Page 97 of Storms of His Wrath

The silence that followed was absolute, thousands of souls holding their breath as one.

“For months, you believed I was lost to you,” she continued, her words building with the rhythm of someone who had learned the power of truth. “You believed King Akoro Sy had stolen your princess, torn me from the life I was meant to live.”

She paused, letting her gaze sweep across faces she had known since childhood.

“But while I was not stolen, I was transformed.” Her voice grew stronger with each word. “In the desert wastelands, facing magical storms that could tear apart kingdoms, I discovered who I was truly meant to become.”

Murmurs began to rise from the crowd.

“The threat to our empire has ended,” she said. “King Akoro and I have forged an alliance that will benefit both our kingdoms for generations to come. Trade routes that will bring prosperity. Knowledge that will advance our understanding of magic itself. Military cooperation that will ensure neither of our peoples ever face the horrors of war again.”

The crowd’s reaction shifted like weather changing, shock transforming as her words settled into their understanding.

“I return to you not as your future empress,” she said, “but as a woman who will become Queen of Tsashokra, wife to my true mate, King Akoro Sy, your greatest ally.”

Gasps erupted from the crowd like physical force.

“This choice tears at my heart,” she said, vulnerability threading through her strength. “This empire raised me, shaped me, gave me everything I needed to become the woman I am today. You are my people, my family, my first love.”

Her voice cracked slightly, the emotion genuine and raw. “But love is not always about staying. Sometimes love is about becoming who you need to be, even when that path leads away from everything familiar.”

Some of the crowd were openly crying. Naya blinked and pushed on. “You taught me to be brave. You taught me to fightfor what matters. You taught me that true strength comes not from conquest, but from protecting those who cannot protect themselves.

“I will carry those teachings to the desert kingdom, where people who have suffered as we have suffered now look to their future with hope instead of fear. Where children will grow up knowing peace instead of constant threat of magical destruction. Where two great empires will stand together instead of bleeding each other dry through endless conflict.”

The crowd’s reaction began to shift again. This wasn’t loss—this was transformation, alliance, a bridge between worlds that promised greater than either kingdom could achieve alone.

Papa stepped forward then, his massive presence lending gravity to her words. “My daughter has chosen her path,” he said solemnly. “She goes with my blessing as future queen, bearing the strength of the Lox Empire into a future none of us could have imagined.”

“Long live Princess Naya!” someone shouted from the back, the cry piercing the evening air like a bell. The words were taken up by hundreds of voices until they thundered across the courtyard, rolling through the streets of Ashens like thunder before a storm.

Mama appeared at Naya’s other side, tears shining in her eyes like stars reflected in dark water. “Be happy, my daughter,” she whispered, her words holding all the love and loss of a mother watching her child step into destiny. “Be the queen you were born to be.”

The crowd’s cheers washed over them like waves against stone, but Naya’s focus had narrowed to the man beside her. The Alpha whose scent had called to her from the beginning, whose darkness had awakened depths in her she hadn’t known existed. The future stretched before them now—not as conqueror and captive, but as equals bound by choice rather than circumstance.

“There’s one more thing,” Naya said, her voice cutting through the celebration. The crowd quieted, sensing the shift in her energy. “Before I take my place as Queen of Tsashokra, before I leave this home to claim another, I invite you to witness our bonding.”

Excitement rippled through the gathered masses. Her bonding ceremony had been talked about since the day she was born, and although she wasn’t going to be queen here, she still wanted to share it with him.

Akoro turned to face her fully, his dark eyes roaming her face.

The crowd went silent, every person straining to witness the royal bonding.

Naya stepped closer to Akoro, close enough that his heat enveloped her like the sun. His scent wrapped around her senses, that intoxicating blend of earth and musk and danger that had haunted her since they first met. The familiar ache bloomed low in her belly, her body responding to his proximity with desperate hunger.

Without hesitation, Naya rose on her toes and pressed her mouth to the strong column of his throat. His pulse thundered beneath her lips, rapid and unsteady. She kissed him there, tasting the salty nature of his skin.

Then she bit down.

Her teeth pierced his skin, and the first drop of his blood on her tongue sent shockwaves through her entire being. The metallic taste should have been revolting, but instead it sang through her veins like the finest wine. She pulled a mouthful, feeling his essence flow into her, binding them together in ways that transcended the physical.

With each swallow, the bond between them strengthened, becoming a living thing that pulsed with shared heartbeats and mingled souls. She could feel his amazement through theconnection, disbelief that she was truly choosing this—that she was choosing him. The emotion burned bright and fierce in her chest, a star being born in the darkness.

When she finally released him, licking the last traces of blood from her lips, the bond settled fully into place. It hummed between them like a plucked string, vibrating with new awareness. Through it, she could feel his love—raw and desperate and completely overwhelming in its intensity.

“My Alpha,” she whispered, the words carrying all the acknowledgment he’d craved for so long.

But the claiming wasn’t complete. Not yet.

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