The screams had become part of the palace. Two newborn princes, left motherless when their mother fled, cried without end. Every nursemaid failed. Every healer was dismissed.
Until Josie, a wolfless, orphaned servant, stepped forward. It wasn’t supposed to happen. She was nothing, a girl without a wolf, mocked by everyone. But when desperation drove her to the princes’ side, the crying stopped.
They calmed in her arms. They clung to her scent and refused all others. And for a year, that forbidden bond grew. Josie stood elbow-deep in filthy dishwater, scrubbing pots until her hands were raw.
Chef Margarave wouldn’t accept them until he could see his reflection in the bottom. Around her, the evening shift wound down in chaos. Well-dressed house servants swept in with silver platters, heaving them into her sink without a glance. A wave of dirty water hit her square in the chest.
Josie gasped, stumbling back as chunks of fat and gristle clung to her stained apron. She looked up, some small, stupid part of her still expecting an apology. But the servant was already turning away, laughing with his companion. “Hear those pups from the east wing?
Non-stop. The king hasn’t slept in days. ”
“Shh, not here. ”
They disappeared through the doorway.
Josie exhaled slowly and returned to her pot. “One day,” she whispered to herself. “One day, everyone else will see what he saw in you. ”
“Who are you talking to?
”
Josie’s stomach dropped. Norma stood in the doorway, her clean apron spotless. At ten, Norma was two years younger than Josie, but she had a wolf. That made all the difference.
“No one,” Josie said quickly, keeping her eyes on the pot. The apple core hit her temple hard enough to blur her vision. She flinched, her hands jerking, and the pot slipped from her grip with a tremendous splash. More laughter.
Not just the kids now. Some of the scullery maids had turned to watch. “Oi,” Chef Margarave’s voice boomed. “Clean yourself up and get out of my kitchen.
You’re dripping all over my floor. ”
“Yes, chef,” Josie whispered, grabbing a rag and fleeing. Her room was a storage cupboard with a thin straw mat. She pulled the door shut and stood in the darkness.
From somewhere far above, muffled by stone and distance, came that sound again. Thin and wavering. The crying. It never stopped.
Josie sank onto her mat and wrapped her arms around her knees. As always, when she needed comfort, she thought of him. King Tristan. She closed her eyes and remembered.
She’d been small, five or six, lost in the palace gardens. He’d appeared, tall and golden, dressed in hunting leathers. He’d knelt down beside her, his voice so kind. “What’s this?
A little lost lamb? ”
He’d scooped her up and carried her back to the kitchens himself. The king had saved her. It was proof she wasn’t worthless.
If a king could see value in her, then maybe she wasn’t nothing. Her thoughts drifted to the crisis consuming the palace. Queen Nzarin had left. The Alpha King’s own mate had abandoned him and their pups.
Some said she’d taken a lover. Josie’s hands curled into fists. How could anyone abandon such a good man? Three weeks later, it was an ordinary morning.
Josie had dressed the twins in matching outfits, and they’d promptly undone all her work by crawling away. “Veto, come back here. ”
He squealed and crawled faster. Josie lunged for him, and he shrieked with laughter.
Theon crawled over at top speed, reaching for her with both hands. “Got you! ” Josie gasped. “Got you, my little monsters!
”
The double doors slammed open. The laughter died in Josie’s throat. King Tristan stood in the doorway, tall and golden, but his eyes were fixed on her with such rage, such utter revulsion, that Josie felt her stomach drop through the floor. “Let my children go.
”
The king moved so fast Josie didn’t have time to react. He grabbed a crib and hurled it across the room. It hit the far wall with a deafening crash, splintering into pieces. The twins shrieked, clinging to Josie with desperate strength, their small bodies trembling violently.
Veto buried his face in her neck. Theon’s fingernails dug into her arm hard enough to draw blood. The nursery doors burst open, and Paula and Mara came running in. “Why?
” the king bellowed. “Does this servant child have her filthy hands all over my sons? ”
“Your majesty,” Josie said, pushing herself to standing on shaking legs. “Please try to understand.
Your sons need me. ”
His attention snapped back to her. The look in his eyes, cold, vicious, utterly devoid of warmth, froze the blood in her veins. “Need you?
” His voice was soft now, worse than the shouting. “Why would the heirs to my throne need you? ”
He took a step toward her. She instinctively backed up.
“You are nothing. Less than nothing. You’re a servant, and a wolfless one at that. So get your filthy hands off my sons.
”
“Sire,” Paula said, “the girl does have an affinity with the children. I’ll make sure she remembers her place, but perhaps—”
“Get her out of here,” the king roared. “If I see her even look at my boys again, I’ll have her whipped in the courtyard and thrown from the palace to die in the woods like the worthless thing she is. ”
Josie’s knees gave out.
She collapsed to the floor, the twins still clinging to her. Tears burned her eyes as she tried to make sense of it. He had been so angry. Angrier than seemed possible for someone good and kind.
“I tried to warn you, child,” Paula said later. “They were never yours. ”
“But why was he so angry? I was helping them.
They were happy. I made them happy. ”
“It’s because the queen left, isn’t it? ” Josie couldn’t stop, the words spilling out faster.
“He’s upset about his mate leaving. He saw me with his sons, and it reminded him. He’s a good man, Paula. He gave me a home.
If I just wait until he’s feeling better, he’ll understand. He’ll let me see them again. ”
“No, Josie. He won’t.
”
Three days passed. The twins’ screams had become part of the palace’s architecture. Josie stood at the washing basin, her hands raw and wrinkled in the cold water. Then the kitchen door burst open.
“Have you heard the news? ” a footman said. “Word from the north. Queen Nzarin lives.
She’s raised an army. She’s declared war to reclaim her sons. ”
King Tristan had declared Queen Nzarin a traitor. The whole palace was on lockdown.
They were trapped, trapped in a palace under siege with two inconsolable infants whose mother was coming to claim them by force. Josie lay on her thin mat that evening, thinking about Veto and Theon alone in that nursery. She could help them. Surely the king would understand.
Surely he’d see she was trying to help. Her feet were moving before she’d made a conscious decision. The nursery was dimly lit by a single lamp when she eased the door open. The crying hit her like a wave.
The twins were in a new crib, hastily constructed. The moment they saw her, they threw themselves against the bars, reaching for her with both hands, their faces red and raw and streaming with tears. They’d been left alone. No nursemaids in sight.
“Oh, little ones,” she breathed, rushing across the room. She gathered them both into her arms, and they clung to her with desperate strength. “Hush,” she murmured, rocking them gently. “Hush now.
”
The crying stopped. The twins sagged against her, their little bodies going limp with exhaustion. Within moments, they were asleep. “I warned you.
”
Josie spun around, her heart stopping. King Tristan stood in the doorway, two palace guards flanking him. His rage wasn’t explosive like before. Now it was cold, controlled.
“Surely you can see,” Josie said desperately. “I can help them. ”
“Take her,” the king said to the guards. Rough hands seized Josie’s arms.
They dragged her toward the door. Behind her, the twins stirred and began to cry again, frightened, confused sounds. “Please! ” Josie twisted in the guards’ grip, but she was already being pulled into the corridor.
The dungeon was cold and dark and smelled of mold and old fear. The guards threw Josie into a cell without ceremony. “The king has given his order,” one said flatly. “You’ll be hanged for treason at dawn.
”
A sound escaped her throat. She was thirteen years old. She’d only ever wanted to help, to love, to be loved. How was that treason?
Josie crawled to the corner of the cell and curled onto her side. All along she’d been wrong. The king had never been kind. He’d never saved her.
She’d built an entire fantasy around a man who didn’t exist, and now she was going to die for it. At some point, the raw terror dulled into hollow, numb acceptance. Josie was going to die. That was simply a fact.
She sat with her back against the wall, knees pulled to her chest, waiting. Then came soft padding and tiny whimpers. Josie’s head snapped up. She crawled toward the bars.
Two small shapes appeared in the dim torchlight. Wolf pups. Tiny, fluffy, stumbling on legs too big for their bodies. Their fur was dark.
They couldn’t have been larger than house cats. “Veto,” she whispered. “Theon. What happened to you?
”
The pups saw her face, and their whimpering transformed into excited yips. They tumbled over each other to reach her, pressing their small noses through the bars, licking at her fingers. A tear tracked down Josie’s cheek. They’d shifted.
But they were far too young. Children didn’t shift until eight or nine. The earliest she’d ever heard of was four. These twins weren’t even two.
“You were too stressed, weren’t you? ” Josie murmured. Theon tried to climb through the bars, his chubby puppy body getting stuck halfway. Despite everything, Josie felt a laugh bubble up.
“You’re ridiculous,” she told them. “Both of you. ”
Veto’s nose twitched. He caught a scent across the corridor and launched himself toward it, made it three steps, then his legs tangled and he tumbled snout over tail.
Theon bounded after him, tripped over his own paws, and crashed directly into him. Both pups went rolling, fetching up against a tall stool. Josie’s heart leaped. There on top of the stool, something metal gleamed in the torchlight.
Keys. And beside the stool, what had attracted Veto, a crust of bread. “The bread,” Josie called frantically. “Get the bread.
”
Both pups lunged for it, beginning a spirited tug-of-war, tumbling sideways and crashing into the stool leg. The stool wobbled. “Yes. Again,” Josie encouraged desperately.
But the pups had already forgotten the bread, wrestling and yipping instead. Josie made a high-pitched squeaking sound. Both pups froze and looked at her. “Come here,” she called.
They started toward her, but Veto got distracted by his own tail. Theon stuck his nose in a crack in the floor. Josie squeaked again. Theon bounded toward her cell, then veered off, spotting the bread crust.
He grabbed it and shook it violently. Veto charged over to steal it. They collided near the stool again, and the stool rocked dangerously. Theon went flying and crashed into the stool leg.
The stool tipped. The keys flew through the air and hit the stone floor with a tremendous clatter. The pups jumped, startled, then investigated this new interesting thing. Veto tried to pick up the key ring.
It was too heavy. He dropped it, shaking his head. Theon batted at the keys with one paw. They jingled.
He batted them again, harder. They slid across the floor, away from Josie. “No, no, this way,” Josie reached through the bars desperately. The pups wrestled right on top of the keys, oblivious.
Then Veto got his paw tangled in the key ring. He panicked and started backing up. The keys dragged along with him, jingling wildly. He backed directly toward Josie’s cell.
Theon grabbed the other end of the key ring in his teeth, pulling in the opposite direction. They moved in a chaotic sideways path that slowly brought the keys closer. “Yes, yes, keep going,” Josie encouraged. Veto gave a particularly hard yank.
Theon’s teeth slipped, and he tumbled backward, right toward the cell. The momentum pulled Veto forward, too. Both pups and the keys ended up in a heap directly in front of Josie’s cell. Josie’s hands shot through the bars and grabbed the key ring.
“Good boys,” she breathed, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, you wonderful, silly, perfect boys. ”
She fumbled with the key ring, her hands shaking. First key didn’t fit.
Second key didn’t fit. Third, fourth, fifth. Sixth key slid into the lock with a soft click. The cell door swung open.
Josie dropped to her knees, and the pups immediately swarmed her, climbing into her lap, licking her face. “You saved me,” she whispered, gathering them into her arms. Josie stood on shaking legs and ran. She stumbled through the dungeon corridors, following the torchlight upward.
The pups were heavy, solid little bodies that squirmed occasionally, but they stayed mostly quiet. She pushed through the kitchen door and stopped dead. Paula stood at the worktable, a knife in hand. “Josie.
They said you’d been taken to the dungeon. ” Her gaze dropped to the pups, and her words died. Paula set down the knife. “We need to get you out of here.
And those pups need to go to their mother. ”
She spread a map across the table, tracing a route north. “I’m loyal to Queen Nzarin. Always have been.
She’s gathering forces in the Northern Territories. The king is a dangerous man. He’ll hurt you. He’ll hurt his own sons.
But the queen, she’ll protect you. Take them. Go north. ”
“Please come with me,” Josie begged.
Paula’s face softened. “I’ll stay. Lead them off your scent. But you must hurry.
”
She pressed the map into Josie’s hand and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Go. Be safe. ”
Josie’s voice broke.
“You’re my only family, Paula. I love you. ”
Paula’s eyes glistened. She grabbed Josie’s arm and pulled her to a corner of the kitchen, yanking aside a rug to reveal a trap door in the floor.
“There’s a passage. It comes out beyond the palace walls. Head northwest into the forest. Don’t stop.
”
Josie descended into the passage, clutching two wolf pups who had saved her life. “All right,” she whispered to them. “Northwest to your mother. To the queen.
”
Josie fled through the dark forest, her heart torn in two. Behind her, somewhere in that palace, was Paula. The only person who’d ever truly loved her. And Josie had left her there.
A howl cut through the night. Distant but unmistakable. Tracker wolves. The map crumpled in Josie’s shaking hands as she shoved it back.
No time. She had to run. The pups whimpered as she took off again. She held them tighter and pushed through the undergrowth.
Behind her, the howls grew louder. Men’s voices now, too. Through the trees ahead, amber eyes gleamed. Josie veered hard left, crashing through a thicket that tore at her clothes.
The pups yelped in protest, but they were frightened now, making distressed sounds that seemed impossibly loud. Josie stumbled and threw herself behind a massive oak tree. The growls of tracker wolves surrounded them. Three, maybe four circling the oak.
She pressed her back against the rough bark. She didn’t stand a chance. Then a massive shadow moved through the undergrowth. A wolf unlike any Josie had ever seen exploded from the darkness.
He was huge, easily twice the size of the palace trackers, with a scarred muzzle. He slammed into the first tracker with enough force to send it flying. The attack was savage, merciless. Another tracker leaped onto his back, but he shook it off, sending it crashing into a tree with a sickening crunch.
Palace guards burst through the undergrowth, swords drawn. “Rogue wolf, kill it. ”
The lone wolf reared up and released a howl that seemed to shake the very trees. The guards stumbled backward.
The lone wolf dropped to all fours and charged. The guards scattered. Then there was silence. The massive scarred wolf turned toward Josie’s hiding spot.
His eyes, pale gold in the moonlight, locked on hers. He took a step forward. Josie bolted. She grabbed the pups tighter and ran.
The wolf was faster, but he wasn’t attacking. He was just following. Josie spotted a cluster of large boulders and dove for them, wedging herself into a gap. The space was barely big enough, but she squeezed in.
For a long moment, there was only silence. Then the sound of bones cracking. The distinctive sound of a shift. “Well,” a deep male voice said nearby, tinged with amusement.
“That’s one way to thank someone for saving your life. ”
Josie didn’t respond. “Those palace wolves were about to tear you apart, kid. Can’t say I’ve ever been run away from quite so enthusiastically after a rescue.
”
A face appeared in the opening. A man in his forties, with long, unkempt hair streaked with gray. But his eyes, those pale wolf eyes, were sharp, with something that might have been kindness buried beneath the weariness. “There you are.
What are you doing wedged in there? Can’t be comfortable. ”
Josie stared at him, trembling. “I’m not going to hurt you.
I just saved you from trackers who very much wanted to hurt you. Remember? ”
“You killed them,” Josie’s voice came out as a croak. “Some of them.
” He said it without apology. “They were hunting a child carrying babies. I don’t take kindly to that sort of thing. ”
Josie’s arms tightened around the twins.
“Easy, Mother Wolf. I’m not going to take them from you. ” He settled on the ground a few feet away. “I’m Bram.
What’s your name? ”
When Josie didn’t answer, he shrugged. “That’s all right. But you should probably come out of there.
Those guards will regroup eventually. ”
“How do I know you’re not going to take me back to the palace? ”
Bram’s expression hardened. “Because I’d sooner cut off my own arm than help that bastard king with anything.
”
Slowly, cautiously, Josie began to edge out of her hiding spot. “You don’t like King Tristan? ” she asked. Bram snarled.
“The king has no honor. I’d rather have no pack than belong to his. ”
Emboldened, Josie took a chance. She shifted the twins slightly in her arms.
“They’re the king’s sons,” she said, nodding down at them. “I need to reunite them with their mother. ” Her voice broke. “Will you help me?
”
Bram glanced down at the sleeping boys, then back at Josie. “Those are the princes? And they’re here alone with a ten-year-old? ”
“I’m nearly thirteen, and I’m all they have.
” She looked down at the sleeping pups. “And they’re all I have. ”
Something shifted in Bram’s expression. He groaned, then snatched her map and studied it briefly in the moonlight.
“I’ll walk you to the river crossing,” he said gruffly. “About half a day’s journey from here. But after that, kid, you’re on your own. ”
The river crossing came and went.
Bram didn’t leave. “The water’s too fast here,” he’d said, barely pausing. “We’ll need to go upstream. Another few hours.
”
Those few hours turned into a full day, then another. “There’s a village near here,” Bram announced on the third morning. “Royal sympathizers. We’ll need to go around.
That’ll add another day, maybe two. ”
By the end of the first week, Bram still hadn’t left them. Josie stopped questioning it. The days fell into a rhythm that was almost peaceful.
Bram taught her how to set proper snares. At night, they slept in a formation that felt sacred. Bram stretched out in his massive wolf form. Josie with her back against his warm flank, and the twin pups curled against her stomach.
One morning, Josie watched in horror as Veto discovered a rabbit snare Bram had set. The little pup approached it cautiously, then pounced. The snare collapsed immediately, and Veto found himself tangled in cord and sticks. Theon rushed over to help and promptly got tangled himself.
Within seconds, both pups were a yipping, rolling ball of fur and rope. Bram knelt down with surprising patience, his large, scarred hands working gently through the tangles. “Easy, little warriors,” he murmured. “You’ve conquered the fearsome rope trap.
Very impressive. ”
Veto, finally freed, shook himself indignantly and immediately tried to attack the remains of the snare. Bram’s lips twitched. He glanced up at Josie, who was trying hard not to laugh.
“They’re going to destroy every trap I set, aren’t they? ”
“Probably,” Josie admitted. Bram sighed. One night, after the twins had fallen asleep, Bram fed another stick into their fire.
“We’ll reach the foothills tomorrow. After that, it’s maybe three more days to the Northern Territories. ”
Josie’s heart sank. “And then you’ll leave.
”
Bram didn’t answer immediately. He poked at the fire, sending sparks spiraling up. “I left Tristan’s pack when he banished my brother,” he said finally, his voice low. “My brother was injured in one of the king’s wars.
Took a wound that never quite healed right. He couldn’t shift properly anymore. ” He shook his head. “Tristan said he was too weak.
”
Josie watched him in the firelight, seeing the pain in his face. “I should have left with him that day. But I stayed, told myself I was a man of honor. A few weeks later, I found my brother dead.
” He looked up at Josie, his eyes fierce. “If I’d left when my brother needed me, he’d still be alive today. “The Alpha King destroys anyone he deems unworthy. But I won’t let that happen to you.
I won’t let any harm come to you or those boys. ”
Josie believed him. “Get some sleep,” Bram said. “We’ve got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow.
”
She was just drifting off when the first howl echoed through the trees. Josie’s eyes snapped open. Bram was on his feet instantly. “Get behind that tree.
Take the pups and the supplies. Stay down. ”
Through the trees, shadows moved. Tracker wolves, at least four of them, and guards with torches and swords.
Bram surged to his feet and launched himself at the first tracker wolf before it could enter their camp. The fight was brutal. One of the guards broke through, heading straight for Josie. Without thinking, she kicked the dying embers toward him.
The hot coals scattered across his face, and he screamed. Bram was on him in an instant. The others fled. But then Bram made a sound.
A low groan of pain that sent ice through Josie’s veins. Bram had fallen to his knees, one hand pressed to his side. Blood seeped between his fingers, dark and too much. “It’s not healing.
Why isn’t it healing? ”
“Poisoned. ”
“What do we do? ”
“There will be more.
They’ll have heard the fight. We have to move. ”
“You need to rest. ”
“It’s not safe.
We keep moving now. ”
Josie stared at him, then said, “All right. We move. But I’m helping you walk.
”
They stumbled forward into the dark forest. They had to make it. They stumbled across terrain that had flattened, rocky and sparse, but blessedly clear after weeks in dense forest. Bram leaned heavily on Josie’s shoulder.
Every step seemed to cost him, his face gray with pain and exhaustion. But they were so close now. She looked up and saw it spread across the wide valley ahead. A massive camp.
Dozens of canvas tents, cook fires sending black smoke into the gray sky. Figures moving with purpose between the structures. An army. “Bram,” she said, her voice cracking.
“I think we’re here. ”
They pushed forward, one agonizing step at a time. The camp was a hive of activity. No one noticed them at first.
“Somebody! ” Josie called out. “Please help! ”
A few soldiers glanced their way but didn’t stop.
“Please! ” Josie shouted, putting every ounce of strength she had left into her voice. More heads turned. People started to notice this filthy girl supporting a bleeding man and two wolf pups.
At that moment, Bram’s legs gave out completely. He collapsed, his weight pulling Josie down with him. They all hit the rocky ground hard. Suddenly, people were rushing toward them.
A woman with gray-streaked hair knelt beside Bram, turning him onto his back. “What happened, child? ”
“We were attacked by King Tristan’s army. Bram fought them off, but one of the guards had a poisoned blade.
”
The woman examined Bram’s wound. “I need to find the queen,” Josie said desperately. “The twins—”
“Someone fetch her majesty,” the woman called over her shoulder. A powerful feminine voice cut through the gathered crowd.
“What’s the meaning of this? ”
The crowd parted. The queen appeared. Tall and regal and beautiful even in fighting leathers.
Her dark hair pulled back in a severe braid. Her eyes swept the scene, then locked on the twin pups pressed against Josie’s legs. Recognition and disbelief flashed across her face. Her hand went to her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.
Then she was running. She dropped to her knees and gathered both wolf pups into her arms. “My babies! My babies!
You’ve come back to me! ”
She held them and wept, her whole body shaking. The pups pressed closer, nuzzling against her. “Who?
” She pulled back, her voice thick with emotion. “Who brought you back to me? ”
Josie found herself suddenly visible as the queen’s gaze locked on her. The queen’s face went absolutely white.
“You,” she whispered. Fear trickled cold down Josie’s spine. “They were lost without you,” she hurriedly said. “I tried to keep them safe.
I’m sorry if I did something wrong. ”
The queen reached her and cupped Josie’s face in both hands. Her touch was warm. Careful.
Her eyes were filled with tears. “You brought my sons back to me. ”
“I tried,” Josie managed. The queen pulled her into an embrace.
Josie went stiff with shock, but the queen held her with the same desperate relief she’d shown her sons. “Thank you,” the queen whispered against Josie’s hair. When they pulled apart, the queen kept both hands on Josie’s face. “What’s your name, child?
”
“Josie. ”
The queen flinched as if the name had struck her. “Josie. How old are you?
”
“Thirteen, I think. ”
The queen’s eyes closed briefly. When they opened, they were swimming with tears. She pulled Josie close again, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“You must be exhausted,” the queen said. “When did you last eat? Sleep? ”
Josie couldn’t remember.
“I’m fine. The twins. The twins are home now. ”
The queen smiled through her tears.
“And so are you. You’re home, too. ”
Josie frowned. She didn’t understand any of it.
Josie woke to the warmth of two small bodies pressed against her chest. The twin pups were curled together on top of her, their soft breathing steady and peaceful. Sitting in a chair beside the bed was Queen Nzarin. “Easy,” the queen said gently.
“You’re safe here. ”
Josie settled back against the pillows, her arms instinctively curling around the twins. “They haven’t shifted back,” Josie said, her voice small and frightened. “Not since we left the castle.
They’ve been pups the whole time, and I don’t know why. ”
Josie cried out. “I should have made them feel safe. I should have done better.
”
“Stop. This is not your fault. They’re babies. Babies who were taken from their home, from everything they knew.
Babies need stability, security, familiar surroundings. Of course they were scared. Not even their own mother could have prevented that. ”
The queen paused.
“So it is certainly not your fault. Do you understand me? “You were incredibly brave. You saved them.
You kept them alive and brought them home when no one else could have. I am so”—her voice broke—”so proud of you. ”
The words settled around Josie like a warm blanket. “May I see Bram?
” Josie asked quietly. “I need to know if he’s going to be all right. ”
“Rest a bit longer. I’ll go check how he’s doing and ask the healer if you can visit him later.
”
Josie tried to stay awake, but the bed was so soft, and the twins were so warm. When she woke again, the tent was darker, and Queen Nzarin hadn’t returned. Josie carefully extracted herself from beneath the sleeping pups. She had to find Bram.
She slipped out and let her nose guide her. Even without a wolf of her own, she could track Bram’s scent. It led her to a larger tent on the far side of camp. Inside, rows of cots held injured soldiers.
At the very back, she could see Bram. He was lying unconscious, his chest bare and bandaged. And beside his cot, bending down to check his wound, was Queen Nzarin. Josie froze.
Suddenly, Bram’s eyes snapped open. His hand shot out, and he pressed a knife against the queen’s throat. “Where are the kids? ”
Nzarin didn’t flinch.
She reached up slowly and gently removed his hand from her throat. “They’re safe, sleeping,” she said calmly. Bram blinked at her, clarity slowly returning to his eyes. “You’re the queen.
The twins’ mother. ”
Nzarin nodded. Bram stared at her for a long moment, his brow furrowing. “Have we met before?
”
“No, I don’t think so. Why? ”
“Your scent. It seems familiar somehow.
” Then he seemed to remember he was lying in bed, having just held a knife to a queen’s throat. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to—”
“No apologies necessary. You were protecting my children, even unconscious.
I owe you a great debt, sir, for bringing them all back to me. ”
Bram shrugged uncomfortably. “It was all Josie. She got them out of the palace.
She kept them safe. She’s one brave kid. ”
Nzarin tensed visibly at his words, though her expression remained neutral. “Yes,” she nodded.
“She is. ”
“What are you planning to do with her? ” Bram asked. “Excuse me?
”
“She brought you back your pups. Great. Happy for you. But now, what’s going to happen to her?
”
Josie’s breath caught. She pressed herself closer to the tent wall. “I don’t plan to send her back to the king, if that’s what you’re wondering. ”
“Glad to hear it.
” Bram snapped. “But there is a world of difference between not being sent to her death and being properly taken care of. She’s just a kid. She’ll need guidance.
”
“I assure you, the child will be well taken care of,” Nzarin said, looking away. Bram sighed. “Right. But the kid’s been through a lot.
It’s not just about giving her food and shelter. ”
“What are you saying? ”
“I could take her,” Bram met her eyes again. “Take care of her.
I’ll do it. ”
Josie’s hand flew to her mouth. “That’s very kind of you to offer,” Nzarin said, her voice gentle but firm. “Truly.
But it’s one I cannot accept. Josie will stay here with me. ”
“Why? ” Bram frowned.
“Did you even ask her—”
“Because she is mine. ”
Bram gaped at her. “Josie is my daughter,” Nzarin continued. Josie felt the world tilt sideways.
“You’re serious, aren’t you? ”
“You said yourself my scent reminded you of someone. ”
Bram’s eyes widened as realization crashed over him. “You’re saying Josie is a princess.
That’s why you smell like her? ”
“Yes. A princess. And King Tristan’s firstborn child and heir.
One he rejected the moment he discovered she couldn’t shift. ”
Josie staggered backward, her hand pressed to the tent wall for support. “When Josie was born without a wolf, it didn’t matter to me. I loved her.
She was beautiful. Mine. But Tristan was furious. He demanded that our daughter be killed, said she was defective, an embarrassment.
”
Josie couldn’t breathe. “I begged him for her life. I said I would try to give him full-shifter pups, would keep trying, but only if he let her live. ”
“And he agreed?
”
“Yes. ” Nzarin’s voice cracked. “But to keep me compliant, he took her from me. Josie, my baby.
I wasn’t allowed to hold her or nurse her or even see her. Not until I gave him his heir. His proper heir. “I was a prisoner in my own palace for twelve years.
Endured miscarriage after miscarriage, all while my daughter lived floors below me, and I couldn’t even speak to her. ”
Bram cursed. “But it wasn’t enough. When the twins were born, when I’d finally given him what he wanted, he still wouldn’t let me see her.
I realized then that he never intended to keep his word. That Josie wasn’t safe. That none of my children were safe. “So I tried to escape with all three of them.
I was caught. Tristan had me arrested for treason, was going to execute me in front of the entire court. But those loyal to me, servants like Paula, they helped me escape. ”
Josie’s heart lurched at Paula’s name.
“I fled to my family, my old pack. Gathered an army. Declared war. Not for the throne.
I don’t give a damn about the throne. But for my children. ”
Silence fell. Josie stumbled backward, her hand falling from the tent wall.
She turned to run, but only made it a few steps before a hand caught her shoulder gently. “Josie? ”
She turned. Nzarin stood there, tears streaming down her face.
Their eyes met. “Is it true? ”
Nzarin nodded. Josie began to cry, great heaving sobs that tore from her chest.
“You have to keep fighting. You have to stop him. For Paula. For everyone he’s hurt.
”
“I will,” Nzarin swore. “I promise. ”
Josie threw herself into her arms. The queen caught her, holding her close, and they both wept.
For the years they’d lost, for the cruelty they’d endured, for Paula’s sacrifice, for everything that had been stolen from them. But also for the impossible fact that despite everything, they’d found each other again. Bram’s recovery was slow but steady, and Josie visited him every day. At first, she’d come alone, slipping into the healing tent to sit beside his cot and tell him stories about the twins.
But as the days passed, she noticed she wasn’t always his only visitor. One evening, Josie approached the healing tent to find Nzarin already there. The queen sat beside Bram’s cot, sleeves rolled up, carefully unwrapping the bandages around his torso. Bram was watching her face with an expression Josie had never seen on him before.
“You’re terrible at following orders, you know that? ”
Bram caught her wrist gently. “I’m serious, your highness. You don’t need to—”
“I want to.
”
Their eyes met and held, the air between them thickening with something warm. Josie felt suddenly like an intruder. A smile tugged at her lips as she turned away. She found the twins exactly where she’d left them.
Two wolf pups sprawled on a blanket outside Nzarin’s tent, playing with carved wooden animals. They’d finally shifted back to their human forms a week after arriving at camp. Josie had woken to find two small boys instead of pups, and she’d nearly cried with relief. Now they switched back and forth constantly, as if making up for lost time.
And as she lay back on the blanket, letting the last warmth of the sun wash over her face, Josie looked at her small, fierce family. Nzarin beside her. Theon sleeping in her lap. Bram with Veto curled against his chest.
Tomorrow would bring more preparations for war. King Tristan wouldn’t surrender easily. But tonight, for this one perfect moment, they were just a family.
