h4Chapter 322: Old Faces/h4

    strongNatalie~/strong

    Three weeks had passed since the coronation, though it already felt like a lifetime. The throne room—once a ce I had only dared to imagine—was now the center of my every waking hour. It was no longer just stone and marble, no longer just towering windows and polished oak; it had be a breathing thing, alive with hope, desperation, and reverence. The air was heavy with it, scented faintly with jasmine drifting in from the gardens, sunlight spilling through the arches and scattering across the floor like gold.

    Zane and I sat side by side on the twin thrones carved with wolves and crescent moons, our shoulders sometimes brushing, our hands asionally finding one another in quiet moments of reassurance. The crown weighed less than the responsibility it represented. Every time I straightened my spine beneath its pressure, I felt both the exhaustion of duty and the strange exhration of being needed. Jasmine stirred within me often, the great wolf spirit pressing warm and steady against my heart. She was my constant reminder that I wasn’t just a girl ying queen—I was prophecye to life, carrying a light the people believed in.

    They came in waves. From the farthest mountains and coastal viges, from crumbling towns and hidden forests, the people arrived—faces weathered from long journeys, garments travel-worn, eyes alight with awe. They would drop to their knees the moment the doors opened, voices quivering as they spilled out their pleas: a sick child, a failed harvest, a curse that lingered on a bloodline, or simply the longing for my hand to brush theirs. Each request cut into me, heavy and raw, but I met them all. I let Jasmine’s light seep through my fingertips as I touched them, whispered words offort, breathed promises I prayed I could keep. Watching their shoulders sag with relief, watching the tears run freely down their cheeks—it drained me, yes, but it also reminded me why I endured. Every healed heart, every trembling smile became a thread in the fabric of my reign.

    Zane bore his own burdens beside me. Where I carried faith, he carried the weight ofw and survival. Merchants with ledgers full of despair, alphas locked in bitter disputes, farmers on the brink of ruin—all sought his ear. He listened with a stillness that made people trust him, his voice cutting through their tangled stories with an authority that calmed even the fiercest. Sometimes, as I sat listening, I would nce sideways at him—at the way his jaw set, the way his hand flexed on the armrest, the way his deep voice rolled steady and sure—and I felt myself falling for him all over again. He was my anchor, and together we held the tide.

    In those moments, with the hall echoing with footsteps and supplications, with jasmine and oak filling my lungs and the crown pressing against my temples, I finally began to understand what it meant to rule—not as a goddess alone, and not as a queen alone, but as a woman bound to her people and her mate. And despite the weight, despite the endless demands, I found myself quietly grateful.

    Because even in exhaustion, our love burned steady—a fire no burden could smother, binding us as surely as the throne itself.

    strong********/strong

    This morning, the throne room hummed with activity, the chandeliers above creating prisms of light across the gathered crowd. Zane’s hand rested on mine, his thumb tracing circles over my knuckles, a silent reminder that we were in this together. Alexander was off on a camping trip with his grandfather, Anderson, leaving the pce quieter but my heart a little emptier without hisughter. I leaned toward Zane, catching the faint cedar-and-storm scent of him, and whispered, "Think we’ll get a break before the moon rises?"

    He chuckled, low and warm, his blue eyes glinting with mischief. "Not a chance, my goddess. You’re too popr for that."

    I rolled my eyes, nudging his shoulder. "Says the king who’s got half the realm begging for his wisdom. I’m just the shiny new toy."

    His grin softened, and he lifted my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. "You’re no toy, Natalie. You’re their light. And mine."

    My cheeks warmed, and I was about to tease him back when the heavy doors creaked open. A guard, his armor clinking, stepped forward, his expression taut. "Your Majesties, the next petitioners are from the Silverfang Pack."

    The sound of that name made my heart clench so hard it almost hurt, and in an instant, memories I had buried deep began to w their way back to the surface. Cold, merciless memories—nights shivering on a thin, torn mattress, stomach twisting from hunger, the silence broken only by the echo of my own sobs. And worse, the memory of him—the cruel alpha who had forced his mark on me, stealing my choice, stealing my freedom, before casting me aside like I was nothing. He had left me with nothing but scars and a life soaked in loneliness and pain.

    My breath faltered, shaky, and I felt Jasmine rise inside me, her growl curling at the edges of my throat. The air around me seemed to thicken, vibrating with her fury, her strength pressing against my skin like a wave building before it crashes.

    Beside me, Zane didn’t say a word, but his hand tightened around mine, grounding me, steadying me. The muscle in his jaw flexed as Red stirred within him, a deep, dangerous rumble rolling through their bond. I could feel it too—like a growl in my own chest, steady and protective, echoing my pain with his own.

    "Send them away," Zane said, his voice a dangerous growl, his eyes shing with protective fury. "They don’t deserve to stand in her presence."

    I ced a hand on his arm, my touch gentle but firm. "Zane, wait. I’m okay. Let’s hear what they have to say."

    His gaze snapped to mine, stormy and conflicted. "Natalie, they hurt you. They don’t get to waltz in here and—"

    "I know," I interrupted softly, my voice steady despite the knot in my chest. "But I’m not that scared girl anymore. I want to face them. Please."

    He exhaled sharply, his lips pressing into a thin line, but he nodded, his trust in me outweighing his anger. "Fine. But if they so much as look at you wrong, they’re gone."

    I squeezed his hand, offering a small smile. "Deal."

    The guard stepped aside, and the doors swung wide. A group of nine figures shuffled in, their heads bowed, their steps hesitant as if the weight of their past sins dragged at their feet. At their front was a woman I recognized instantly—Gina, the Silverfang storage keeper. Her once-sharp features were softened by time, her dark hair streaked with gray, but the sight of her sent a jolt through me. I remembered kneeling before her, my voice small and desperate, begging for a nket, a pair of shoes, anything to ease the misery of my days in that pack. She’d always turned me away, her eyes cold, her words cutting: "You’re not worth the scraps, Natalie."

    Behind her stood Darius’s twin daughters, L and Mira, their auburn hair pulled back in tight braids. Their cruelughter still echoed in my nightmares, their taunts a constantpanion during my darkest years. The rest of the group—six men and women whose faces blurred into the haze of my past—looked equally shaken, their eyes wide as they took in the throne room, the golden light, and me, seated beside Zane, my crown gleaming, my aura a radiant force that made their wolves cower.

    They stopped before the dais, and one by one, they dropped to their knees, bowing low as pce protocol demanded. But I felt it—Jasmine’s power rippling through the air, a white-hot pulse that made their wolves submit instinctively. Even Gina trembled, her hands sped tightly as she pressed her forehead to the floor.

    "Rise," I said, my voice clear andmanding, though my heart pounded. Jasmine’s strength steadied me, her humor flickering through my mind: strongiLook at them, groveling. Bet they didn’t see thising./i/strong

    Gina stood first, her eyes red-rimmed, tears already streaking her weathered face. "Your Majesty... Goddess Natalie," she began, her voice cracking. "I... we... have no right to stand before you. Ie to beg your forgiveness for the way I treated you. For the cruelty, the neglect... I was wrong. So wrong."

    Her words hit like stones, each one stirring the pain I’d buried deep. I tilted my head, studying her, my expression calm despite the storm inside. "You denied me a mattress when I slept on the floor. You refused me clothes when mine were worn-out. Why should I believe your tears now, Gina?"

    She flinched, her shoulders hunching as if my words were physical blows. "I was blind, Your Majesty. I followed the alpha’s orders, believed his lies about you. I... I was weak. And I’m sorry. I beg you, and King Zane, to forgive me for how I treated your mate, your queen."

    Zane’s growl rumbled low, his hand tightening on the armrest of his throne. "You think words erase what you did? You let her suffer. You don’t get to cry your way out of that."

    Gina’s sobs grew louder, and she dropped to her knees again, her hands clutching at her chest. "I know, Your Majesty. I know I don’t deserve it. But nothing’s been right since you left, Natalie. The pack... it’s falling apart. Crops fail, hunts go empty, our people are sick. I think... I think it’s because we wronged you. Please, I beg you to forgive us, to bless us."

    L and Mira stepped forward, their faces pale, their eyes darting between me and the floor. "We’re sorry too," L whispered, her voice barely audible. "We were cruel. We didn’t know... didn’t understand who you were."

    Mira nodded, her hands twisting together. "You’re the Goddess now. We see it. We feel it. Please, Natalie, don’t punish us for what we did."

    I leaned forward, my gaze sharp, Jasmine’s power ring in my chest. "Punish you? You think I’m the one cursing your pack? You did that to yourselves. Every choice you made, every time you looked away while I starved, while I begged—that was your curse taking root."

    Zane’s hand found mine again, his touch grounding me as my voice trembled with emotion. "But I’m not here to hold grudges," I continued, softer now. "I want to understand. Gina, you said nothing’s working out for you. borate. Tell me everything."

    The throne room fell silent, the weight of my words hanging in the air. Gina lifted her tear-streaked face, her eyes searching mine, as if hoping for a flicker of the broken girl she once knew. But that girl was gone, reced by a queen, a goddess, whose heart was both fierce and forgiving.