Callie’s repeated declarations made my anxiety ramp up from butterflies to wiggling worms, and Kaja met my gaze in the mirror.

“He’s not king yet,” Kaja said, flicking her attention to Callie. “All the packs need to acknowledge him as such before he can officially claim the title.”

Which did zero to quell my nerves.

“But they will, right?” I looked to Kaja for confirmation and then glanced to Honor as my insides twisted.

Kaja offered me a sad smile full of pity and understanding. “They will. Don’t worry.”

A strange sense of déjà vu hit me as I looked around Kaja’s dorm room: the four-poster bed and soft green walls. “It’s weird to be back here.”

My gaze snagged on Justice, the emerald-eyed Midnight brother who looked so much like my mate it was slightly uncomfortable at times, and he nodded. Honor moved in closer to my side while Kaja finished curling my hair. Rage had ordered two of his brothers to be with me at all times, my own personal bodyguards, until all the pack alphas committed to him.

Justice picked up an eyelash curler from Kaja’s dresser and stared at it. “I never thought we’d come back to school.”

“Rage will be king alpha, and all of us will just … go to school,” I said aloud.

Like nothing happened.

But so much had happened. My gaze flicked to Honor with the thought. ‘Is it strange for you to not be able to shift?’

‘Yes.’ He nuzzled my hand. ‘But not too bad.’

“It’s super weird,” Kaja offered, winking at me in the mirror. “But if we don’t like our classes, you can call in a favor with the king.”

She wiggled her eyebrows, causing me to grin.

There was a knock at the front door, and I leapt from the vanity, nearly stumbling over Honor in my haste. I raced out into the hallway and ran down to the foyer. With my heart thundering, I wrenched the door open.

“Dad!”

My father stepped up to the doorway, dressed in a nice black suit, something I’d never seen him wear. His wild golden hair was gelled back, and he was clean-shaven. Major props for going all out in respect for Rage’s coronation ceremony. Seeing him all dressed up caused a lump in my throat, and my heart swelled with love. I flew into his arms, and he pulled me into a hug. The last twenty-four hours had brought me and my father even closer, and now he seemed to be the hugging emotional type.

“Did you and the pack get settled in okay?” I whispered to him. It was late by the time we came through the portal last night. Lilith and a few wolves fled, going rogue, but the rest of our pack and Midnight’s took a knee, recognizing Rage as king. Now, we just needed all the packs to do that formally with the High Mage Council there to witness, and we were good.

I thought of Rage standing in the snow-covered field, the embers of our pack’s lodge and my childhood home burning behind him. After killing Declan, Rage’s first order of business was to restore my pack’s rank within wolf shifter society and return possession of our lands and houses here on Alpha Island to my father. Rage said that he didn’t want to live in a world that would label me being born a crime, and he’d never go against fate, which is what my mother and funcle had been. Fated Mates.

“Lona and Mack are setting up our new house,” Dad said, releasing me. He glanced around the courtyard of the Harvest dorm, and then his gaze darted to Crescent Dorm across the stone path, in all its condemned glory. “It’s good to be back.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “I can see you all the time now.” The Crescent Pack lands were a twenty-minute run through the woods from school.

“This came for you,” he said, handing me a white envelope. The flap was sealed with silver wax, stamped with an owl. He lowered his voice and added, “It’s from your grandfather.”

I traced my finger over the owl—somehow, it suited him—I snapped the seal and skimmed the contents, relief flooding me. “The High Mage Council has unanimously agreed to let the matter of me being a ‘high crime’ go.”

“Halle-frickin-leujah!” Kaja cheered behind me as my friends flooded into the hallway.

Dad must’ve already known because he merely nodded at the news. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

Callie grabbed her handbag, and Kaja plucked hers and mine off the vanity before stepping through the door. Honor sat next to me, waiting until I moved, and then Justice fell into step on my other side as we all started to walk to the castle.

As we crossed campus, I noticed hundreds of people exiting the woods, some dressed nicely and others in jeans and t-shirts. Even more surprising were those coming up from the boat docks. Who was coming from the mage lands?

Justice must’ve noticed me looking out at the full boat docks because he cleared his throat and said, “Rage invited all the rogues to return. He said to tell you John and Sara are coming.”

I grinned. Perfect.

Rage was already making great choices as alpha, and by calling in the rogues and inviting Crescent Pack to return, he demonstrated he’d do things differently than his asshat uncle.

I spotted Mallory and her sister walking with a giant male. The dude was at least six foot seven and two hundred and fifty pounds—almost bear shifter big. A large scar ran from one side of his forehead across his face to the opposite side of his mouth, barely missing his left eye; the old wound made his sneer even more fierce. Surrounding the male and my Daybreak nemeses were a dozen more wolf shifters, all staring at the guy like he was the Mother Mage incarnate. I narrowed my eyes at the sight of dark blue robes coming from the dude’s other side.

“Looks like this puppy king is letting anyone on the island,” the dude growled.

My father glanced his way and tensed, and I snarled at the insult to my mate and father.

‘Don’t,’ Honor said, his voice filled with warning. ‘Rage has enough to worry about without you picking a fight.’

The group tittered and snickered, but before I could even reply to Honor, my gaze fell on a mage among them.

The man dressed in seafoam green robes darted out of the fawning group, disappearing amongst the sea of bodies.

Was it Kian?

I strained to get another glimpse of him, but the guy was gone.

A low rumble emanated from my father’s chest, and Justice muttered, “Not worth it, bro.” With a jerk of his head, he added, “We’re going this way.”

Did he just call my dad, bro?

We diverted from the main walkway and, with a parting glare at the giant male’s back, I leaned into Justice, “Who is that?”

Really, I didn’t care, unless he said—

“Clive, alpha of Daybreak.”

That. I just didn’t want him to say that.

Justice led us in through the family entrance and then down the hall toward where the crowd oozed through double doors. He opened a single unobtrusive door, and we crossed into a massive ballroom.

The walls and floor were polished gray stone. To the right, two large fireplaces lay unlit, but lit sconces provided a soft, almost cheery glow. To the left, a wall of windows and glass doors let in the waning light of sunset through the white flowy curtains. A lush red carpet ran the length of the room all the way up to the dais, which occupied the middle portion of the opposite wall. A podium was positioned at the forefront of the dais, and a large banner of black silk with a silvery full moon hung from the wall. To the right of the podium, I spotted Kian and the other High Mages, including Grandpa Geoff, taking their seats.