Chapter 58: You Can Smell a Lie

Naya woke to a palace that felt different from the moment she opened her eyes. Not ominous. Alive. Footsteps carried down the corridor from somewhere unseen, distant wolves called to each other across the royal grounds, and the scent of rain-damp earth drifted in through the open window.

Serena arrived shortly after to help her dress, and before Naya could ask about the unusual energy settling over everything, Serena explained.

“Today isn’t another formal luncheon,” she said. “It’s the Moonrise Gathering. Visiting packs gather outside the palace grounds before the evening feast. Pack games, sparring, hunting demonstrations, young wolves competing, food, music, a ceremonial run around the grounds.”

“I’ve never attended one,” Naya admitted. “Not as Queen.”

Serena gave her a knowing look. “Then today seems like a good day to stop looking like you’re waiting for permission.”

Outside, the training field had transformed entirely. Young wolves sparred across the open grass, some partially shifted, claws extended and eyes glowing faintly gold, canines elongated as they circled each other. Others practiced hand-to-hand combat, while a separate group stretched and prepared near the tree line for what looked like a traditional pack race.

Naya watched, fascinated, and found herself noticing something unexpected. Her body reacted to the movement around her almost before her mind registered it. She heard a set of footsteps approaching behind her before Serena did, and when someone tossed a training ring across the field without warning, Naya’s hand shot up and caught it without even turning to look.

Serena stared at her.

“What?” Naya asked.

“You really do forget you’re a wolf sometimes,” Serena said.

Ronan arrived not long after, dressed in plain training clothes instead of his usual formal attire, Kael trailing beside him as always. Naya noticed the change immediately, something in the simplicity of it suiting him in a way she hadn’t expected.

Kael caught her looking. “Careful. He’ll become unbearable if he realizes you like the look.”

“I can hear you,” Ronan said.

“That’s unfortunate,” Kael said, grinning.

Naya laughed as Ronan crossed the field toward her. “Are you joining the pack games?” he asked.

“I might.”

“You might?”

“I haven’t decided whether you’re worth embarrassing yourself over,” she said.

Kael immediately declared he wanted front-row seats for whatever followed.

The tracking challenge Ronan proposed took them through the wooded edge of the royal grounds, a scent trail laid across the forest floor leading to a marked ribbon hidden somewhere within. Ronan clearly assumed the advantage of speed and strength would settle the match in his favor.

Naya noticed the trail had been deliberately doubled back on itself, a false loop meant to slow anyone who followed it too literally. She broke from the obvious path and cut a different route through the trees instead. Ronan caught on quickly and followed, both of them moving fast through the underbrush, senses alive in a way Naya had never fully experienced before. Wind carrying scent. Leaves shifting beneath her feet. An instinctive awareness of exactly where Ronan was behind her without needing to look.

Naya reached the ribbon first, breathless and grinning as Ronan arrived seconds later.

“You cheated,” he said.

“I used my nose.”

“Technically, that’s what it’s for,” Kael called from the sideline, laughing.

Serena joined the next group of competitors without waiting to be asked, and Naya watched, genuinely surprised, as she moved through the course with the same economical precision she’d shown during morning training.

“You used to do this?” Naya asked once Serena finished, barely winded.

“Did you think I learned court etiquette by sitting quietly?” Serena said.

Naya laughed, something in the moment settling the friendship between them a little deeper, Serena becoming more than simply the woman who organized her schedule.

Later, a friendly young Alpha approached to compliment Naya’s tracking during the challenge, nothing suggestive in it, simply genuine admiration. Ronan’s expression shifted the moment the man spoke.

“Don’t,” Naya said.

“I haven’t done anything.”

“Your face has.”

“He’s doing the face,” Kael called from nearby, delighted.

Ronan shot his brother a look sharp enough to silence most people, though Kael remained entirely unbothered.

The corners of Naya’s lips rose instantly.

“You’re jealous again,” Naya teased.

“I’m standing here.”

“Very aggressively.”

Ronan stepped closer. “Maybe I like standing close to my wife.”

Naya smiled, the jealousy carrying none of the old tension it once might have, just a familiar warmth she’d grown used to enjoying rather than fearing.

As evening settled over the grounds, the gathering shifted into something deeper and more distinctly werewolf. Bonfires lit the open field, roasted game filled the air with smoke and warmth, music carried across the crowd while children darted between adults’ legs, laughing. In the distance, wolves raced through the tree line, their howls rising into the dusk. A few adults shifted briefly during the celebration, moving easily between forms the way others might simply change their posture.

Naya stood watching the moon climb slowly into the sky, and Ronan came to stand beside her, close enough that his shoulder brushed hers.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked.

“I didn’t know your kingdom could feel like this,” she said.

“Like what?”

She looked around at the fires, the laughing children, the distant howls echoing through the trees.

“Like home.”

Ronan went quiet for a moment, something shifting behind his expression. He didn’t answer with words. He simply reached for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, and for the first time since she’d arrived at this palace, Naya didn’t wonder whether she belonged here.

She simply stood beside him beneath the rising moon, letting the quiet certainty of it settle over her.

“Are you two planning to stare at the moon all night?” Kael called from across the gathering.

“Go away, Kael,” Ronan said.

“Gladly!”

He didn’t move.

Naya laughed, the sound carrying easily into the warm night air, and for once, nothing about the moment felt like something she needed to survive.