Chapter 101

Violet

Morning came too soon with every pleasurable ache that I had expected. What I hadn't anticipated was the sound of my phone ringing incessantly. I groaned at the shrill sound, dragging me out of the blissful haze of sleep. I reached for it blindly, cursing when Theodore’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me back against him.

“Leave it,” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

"I can't just--"

"Later," he rumbled, pulling me closer.

I pushed at his arms."What if it's important?"

He huffed and cracked open one eye. "Five minutes."

I chuckled and reached out for it, snagging it from the table and settling back into his arms.

I squinted at the screen. “It’s the legal team.”

That woke him up. He exhaled heavily as I answered, putting the phone on speaker.

“The appeal went through,” one of the lawyers said, their voice crisp and businesslike. “Lucas’s case made it to the Capital Court. You’ve been formally summoned.”

I groaned, flopping back onto the pillows. “Fantastic.”

Theodore kissed my shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"I wish I had simply dealt with this the way my mother would have."

The thought of poisoning Owen ages ago or running him through was vastly appealing. Then, I glanced at Theodore and felt guilty. If Owen died, the throne would fall to Theodore whether he wanted it to or not.

“There’s more,” the lawyer continued, hesitating.

I didn’t like that hesitation. “Do go on.”

“There’s a public announcement airing from Owen,” they said grimly. “He’s officially pardoned Lucas for attacking you.”

Silence.

I stared at the ceiling, my blood slowly heating with fury. Theodore hadn't moved either. Then, he was on his feet, naked as ever and charging toward the door.

"That fucking--"

"Don't," I said softly.

He whirled around. "Don't?"

I nodded. Though the thought of poisoning Owen with something vicious was looking more and more appealing.

"That son of bitch-- and I mean that fucking literally--"

"Darling," I said, my tone gentle. "I assure you that going to kill or maim either of them right now, wherever they may be, is not a good idea."

He snarled.

The lawyer sighed in my ear. “We're putting together the case against him, looking for precedent, of course, but I can't say it will go very far."

"No." It was clear that Owen was using his position to make my life difficult, to prove a point, to punish me, or whatever. If he could force the matter of Darkmoon without inciting a full on revolution, he would. "Do the discovery, but focus on my claim to Darkmoon… There is more than one way to force Owen's hand."

I closed my eyes for a beat, forcing myself to breathe. Then I sat up, reaching for my robe. “And if you could send me everything? Open your shared drive or what have you."

The call ended, and Theodore watched me, his jaw tight. “We’ll fight this.”

“Oh, we will,” I said, my voice like steel. “And I hope Lucas enjoys this little victory while he can." I smirked, an idea coming to mind. "Because I plan to ruin him.”

I slipped out of bed.

"For now, we should get dressed and head to breakfast… No doubt everyone is ready to march on the capital and that just won't help,"

Theodore looked like he disagreed, but he got dressed anyway.

By the time Theodore and I were dressed and hurrying downstairs, the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. The main hall was filled with nobles—those who had stayed overnight—clustered around the massive viewing screens mounted along the walls.

They weren’t just watching. They were furious.

I could hear it in the sharp whispers, the barely restrained growls, the way some of them stood with their arms crossed, bristling like they were ready to march on the palace themselves.

It was just as bad as I expected, though the fact that no one was visibly sharpening their weapons was something.

Then I caught sight of the screen.

Owen’s face filled it, his voice steady, composed—too damn smug.

“This decision is not made lightly, but as king, I must correct the mistakes of the past and pave the way for a stronger future. Effective immediately, the law branding any person who attacks a noble as a rogue is abolished. Furthermore, in light of the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident involving Lucas Donovan, I am officially granting him a full pardon.”

The room erupted as the words rolled through my mind. I almost smiled.

Owen… was truly and idiot.

“Bastard!” someone snapped.

“This was planned,” another growled.

“It aired last night,” a noble near the screen muttered, voice tight with barely contained rage. “Sometime after they were taken away in ambulances.”

It was also probably recorded before they had even crashed the party based on the lack of injury on Owen's face.

I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms. He was an idiot, but he wasn't dumb enough to stick around after pissing off the entire noble class.

Theodore was stiff beside me, his jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grind. I rested my hand on his.

"Easy. I like your smile the way it is."

He flashed me a tight smile. "I bet you'd like it better if it was bloody…"

Heat pooled in my gut. I was a wolf. I couldn't help it. The thought of Theodore tearing out someone's throat with his teeth was incredibly sexy.

"Maybe, but that's a bad idea."

At least, it was for now. By abolishing the law regarding becoming a rogue through attacking a noble, he likely thought he would open the floodgates to attack nobles and their relatives with only the standard consequences. The problem was that nobles trained their children to be lethal when it came to threats on their life, and unless he was going to abolish the laws regarding murder in self-defense, all he was going to do was force the nobles to show exactly we were the nobles and once the backbone of the military once upon a time.

I shook my head. I knew that the law was mostly to pardon Lucas and to try and destabilize noble power, but I couldn't think that was the only thing Owen was planning.

I took a seat to watch the rest of the announcement. I scanned the room, noting who looked outraged and who looked contemplative. Some of them were already weighing the opportunities this presented, while others were still reeling from the sheer audacity of the move.

I caught an alpha's eye. He tilted his head thoughtfully, and I smiled at him, almost beatifically. He grinned back at men and leaned over to whisper to someone.

"What did you just do?" Theodore asked, leaning towards me.

"Nothing," I said. "Yet."

There as the clamor of reporters on the screen, and then Owen started to talk again.

“For too long, the noble houses have wielded unchecked power, carving out personal kingdoms within our nation. This imbalance threatens our stability. Effective immediately, measures will be taken to consolidate power where it rightfully belongs—with the Crown.”

Someone outright laughed even as the tension in the room thickened, an undercurrent of barely restrained fury crackling through the gathered nobles. I didn’t miss the way some exchanged sharp glances, already calculating what could be his next move.

He'd all but said that he planned to target nobles in some way, likely lethally or through underhanded methods. Taxes? Tarriffs?

“In addition, economic restructuring is necessary to ensure our nation’s prosperity. Revised tax rates will be announced soon, ensuring that those who benefit most from the kingdom’s resources contribute their fair share.”

I almost scoffed. He kept it vague, but I knew exactly who he was targeting—me, and any other alpha with territory along the borders. We controlled key trade routes, vital economic hubs. He wasn’t just looking to weaken the noble houses—he was looking to cripple us first.

The joke, of course, was that if he hiked the price of goods that we imported for the rest of the country, we'd just as soon stop exporting it out of our own territory, including the captial's region of direct control.

"He's lost his mind…"

Theodore exhaled sharply beside me, his fingers flexing at his sides like he was resisting the urge to punch something.

“Violet… tell me that he's… I don't… Fuck." He snarled. I took his hand without a word as the press conference, broke into questions.

The press conference ended rather abruptly with Owen hissing at his aid and refusing to answer any of the questions the journalists were throwing at him.

Theodore worked his jaw. Theodore’s irritation was palpable, but after a moment, his expression smoothed into something cooler, more calculated.

“It’ll be fine,” he said, almost too casually. “I have a plan.”

“Good,” I said lightly, placing a hand on his arm. “Because so do I.”