Claimed by My Ex's Father, the Alpha King: Crowned His Luna Queen

Enola POV:

"You summoned me like the castle was under siege, little sister," Felix said, closing the heavy oak door of Father's study behind him.

My brother was twenty-four, broad-shouldered, and bore the heavy jawline of the Hanson line. As our pack's future Beta, he already wore a leather sword-belt across his tunic, his brown eyes carrying the sharp vigilance of an Alpha's lieutenant.

He pulled out a high-backed chair, sitting across from Mother and me at the long mahogany table. The hearth crackled with dry pine logs, throwing long orange shadows over the maps of Eldoria pinned to the stone walls.

"You look pale, Enola," Felix added, his brow pinching with genuine concern. "You should be resting after that tumble."

"I did not tumble from my horse, Felix," I said, locking my gaze onto his. "And we do not have time for rest."

Mother sat beside me, her hands folded tightly on the table.

"You frightened me upstairs, Enola," she said. "Whatever cannot wait another hour, tell us now."

I leaned forward, keeping my voice low, precise, and cold.

"Prince Archer and Colette George have been lovers for months. In one year, during the Great Hunt, Archer will use false evidence provided by Lord Carlisle to accuse Father of high treason. The Royal Guards will march north, slaughter our warriors in their beds, and burn our castle to the ground. I will be dragged to the royal dungeons and poisoned with Wolfsbane so Colette can take my place as Luna Queen."

The silence in the study fell like lead.

Felix stared at me, his fingers freezing on the armrest of his chair. Slowly, the worry on his face curdled into sharp disbelief.

"This is madness," Felix said, exhaling a dry breath. "Archer is the Crown Prince. Your betrothal to the royal house was sealed by the King himself. And Colette is our cousin. Her mother is our aunt. Why would she—"

"Because she wants a crown, and Archer wants our northern armies without the inconvenience of an unyielding Hanson wife," I interrupted, my tone cutting through his skepticism like a blade. "It already happened to me. I died in that dungeon. My spirit remained after death and witnessed everything that followed. The Moon Goddess sent me back with every memory intact."

"Enola," Felix said, his voice dropping into the stern register he used on insolent recruits. "A nightmare brought on by a head injury is not pack intelligence. You are talking about accusing the heir to the throne of treason."

I didn't blink.

"Then wait for the ninth bell," I said. "Before it finishes ringing, Rocco will walk through that door carrying a royal dispatch delivered at the east gate."

Felix's eyes narrowed. "Rocco is inspecting the southern wall."

"He was," I replied. "The dispatch bears Archer's private seal, but the red wax is cracked straight through the wolf's left eye. It orders Father to send three hundred warriors away from Frostfang Pass for joint exercises in the capital before the next full moon."

I held Felix's gaze.

"The final sentence reads, 'The Crown does not ask twice.'"

Before Felix could answer, the first stroke of the ninth bell rolled across Northwind Castle.

The second followed. Then the third.

By the eighth stroke, hurried boots were pounding down the corridor. The study door burst open just as the ninth bell rang.

Rocco stood on the threshold, breathing hard, a rolled parchment clenched in his hand. "A royal dispatch just arrived at the east gate."

He crossed the room and handed it to Felix. The red wax seal was cracked straight through the wolf's left eye.

Felix tore the parchment open. His eyes moved rapidly over the order, then stopped on the final line.

"'The Crown does not ask twice,'" he read aloud.

Mother gasped, her knuckles turning white against her lips.

Felix stared at the dispatch for ten long seconds. When he turned back to me, the skepticism in his eyes had been completely replaced by cold, absolute shock.

He crossed the room, dropped heavily onto one knee before my chair, and took my cold hand in his calloused grip.

"My wolf answers to you, Enola," Felix swore, his Beta instinct surging through his voice. "If our pack is to burn, tell me who to kill first."

"No one yet," I replied, pulling him to his feet. "An assassination will only bring the King's armies down upon us early. Archer must destroy himself."

"How?" Mother asked, her gentle eyes suddenly hardening with the primal fury of a mother wolf protecting her den.

"He wants to be rid of me," I said, a slow, cold smile touching my lips. "So we will give him every reason to do it in broad daylight, before the entire court. And we will start with Colette."