The c***k in the crown wasn’t physical.
Not exactly.
But Ivy felt it — like a fault line splitting through her soul. The weight of prophecy pressed down harder than any crown ever could, and for a moment, the arena blurred, voices muffled, as if the world held its breath.
Then the judge lowered his hand, visibly shaken.
“The trials are… complete,” he said. “By right of blood, by divine trial, and by the voice of the people… Ivy Aedara is crowned Queen of the Unified Shifter Tribes.”
The crowd erupted in applause. Some out of fear. Some in awe. Others… uncertain.
But Ivy didn’t move.
Her fingertips still tingled where the crown sat. Not from gold, but from the pulse of a warning—divine, ancient, and urgent.
Kael stepped forward, brushing against her side.
“You felt that, didn’t you
