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He was still smirking, sharp amusement shadowing his features when Moses cut in.

She almost threw herself into his strong arms just to escape Oscar’s teasing, but the dark laugh that chased after her still made her shiver.

Moses bundled her closer, his nose grazing her warm temple, a subtle groan vibrating from his chest. He loved the slight scent of her fear when it was sweetened by desire.

He didn’t seem to care that someone else had caused it—or maybe it was because it was his best friend.

Someone turned the music up even louder, cutting off any room for conversation as Moses twirled her around.

She danced with each of her mates, then with Sophia and Bellamy, and finally, she carried Luis through a song, as he was growing too tired to stand but still wanted to be included.

By the time they all collapsed around the room, groaning about their muscles and tangling about in small groups, the music barely audible under the quiet hum of the air filtration system, it was early afternoon.

No one spoke except for the occasional half-formed thought, lazy insult, or brush of laughter too light to linger.

It was the laziest day she had lived in …

longer than she could remember, though there were days she had done less.

Days in the hospital. Days spent unconscious.

She was only now beginning to realise just how much effort it was to stress about things.

Not thinking, for once, made her feel light as air.

And it was thanks to … her father ? “Nah,” she said out loud, loosening a laugh. “Can’t be.”

“What can’t be?” Kilian asked, his hands tangling in her hair as she dropped her head into his lap .

“This being my dad’s idea. I’m hallucinating, right?”

Several of the Alphas snorted in agreement.

When Bellamy and Sophia stepped out to explore the woods for a little while and Maya took Luis back to their room for a nap, Isobel crawled over to where Theodore was propped up in the corner, his head tipped back, eyes closed.

She sat beside him, her shoulder brushing his. “Remember my seventeenth birthday?”

He didn’t open his eyes but shifted his hard thigh to press into hers. “Won’t be forgetting that one any time soon, Illy.”

“I drew myself a birthday cake.” She played with her fingers in her lap, drawing a few gazes as the other Alphas felt the gentle swell of her emotion. “I was so sad my mom hadn’t come to visit me.”

They all moved closer. It was a subtle shift—in some cases, only an inch or two in the guise of rearranging how they were sitting. Kalen and Mikel, who had collapsed further away, pretended to stand and stretch before sinking down much closer to where she cuddled up against Theodore.

“But there you were,” she said, “all dark eyes and dark veins. Also sad about your mom. We were in the same situation; I just didn’t realise it.”

“I think you meant to say, ‘handsome as ever,’” Theodore prompted, still with his head tipped back.

“And then you were there again the next year. On my next birthday.” She ignored his sarcastic remark, knowing that he just didn’t want to talk about his mother. Which was fine with her, because she didn’t want to talk about hers either. She was too at peace, for once.

“Hey,” Kilian interrupted, no longer giving them an illusion of privacy. “I was with you that day too.”

“You were invisible. It doesn’t count.”

“At least I gave you an actual cupcake instead of canned chicken.”

She shuddered, not at all looking forward to dinner. “And then the next year, we were all too busy to celebrate. It was just another day.”

Theodore opened his eyes and looked at her, one grey eye and one multihued, with little specks borrowed from each of them.

“This one,” she said, ducking her head down and resting against his shoulder, her voice so soft, it barely stirred the air, “is definitely my favourite.”

His hand landed on her thigh, squeezing softly.

“Mine too,” Mikel said, a gentleness in his voice that she rarely heard.

“Mine t—” Moses started, before Theodore interrupted him.

“Wasn’t your birthday.”

They were quiet for a little while before Elijah sat up straight, his eyes alert, betraying the nap he had been pretending to have. “Fine. I lose! ”

Isobel startled.

“I broke first, okay?” he ranted. “I need to check the news.”

“Was it a competition?” Isobel asked, her voice a whisper. They had loosely agreed to not check their devices for the day, to try and just exist for once, as her father worked on a plan.

“It’s always a competition,” Moses drawled. “Especially when Eli loses.”

The steel door squeaked open, and Sophia and Bellamy rushed back in. “You have to check the news,” Bellamy spluttered out, waving his phone. “The fucking presidents resigned.”

“See,” Elijah snapped, “I didn’t lose—wait, what?”

“Presidents?” Kilian shot up. “Plural?”

“Just check it!” Bellamy shouted, drawing Maya out of her room.

They all crowded around the laptop as Elijah wheeled the office chair back to the desk and brought up the news feed.

As the headline bloomed across the display, nobody said a word.

DUAL PRESIDENTIAL RESIGNATIONS TRIGGER GLOBAL REVIEW OF GIFTED RIGHTS.

Below the banner, two photos stared back at them. The American president and the French president. The article was timestamped just an hour ago .

Isobel’s gaze locked on the screen. She held her breath as Elijah scrolled.

In an unprecedented move, both the French and American presidents have formally resigned amid mounting international scrutiny over their Gifted suppression programs. Their resignations come in the wake of multiple investigative leaks, including the controversial “Stone Dahlia Collateral” files, which implied deep systemic corruption within both governments.

In a televised address delivered early this morning, French President Arnaud Anouilh stated:

“My continued leadership risks undermining the integrity of the legal process. The investigation must proceed without fear or favour. It is the responsibility of this office to serve the public, not obscure the truth from it.”

The president declined to take questions and did not reference any specific charges, citing only the need for “full transparency and confidence in the days ahead.”

Hours later, U.S. President Malcom Grant issued his own written statement.

“In times of national reckoning, leadership must not become a liability. While I reject the idea that wrongdoing defines this administration, I recognise that trust must be rebuilt without distraction. I have complete confidence in the systems we have built and the investigations underway. The American people deserve a process free from political interference.”

Neither administration has admitted fault in the alleged collusion between government officials and privately funded Gifted institutions. Both resignations are effective immediately.

Deputy leaders in each government have assumed interim control, with oversight from newly formed ethical advisory boards pending UN review.

A statement from the newly formed Unified Council—an emergency coalition of legal, academic, and civil rights leaders—confirmed that a “comprehensive reassessment of Gifted engagement, education, and autonomy” is now underway.

The Official Gifted Governing Body has been formally abolished, with several high-ranking members implicated in the Stone Dahlia investigation.

A growing list of countries has announced that they will formally recognise Gifted individuals as full citizens under human rights law, expanding access to legal protections, education, and employment without institutional segregation.

As of today, the list includes Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, South Africa, and Ireland.

While authorities are urging calm, unrest continues to escalate across multiple territories.

Gifted protests, previously labelled “anti-loyalist behaviour,” have exploded freely across the American settlements and even within the Ironside campuses.

These organised movements are calling not just for justice, but for drastic, comprehensive reform.

The screen dimmed slightly, but nobody moved to wake it .

“Holy shit,” Isobel squeaked out. “What just happened?”

“Holy shit,” Sophia signed. “Fuck off.”

Isobel snorted. “Yeah, fuck off.”

Sophia gave her a crooked grin, rich brown eyes alight with an almost feverish joy. Isobel was beginning to think Sophia was deliberately not learning new signs so that she could keep saying fuck off when it wasn’t in the slightest bit relevant.

“Fuck off,” Bellamy agreed numbly.

“I think we broke the world,” Kilian said, just as numbly.

“No.” Maya sucked in a breath through her teeth sharply. “We just proved it was already broken.”

Gabriel rubbed a hand over his face, pacing a slow line behind the others as he read something on his phone. “This isn’t over, yet. Callum’s bail hearing was expedited—they’re not closing in on him; they’re letting him go.”

Mikel hadn’t spoken yet. He was still leaning against the wall beside the desk, one leg bent, foot braced, arms folded, eyes unreadable.

Isobel could feel him thinking, the heavy, slow thoughts grinding behind unfocussed eyes.

Kalen was similarly preoccupied, drifting away from the group.

The two men shared a look, and then both left the room, probably to discuss the news in private.

“What if they want us to come back?” Cian asked. “I mean what if they invite us back, with no repercussions for leaving in the first place?”

“We can’t.” Gabriel shook his head. “Not with Callum Rowe free.”

Sophia tapped Isobel’s hand. When she turned, Sophia signed something slowly. It took a moment for Isobel to place the word they had both learned.

Scared.

“You?” she asked, pointing to Sophia, because the Delta didn’t look scared. That joy in her expression had melted into a stubborn fire.

Sophia shook her head, tapping Isobel’s chest.