Page 90 of Storms of His Wrath

The chant began spreading through the crowd like wildfire, thousands of voices taking up the call with growing enthusiasm. “Princess! Princess! Princess!”

Prillu’s grip on her arm tightened. “They want you,” she said, wonder bleeding through her diplomatic composure. “I think they’re calling for you to rule beside him.”

Naya stared down at the sea of upturned faces, seeing hope and determination blazing where she’d expected anger and rejection. These people didn’t want to lose their king—and it seemed they wanted to gain a queen. They were asking her to stay, to rule, to build something extraordinary with the man who’d just sacrificed everything for her honor.

The crowd’s chanting grew louder, more insistent, until the very stones beneath her feet seemed to vibrate with their demand. “King and Queen! King and Queen!”

Akoro halted, his dark eyes finding hers across the distance with laser intensity that made her purr with recognition. Even from here, she could see the desperate hope warring with resignation in his expression, could smell the complex blend of devotion and terror that marked his scent as he waited for her choice.

He’d just given her everything—publicly, completely, without reservation. The decision was entirely hers, and the devastating beauty of that gift made tears burn in her eyes with overwhelming emotion.

This was what she’d been searching for her entire life. Not just a mate who could love her body with devastating skill,but a partner who would stand beside her in the complex dance of leadership. Someone who understood the crushing responsibility of making decisions that affected thousands of lives, who’d proven capable of putting duty above personal desire when it mattered most.

“Princess,” Prillu urged gently, her voice thick with emotion. “They’re waiting. Tell them what you choose.”

Words died in Naya’s throat. The weight of thousands of gazes pressed against her skin, each expectant face a stone added to the crushing burden on her chest. Her breath came in shallow gasps that were swallowed by the commotion of the square.

“I—I can’t, I?——”

Prillu gently pushed her forward and she stepped to the platform’s edge. Akoro went to her, taking her hands in his. The crowd’s voices rose in a cacophony at the sight, but Akoro only looked at her.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t expect this. You don’t have to respond to them.”

“Why did you do this, Akoro,” she breathed, staring up at him, confused. “Why would you leave them?”

Something shifted in the depths of his dark eyes—vulnerability so profound it seemed to reach inside her chest and squeeze her heart until she couldn’t breathe. The rawness there, the naked truth he had never let her see before, landed low in her stomach like molten gold. “I cannot commit to them the way I need to, Naya. If I’m not the man you want, then I’m not the man for them.”

“You are exactly the king they need, the man they need. Even after that entire confession, they know you, know who you truly are. Just like I do…” Naya’s voice trembled, the vibration of the chanting thudding in her chest. “I… But do they really want me to lead with you?”

Akoro’s gaze swept across the sea of faces pressing against the square’s boundaries, spilling into streets and alleyways like flood water seeking every available space. When he turned back to her, something fierce and wild burned in his expression. “Let’s find out.”

Leading her to the middle of the platform he lifted a hand and waited until the crowd silenced, which took some time. Naya looked out among the sea of people, squeezing into the streets beyond the square.

Once they were silent, Akoro’s voice carried across the square with that same resonant power that had once commanded armies. “Our law states, that in short notice votes?—”

The crowd erupted again, excitement crackling through the air like lightning before a storm. Akoro’s laughter rang out rich and genuine, a sound that seemed to transform the very atmosphere around them as he raised his hand once more. “Our law states,” he said again once they were silent, “that in short notice votes, you may speak with your bodies. Those who would like Princess Naya to become queen, and rule alongside her true mate Akoro Sy, who is no longer king, face forward. Those who wish to elect a new king, one that Akoro Sy will help to transition into power, turn your back.”

Not a single person moved. The sudden quiet rang in Naya's ears, more overwhelming than the noise had been.

“Yes,” he said, turning to her. “They want you to rule with me.”

Naya looked out over the crowd, speechless. Of all the results she’d imagined between her and Akoro, this had never been one of them.

Akoro pulled her closer. “Let’s talk,” he murmured.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

The corridors of the palace blurred past Naya in a haze as Akoro guided her away from the platform. Her legs moved without conscious thought, muscle memory carrying her through passages that had become as familiar as breathing during their weeks together. The roar of the crowd still thundered in her ears—thousands of voices calling for her to be their queen, to rule beside the man who had just sacrificed his throne for her honor.

Her hands trembled against the rich fabric of her ceremonial robes, tremors that began in her fingertips and radiated through her entire frame. The magnitude of what had just occurred pressed against her consciousness like a tide threatening to sweep away every certainty she’d built her life upon.They want me.The thought circled through her mind with devastating repetition.His people want me to be their queen.

Akoro’s presence beside her was a constant anchor—the familiar heat radiating from his massive frame, the subtle shift of silk over muscle as he moved, the scent that never failed to make her purr with recognition. Yet she could sense the tension coiled beneath his controlled exterior, the way his breathing had grown carefully measured, as though he too struggled to process the unprecedented response they’d received.

“Here,” he said quietly, his voice rougher than usual as they reached the familiar doors of his chambers. The guards stepped aside with practiced deference, their faces carefully neutral despite the extraordinary scene they’d just witnessed.

Inside, the afternoon light streaming through tall windows seemed almost aggressive after the chaos of the square, painting everything in harsh golden strokes that made her vision blur. Naya found herself standing in the center of the room where they’d shared so many passionate nights, where he’d claimed her body with possessive intensity, where she’d learned the devastating beauty of surrender to her Alpha’s dominance.

The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken questions and the echo of public confession that had changed everything. Naya’s chest rose and fell with shallow breaths that couldn’t seem to bring enough air to her lungs, while her pulse hammered against her throat with such force she was certain he could hear it.

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