Chapter 181

Violet’s POV

Helene’s scheming with me on Friday night had turned into an old-fashioned slumber party. My first televised appearance in Darkmoon after my claim to the territory had been restored had left me drained, likely in combination with the weight of everything else going on, including growing a human in my uterus. Whatever the reason, having a friend get too drunk to go home and have to stay over laughing all night was exactly what I needed.

And after even more scheming, here I was on Monday morning, in her territory.

“Thank you so much for this,” I told Helene and Tyron again. “I hope you’re getting out of this as much as I am.”

“We’re getting plenty!” Tyron laughed. “Can you imagine getting paid to help out a friend? It almost feels wrong.”

I laughed, feeling blessed and a little embarrassed to accept their generosity.

Tyron draped his arm around Helene, both of them smiling at me. “Your speech in Darkmoon a few days ago was good,” Tyron complimented. “I was sorry not to be there in person.”

Helene rubbed at her temples. “If my headache the following day was any indication, I represented the both of us quite well.”

We all laughed at that.

“Speaking of which,” Tyron pulled a little flask out of a drawer, “Helene mentioned you had some performance anxiety on Friday. You never would have guessed based on how well you did, but maybe a little something to settle the nerves?” He extended the flask toward me.

Damn it, did they know?

I specifically did not look at Helene as I shook my head politely. “My nerves are solid now. I think it was more so the idea of getting back out in front of the cameras.”

Tyron shrugged, retracting the offered liquor. “Alright, then. Shall we?”

We all stood, Tyron and Helene clasping their hands together as I followed them onto the grand balcony of their home. Press and pack members of Dark Forest alike were gathered below. Additional cameras and a microphone were set up on the balcony.

I stood off to the side as Tyron greeted his pack into the microphone.

“Members of Dark Forest,” he looked into one of the cameras set up on the balcony, “and friends across the territories.” He had clearly given speeches with this set up before. In fact, I recognized the angle from having watched some of them on TV.

“As some of you are already aware, Dark Forest has been struggling with our crops due to the unusual changes in weather in our territory. We have had to outsource an increasing amount of our food, increasing daily costs for pack members. Today, I am happy to inform you we have a new solution.”

Tyron paused for the polite applause that followed.

“With the generous support of Alpha Violet Donovan of Darkmoon,” it felt like he said my name extra loudly, but it might have been in my head, “we have come to a mutually beneficial trade agreement. In exchange for the iron ore needed for repairs in Dark Moon, including fixing the roads that Alpha Donovan tells me are in dire need of repair,” I raised my eyebrows at the cameras to indicate just how bad the roads were, eliciting a few chuckles from the crowd, “Alpha Donovan will provide the knowledge and resources to build our own magically engineered greenhouses so we can start growing our own food again – no matter the weather!”

Applause and cheers erupted below. Helene, Tyron, and I all clapped for each other as well, each of us with broad smiles.

The Goddess worked in mysterious ways. I never could have come up with a better plan than a friendship between the purveyor of the country’s largest supply of iron ore struggling with agriculture and a magical engineer major with innumerable roads to fix. It was a match made in heaven.

Tyron stepped away from the microphone, motioning for my turn. I stepped forward as the applause slowed.

“I just want to say thank you to the pack members of Darkmoon for your patience as I looked for the right trade agreements for our territory, and thank you to Tyron and Helene, and all of Dark Forest. At my recent press conference, I stated that we are strongest together. In that moment, I was referring to Darkmoon, but it applies to all of us working together to make the world better for every werewolf.”

Applause thundered again, and I took a step back from the microphone. Making sure I was lined up in the camera angles like Tyron had instructed me, I waited for him to stand across from me before we shook hands, pausing mid-shake for the press photos.

Quickly wrapping up, we stepped back inside, closing the balcony doors behind us.

“Well, that went well,” Tyron commented, and I couldn’t help but smile back. There was a lot on the line, a lot I could screw up, but getting something right for my pack felt damn good. “How about a celebratory sip?”

Tyron reached back to the flask in the drawer, and I laughed. “Alpha Hayward, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get me liquored up!” We both laughed, but there was a definite tension to it, as if we were both forcing it.

I certainly was.

“Stay for lunch?” Helene invited as the three of us sat back down around a low coffee table.

I nodded. “I’d be delighted.”

“Good.” Helene kicked her feet up across her husband’s lap. “Now, have you thought more about being our next queen?”

I glanced immediately at Tyron, but he just returned my gaze expectantly. And completely unsurprised.

Oh, goodie. Helene had discussed this with her husband.

I glared good-naturedly at my friend. “Your suggestion is being taken under advisement,” I answered vaguely.

“And what does your mate think?” she prodded.

I rolled my eyes at her line of questioning. “I haven’t brought it up. I don’t want to get his hopes up that he might not have to take the crown unless I’m sure of it.”

Helene nodded. “Does he know you’re pregnant?”

I froze, immediately schooling my expression into one of neutrality. I quickly considered if I could get away with lying about this. She didn’t know for sure – not yet.

But if I denied being with child, they would likely ask me to prove it by having a drink.

It wasn’t that I was out of excuses. People didn’t drink alcohol for all sorts of reasons.

It was more so the realization that these were my friends, my allies, and I had no reason to hide this from them. Everyone would know in a couple of weeks anyway.

“Yes, he knows I’m pregnant.”

Helene’s cool demeanor broke as she whipped her feet off Tyron’s lap, slamming them on the ground, and clapped excitedly. “And now so do we!”

I rolled my eyes. “Was it the not drinking that gave it away?”

“That and your boobs are swollen.” Helene clapped excitedly again, standing up to come give me a hug.

“A detail that I did not notice,” Tyron added, “because I have eyes for only one pair of perfect breasts in this world.”

“Awww,” Helene cooed as she wrapped her arm around my waist. “Now let’s go get some lunch. You’re eating for two!”