Derek stayed exactly where he was on the ground, still in his beast form, watching as the brilliant white glow that had surrounded her began to dim, fading like the last light of a setting sun.
Every single person still alive in that courtyard stared at her, frozen, mouths hanging open, completely forgetting there had been a battle raging only seconds before.
Then, the moment the last of that suffocating power lifted off everyone, Kira’s Lycan form wavered and dropped to its knees.
Derek was up, still in his massive Lycan form and moving before his brain had even finished processing what he’d seen. He rose to his feet, snatched his discarded jacket off the ground where he’d tossed it earlier, and crossed the space between them in a few long strides.
By the time he reached her, she was already shifting back, fur receding into pale skin, and he wasted no time draping the jacket over her, tucking it round her properly before scooping her up into his arms.
Declan came bursting out of the pack house first, hair completely dishevelled, a faint bruise on his forehead, and he was panting heavily. He looked like a man who’d sprinted the length of three corridors, which, to be fair, he probably had.
"Oh, goddess!" he breathed, clutching his head where a trickle of blood was trekking down. "I tried stopping her, but she was too damn powerful and gave me a very hard shove."
Derek said nothing as he walked past Declan. But Connor appeared beside him, still stark naked from his shift, and stretched his arms out expectantly.
"Here, hand her to me, I’ll carry her in, you’re still—"
Derek’s beast did not even glance at him as it shoved past him too, leaving trails of blood on the floor.
Connor blinked, arms still half raised, looking faintly ridiculous standing there starkers in front of half the summit. "Right. Okay then. Just thought I’d offer."
Derek’s beast didn’t stop walking, didn’t so much as slow his pace, cradling Kira tightly against his chest as he moved past the wreckage of the courtyard.
Every survivor was still on their knees, shaky and dazed from that overwhelming aura. They kept staring, still too dumbstruck to even react. They were still trying to process what they had just witnessed.
Declan called out sharply to one of the Pinewood gammas. "Get a doctor. Now!" He jogged along behind.
Derek carried her straight into the room he’d been given for the summit, kicked the door shut behind him with his heel, and laid her gently down on the bed, pulling the duvet all the way up to her chin like she might catch a chill from the night air alone.
Only then did he shift back into his human form, crossing quickly to grab a sweatshirt and a pair of trousers from the wardrobe, yanking them on in record time.
A soft knock sounded at the door before he’d even finished dressing.
"Come in," he said.
A maid slipped inside, a small bundle of folded clothes in her trembling arms, clearly still rattled from the attack outside. "These are from the King, Your Grace... I mean, for the Queen. For her to change into. Before the pack doctor comes to check on her."
Derek crossed the room and took the bundle from her shaking hands. "Thank you. That’ll be all."
The maid bowed hastily and hurried straight back out, clearly relieved to be out of the room.
Derek returned to the bed and began carefully dressing Kira, easing her limp arms through the sleeves with far more patience than anyone would have guessed a man like him possessed. Halfway through, she stirred beneath his hands, her eyelids fluttering open.
The first thing she saw was Derek, sitting right beside her, his brows drawn tight with worry.
"Hey," he said softly, his hand coming up to brush the hair off her forehead. "How do you feel?"
Kira blinked slowly, then offered him a small, sleepy smile. "I’m fine. Honestly. Just a bit dizzy, that’s all. I’ve never used that much power at once before, so my body’s clearly still working out how to cope with it."
Derek stared at her the way a man might stare at something he’d read about in old legends his whole life, but never actually believed was real. Then he reached out and took her hand in both of his.
"You’re the Nexus," he said quietly. It wasn’t a question, but he clearly expected an answer.
Kira’s smile faltered, just slightly, and she nodded slowly against the pillow. "I’m sorry," she whispered. "I never meant to hide it from you. I was going to tell you, I promise; I was working up to it. I just... I don’t even know the full extent of what I can do yet. It’s still all new to me too."
Derek was quiet for a moment, just looking at her, turning it over in his mind. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to her knuckles, letting out a long, slow breath.
"We’ll figure it out together," he said. Then his expression turned grim again, his jaw tightening as his gaze flicked towards the window. "Right now, though, I need to know if you’re even safe here in this pack house. After tonight."
Derek was still too stunned to process what he felt in that moment. All his mind could think about was how to get her back to safety.
He reached through the mind-link, his voice sharp and commanding.
Declan. Connor. My bedroom balcony. Now.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere far away, in a quiet, unknown location, Olivia lay fast asleep in her chair, her head tipped to one side.
Brian’s eyes had been open for a while now. He waited, watching her breathe, before he moved slowly, carefully, so as not to make a single sound.
His fingers crept toward the little key hanging from the cord around her waist, and he eased it free with the kind of concentration usually reserved for defusing bombs. One click, and the cuff binding his wrist to the metal pole came loose.
He worked through the rest of the chains just as slowly, wincing at every faint clink of metal, his eyes darting back to Olivia the entire time.
She didn’t stir.
Brian rose to his feet, silent as a shadow, and crept towards the door. He slipped outside into the cold night air, and the moment the door shut behind him, he shifted, bones cracking and fur rushing over his skin, and took off running into the darkness.
He ran for what felt like hours, until the trees finally broke apart and gave way to an old, quiet neighbourhood. He weaved through houses, naked, until he came across a clothesline with clothes on it. He grabbed whatever he could that could fit his large frame and took off again.
He ran until he came out to an old, half-lit train station. He stopped, breathing hard, and made straight for the payphone tucked in the corner, fumbling coins into the slot with shaking fingers.
It rang for a long while before someone finally picked up.
"Mum?" Brian said, his voice breaking slightly.
Silence answered him first. A long, heavy silence.
"I told you to stop calling me, Brian," his mother said at last.
"Mum, please, I just need a bit of money, that’s all, I just need—"
"You’re not a baby anymore," Bianca cut in, her voice hard. "The last time you came near me, you brought nothing but trouble into my home. You and your father need to leave me and my family in peace. Please."
The line went dead before Brian could get another word out.
***
Back at the house, Bianca lowered the phone from her ear slowly, forcing her expression into something calm, something ordinary, while her husband watched her closely from the other side of the room.
"What did he want?" he asked.
Bianca gave a small shrug, keeping her voice light. "Oh, you know how he gets. Wants to see me, catch up, the usual."
Her husband let out a heavy sigh. "Bianca. Tell him to stay away from me and this family. I mean it. If I catch him within two feet of this property, I’ll have him arrested. I won’t ask twice."
Bianca nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and silent tears welled up in her eyes the moment she turned her face away from him.