced, sounding every bit like the one in charge even though the Alpha King was around.

Elijah, in question, looked relaxed, as if he had given up and let his wife do whatever she wanted.

"Right before I stepped into this room, I had a very detailed conversation with President Roy."

At the mention of President Roy, Elijah, who had appeared disinterested, immediately stiffened. He turned sharply to face his wife. "You had a conversation with President Roy behind my back?"

"Of course not, sweetheart!" Beatrice forced out a casual laugh. "If I’d had it behind your back, you wouldn’t be hearing about it now, would you?"

She ignored the deepening frown on Elijah’s face, and the way he stared at her like he was truly seeing her for the first time.

She went on, "Principal Jameson has given us an effective solution to end the ongoing crises at Lunaris Academy. A solution I believe my husband is yet to share with us. Isn’t that right, my king?"

All eyes turned to Elijah, and for a man who was always the center of power in any room, Elijah for once looked caught off guard.

"Come on, honey," Beatrice urged with that same honey-laced sarcasm. "Tell them all about Jameson’s solution."

"About that..." Elijah muttered, then grabbed his wife and tugged her closer, seating her firmly against his crotch.

Luna Beatrice stiffened, sensing his intent instantly.

"Jameson thinks the solution to the raging chaos is building a fifth house for the humans," Elijah announced smoothly, his hand now subtly guiding her hips in slow, suggestive motion against him.

"That’s ridiculous!" Henry slammed his palm against the table, fury in his voice. "You cannot allow that, Your Majesty!"

"Yes, I cannot allow that," Elijah echoed with a cool smile. "But that’s what my wife likes, doesn’t she? Tell them, love."

His tone was dripping with cruel sweetness.

Everyone noticed the shift in Beatrice’s posture, the quiet tension in her shoulders. They could sense something was happening beneath the table, something they weren’t supposed to see. But they saw it anyway.

Irene especially recognized it was a punishment. This was Elijah’s way of humiliating her. Classic dick move.

Even though they all knew what was going on, none of them said a word. They pretended to be blind.

But Beatrice’s voice didn’t waver. "The news of a fifth house created exclusively for humans would sate the anger currently burning through their communities. They’d finally feel heard."

"The four houses represent our authority. Bringing in a fifth one is diminishing our power and tradition," Zara countered.

Anger flared in Beatrice’s tone now. "You diminished your tradition the moment you brought humans into the academy and crafted a flawed system around them. You can’t invite humans in, force them into pack dynamics, place them at the bottom, and then act shocked when they push back for change.

When you climb to power by stepping on the backs of others, eventually your balance will —. "

She didn’t finish her sentence because Elijah groaned loudly.

"Yes, that feels so good, my queen," he muttered, voice thick and taunting.

Beatrice’s hands balled into fists in her lap. She was going to kill this man one day.

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