They stood there in the car park for a while longer, neither of them in any real hurry to let go of the moment.
Derek finally pulled back, just enough to look at her properly, and his hand came up to smooth a stray piece of hair away from her face. His eyes moved over her slowly, taking her in, and something in his expression softened.
"You look stunning," he said.
Kira laughed, tilting her chin up at him. "Well, I couldn’t exactly turn up looking like I rolled out of bed, could I? I’m representing Dravengard tonight. There’s an image to protect."
"Is that so." Derek’s mouth curved, and there was that rare glint in his eyes, the one that only ever showed up when it was just the two of them. "And here I thought you dressed up for me."
"Careful," Kira said, poking him lightly in the chest. "Your ego’s already the size of this pack house. I’d hate to be the one who made it any bigger."
"My ego," Derek said, "has survived worse things than you, Your Highness."
"Has it now? Name one."
"Marrying you."
Kira gasped, pressing a dramatic hand to her chest. "Excuse me? I’ll have you know I was an absolute delight of a wife. Ask anyone."
"I’ll ask Connor," Derek said. "He’s got a list."
"Connor," Kira said flatly, "is not an unbiased source, and you know it."
Derek chuckled, low and real, the kind of sound that still did something ridiculous to her stomach every single time she heard it. He leaned down like he meant to kiss her properly, and she’d half closed her eyes in anticipation when a voice cut cleanly through the moment.
"Your Grace. The other Kings are waiting on you. They want to raise a toast to the new alliances."
Derek exhaled through his nose, clearly unimpressed by the timing, but he straightened all the same, slipping his arm around Kira’s waist instead.
"Duty calls," he murmured against her hair. "Shall we?"
"We shall," she said, looping her arm through his.
They walked into the summit party together, and the effect was almost instant. Heads turned, one after another, conversations paused, and glasses hovered halfway to mouths.
Derek, totally unbothered, guided her straight through the crowd towards the other Kings.
"Apologies for the delay," he said smoothly, once they’d reached the group. "I had to answer to my Queen first." He drew Kira forward slightly. "For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure, this is Kira Wolfe, Queen of Dravengard."
There was a ripple through the room after that, quiet enough to pass for polite murmuring, but Kira caught the edges of it anyway.
A few of the Lunas from the Western region exchanged glances. One of the visiting Queens leaned towards her companion and whispered something behind a raised hand.
The rumour of their separation had clearly done its rounds, and Kira could practically hear the unspoken question hanging in the air: so are they together or not?
Kira offered the crowd a polite, confident smile, even as her heart beat a little faster.
Derek’s hand tightened briefly at her waist, a silent show of solidarity, and for a second she almost forgot there was a yard full of people watching them at all.
The toast came and went, glasses raised to lasting alliances and stronger ties between the kingdoms, and afterwards Derek and Kira drifted a little apart from the main crowd, talking quietly between themselves.
That was when the first scream cut through the music.
It happened so fast that for a moment nobody quite understood what they were seeing. People began sprinting in every direction.
Lycans shifted instantly, clothes tearing as fur burst free. And then the word spread through the crowd like wildfire.
"Umbras! Umbras!"
Derek’s head snapped towards the treeline just as black shapes came pouring out from the thick bushes surrounding the Pinewood pack house.
"What the fuck," he growled, already moving Kira behind him.
"Inside," he ordered, nodding towards the pack house, where the other Lunas and Queens were being hurriedly ushered through the doors by their guards. "Now, Kira."
"I’m not afraid of them," Kira said, holding her ground even as chaos exploded around them.
Derek caught her hands in his, his grip firm but careful. "I know you’re not. But we’ve got warriors enough to hold them off out here. Please. Go inside."
Kira knew exactly what she was capable of. She also knew, with complete certainty, that the only reason Derek’s jaw was set like stone right now had nothing to do with doubting her and everything to do with the baby growing inside her.
This wasn’t the moment to argue that point. So she nodded, once, and let him go.
"Alright. Be careful."
Derek released her hands, and she turned and moved quickly through the panic towards the pack house, weaving between fleeing guests.
He watched her the entire way, not shifting, until he saw her disappear safely through the doors.
Only then did he shrug his jacket from his shoulders and let his beast take over. He threw his head back and let out menacing growl before he launched himself into the fight.
The courtyard turned into a battlefield within seconds. Umbras kept coming, wave after wave of them, far more than anyone had accounted for, as though the entire Umbra army had been unleashed at once.
But amid all the chaos, one thing became clear fast. They weren’t here to fight for the sake of fighting. They were pushing, again and again, towards the pack house. They wanted something in there. Or someone.
Derek mind-linked Declan as he tore through the throat of one Umbra.
Declan, Get inside and guard the Queen. Do not leave her side.
The fight grew more intense. Three large Umbras suddenly slammed into him at once, claws raking down his side.
His strength wasn’t what it used to be, not with the bond still hanging half-broken inside him, and he felt it now more than ever. The creatures piled on him, scratching and biting, forcing him to the ground.
Derek snarled and fought back with everything he had, but their combined weight and dark energy were overwhelming.
Then the howl came.
It ripped through the night like nothing Derek had ever heard before, not from any Lycan.
It wasn’t loud so much as it was total, filling every inch of the air, pressing into his skull from the inside out.
A light bloomed against the dark sky a heartbeat later, and every single person in that courtyard, Kings, Alphas, Betas, Gammas, dropped to their knees as one, crushed beneath a wave of power that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
The Umbras pinning Derek down let out shrieks that curdled straight through them, and then they burst into black flame right above him, dissolving into ash.
All around the courtyard, the same thing was happening. Umbras shrieking, scattering, some just barely making it back into the bushes, others going up in flame where they stood.
Derek lifted his head slowly, blinking against the light, and found a glowing white Lycan standing several feet away from him.
His heart stopped. Then it began hammering, faster than it had ever beaten in his life.
He knew that Lycan.
That was his soulbond.
Kira was the Nexus.