Sister of My Heart
Kieran POV
I felt the lingering knot of anxiety in Aurora’s chest finally dissolve, melting away beneath the steady, reassuring pulse of our bond. Her shoulders dropped a fraction, and the tense grip she had on my fingers softened into a gentle, affectionate hold.
Content that my mate was grounded and secure, I shifted my focus back to the reality outside of this tranquil gazebo. The peaceful isolation of our royal wing couldn’t last forever, and I needed to know exactly what battlefield I was stepping onto.
“Mother,” I began, my tone shifting naturally into the low, commanding cadence of the Alpha King. “The council. When is the next meeting set? I assume they have been restless during our seclusion.”
Mother took a delicate, unhurried sip of her tea, her expression remaining perfectly serene. “Restless is a mild way of putting it, Kieran. But to answer your question, they are gathering as we speak.”
My brows snapped together. “Really? That is incredibly short notice.”
“ The perimeter guards reported yesterday morning that the overwhelming scent of a royal heat had finally lifted from the eastern wing.” Mother replied smoothly, setting her cup down with a soft clink. “The council immediately demanded an audience.”
Beside me, a furious, vibrant blush stained Aurora’s cheeks, creeping all the way down her neck to her collarbones. She quickly pulled her hand from mine and buried her face in her palms.
“Oh, Goddess,” she groaned, her voice muffled and thick with sheer embarrassment. “The guards? The entire palace smelled that? I am so, so sorry.”
I couldn’t help the low, rumbling chuckle that vibrated in my chest. I reached out, gently wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her flush against my side, silently kissing the top of her head.
“Aurora, my dear, please do not apologize,” mother laughed, her eyes crinkling with genuine amusement.
“It is the biology of our kind. You cannot control a heat any more than you can control the tides or the weather. And in my experience, they only ever seem to arrive at the most inconvenient times. It is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Aurora peeked out from between her fingers, her face still adorably flushed. “It feels like something to be embarrassed about,” she muttered.
Mother’s smile softened, taking on a deeply fierce, maternal edge.
She leaned forward, her green eyes locking onto my mate with unwavering support.
“Let them smell it. Let them know their Alpha has found his true mate, and that she is strong, vibrant, and perfectly healthy. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, especially not to a room full of stiff, overbearing wolves.”
Mother shifted her gaze to me, the amusement fading into a solemn, grounded sincerity.
“You will face resistance, Kieran,” she warned quietly.
“There are members of the council who are deeply entrenched in the old ways. They will see a rogue, an unknown, and they will try to use the mystery of her past to undermine your authority. They want a Luna they can control, and a true Argentis is the farthest thing from it.”
I let out a slow, measured breath, my jaw tightening as my wolf paced just beneath the surface, already anticipating the fight. “Let them try.”
“I know you can handle them,” Mother said softly, a profound pride shining in her eyes. “But I want you to know that you do not stand alone in that room. I am on your side, Kieran. Both of yours.”
She reached across the table, placing her hand over Aurora’s resting arm, then looking up to meet my gaze.
“I have watched the crown weigh you down for years. I have watched the immense pressure of this kingdom slowly drain the light from your eyes. All I have ever wanted is for you to be happy. To finally find peace.”
A heavy, emotional sheen glossed over her eyes as she looked back at Aurora. Her thumb gently brushed over the midnight-blue sleeve of my mate’s dress.
“And I cannot properly express how deeply, profoundly grateful I am to the Moon Goddess,” Mother whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears, “that the one destined to bring my son that happiness... is the daughter of my dearest friend.”
----
Aurora POV
The absolute, unwavering sincerity in Seraphina’s voice struck a chord deep within my chest, vibrating with a chaotic, overwhelming symphony of grief and profound warmth.
My breath caught, and for a terrifying second, I thought the dam was going to break entirely.
The grief was a sudden, sharp ache beneath my ribs.
A reminder that my parents, my fiercely overprotective brothers, and the entirety of my kingdom were not here anymore.
My mother would never get to stand in this beautiful, sunlit gazebo and formally meet the man who had claimed my heart.
She would never get to laugh with her dear friend about how perfectly the Moon Goddess had woven our destinies together.
But chasing right on the heels of that sorrow was a brilliant, blinding rush of pure gratitude.
I was no longer a rogue, hunting shadows in the ruins a fallen kingdom.
I had found my fated mate, a man whose strength and devotion anchored my very soul, and I had just found a living, breathing connection to the mother I missed so desperately.
I swallowed the thick, heavy lump in my throat, offering the older woman a tremulous, watery smile. “Thank you, Your Highness,” I whispered, my voice rough with emotion. “You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that, and to know... to know she had a friend like you.”
Seraphina’s elegant features softened instantly. Her fingers gently covering mine.
“Seraphina or just Sera,” she corrected gently, before pausing and giving her head a slight shake. Her green eyes were swimming with the same poignant emotion that was currently clogging my throat. “No, actually. I would love it if you just called me Mother.”
I blinked, a fresh tear slipping free to track down my cheek. “Mother?”
“Your mother was the sister of my heart, Aurora,” Seraphina said fiercely, her grip on my hand tightening. “And beyond that, you are the fated mate of my son. You are my daughter-in-law. You are part of my family.”
Beside me, Kieran’s presence in our bond swelled, his thumb gently stroking the curve of my waist as he listened to his mother formally welcome me into the pack’s innermost circle.
“And I want you to understand something,” Seraphina continued, her voice dropping to a fierce, urgent whisper that held the absolute authority of a former Luna.
“Even if the Moon Goddess had not tied your soul to my stubborn son... even if you were completely mateless and had simply stumbled across our borders... you would have had a place here. I would have taken you in without a second of hesitation.”
Her gaze dropped to our joined hands, a profound, heavy shadow of regret passing over her beautiful face.
“If only I had known,” she breathed, her voice cracking slightly. “If I had known that you had survived the war... that a piece of Lyanna was still out there, surviving in that wasteland for eight long years... I would have sent the entirety of the Valdoran army to bring you here.”
A broken, wet laugh escaped my lips. I slipped my free hand out of Kieran’s loose grip to reach across the table, sandwiching Seraphina’s hand between both of mine.
“I’m here now,” I promised softly, the absolute truth of the words settling deep into my bones. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Seraphina smiled, a radiant, teary expression that made her look remarkably like Kieran. She gave my hands one last, affectionate squeeze before gracefully pulling back and reaching for her linen napkin to dab at her eyes.
“Well,” she sniffed, instantly reconstructing her flawless, aristocratic composure.
“Now that we are all properly crying into our tea, I believe we have a council of extremely impatient, overly self-important wolves to deal with.”
She leveled a sharp, commanding look at Kieran.
“Are you ready to introduce the lords of Valdora to their Luna?”
Kieran’s jaw set, his dark eyes flashing with the lethal, unyielding promise of an Alpha King ready to defend what was his. He stood up, his massive frame casting a protective shadow over my chair as he offered me his hand.
“Let’s go ruin their afternoon,” he rumbled.