NERO POV
The palace gates opened.
"Where the f**k is everyone?" Abel muttered behind me. "You've been missing for hours. This should be chaos."
He was right.
There should have been search parties. Advisors scrambling. My mother screaming orders.
"Good question."
Abel moved closer. "There should be hundreds of guards searching for you. The whole pack should be mobilized."
"But they're not," I said quietly.
Fifty guards stood in formation. Weapons at their sides. Faces blank.
They looked terrified.
"This doesn't feel right," Abel muttered beside me.
He was right. It didn't.
We entered the throne room and there she was.
Mother. Standing beside MY throne.
And Kade. His hand resting on the armrest like he belonged there.
Everyone in the room was shivering. Shaking. Keeping their
