(Althea's POV)

I stopped.

My hand was still on the door handle, but my feet wouldn't move.

I turned back to face him.

"I can't accept that," I said. My voice was steady. "Your assessment of me is wrong."

Magnus was still leaning back in his chair, completely at ease, those gold eyes tracking every movement I made.

"Oh?" One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "And why is that?"

"Being an orphan didn't make me weak." I lifted my chin. "It made me stronger."

Something shifted in his expression. A flicker of interest crossed his aristocratic face, there and gone in an instant.

"I'd like to hear more about that."

"You think I'm desperate," I said. "You think I came to you with nothing and nowhere else to go."

I let out a short, humorless laugh.

"I'm offering you a mutually beneficial arrangement. If you're not interested, I have other options."

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Do you? With three days until your engagement party?"

The words stung. He knew exactly where to press.

But I kept my face still.

"I would rather stand up at that party and announce the cancellation myself," I said, "than beg anyone for help."

He looked at me for a long moment.

Then something in his posture changed. Not much. Just a slight shift, like a door opening a crack.

"I remember you," he said quietly. "You were fifteen. You stood in front of the Wolf Council and demanded your inheritance rights without flinching."

I hadn't expected that.

"There were seven elders in that room," he continued. "All of them looking at you like you had no right to be there. And you didn't move."

"I had no choice," I said.

"Everyone has a choice." His voice was even. "Most people choose to look away."

A beat of silence settled between us.

"That same spirit," I said, keeping my voice low, "is what helped Aaron become the heir he is today."

The moment I said his name, something cooled in Magnus's expression.

"You wasted it," he said. "That strength. That determination. You spent years pouring it into someone who walked past you today without looking back."

The words hit somewhere deep.

I felt my throat tighten.

But I didn't let the tears come.

"From the moment Aaron chose Isabella," I said, "I let him go."

I meant it. I had made that decision somewhere between the hallway and the morning light, and I wasn't going back.

Magnus studied me for another moment.

Then he straightened in his chair.

"All right," he said. "I'll help you."

Something loosened in my chest.

But then he kept talking.

"However." He paused. "What I want is not just an engagement."

I stared at him.

"I want a real marriage."

The words landed like a stone.

"That's-" I stopped myself. "That's not what I proposed."

"No," he agreed. "It's what I'm proposing."

I couldn't find words for a moment.

"My family has been pushing me to choose a Luna," he said, his voice matter-of-fact. "A pureblooded Alpha female with healing abilities is exactly what they've been asking for. You fit every requirement."

"My pack is in a weak position," I said. "Aligning with me brings you nothing politically."

"I don't need political connections through marriage." His tone was flat and certain. "What I need is to silence the rumors."

I knew what rumors he meant.

Everyone in the werewolf world had heard the whispers. That Magnus Blake, future Alpha King, would never find a true mate. That something in his bloodline had broken the bond. His grandmother had been quietly unwell for years, worrying herself into illness over it.

"A stable Luna ends that conversation," he said.

I weighed it.

The wealth and power he could offer would stabilize my pack. The alliance would give me standing I couldn't build alone in three years, let alone three days. And walking into that party on his arm would say everything I couldn't say out loud to Aaron.

But something made me hesitate.

Life had taught me to be suspicious of things that looked too perfect.

I started moving toward the door again.

"I apologize," I said. "For the impulsive proposal earlier. I think I should-"

"Althea."

His voice stopped me again.

I turned.

He was already standing, and he crossed the room in a few unhurried steps. He didn't crowd me. He just gestured toward the couch.

"Sit down," he said. "Please."

There was something different in his voice. Not commanding. Almost careful.

I sat.

He sat across from me again, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and looked at me directly.

"There's a reason I'm asking for this," he said. "A real one."

I waited.

"My grandmother raised me," he said. "After my parents died, she was the only one left. She's been sick on and off for three years." He paused. "The prophecy about me - that I'll never find a true mate - it's been eating at her. Every time she hears another rumor, she gets worse."

His voice didn't waver. But something behind his eyes did.

"This arrangement would give her peace," he said. "And it would solve your problem at the same time."

I didn't say anything for a moment.

Then he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and set a document on the coffee table between us.

I stared at it.

It was a prenuptial agreement. Neatly printed. Clearly drafted by someone who knew what they were doing.

"You had this prepared already," I said.

"An Alpha King never goes into battle unprepared." The faintest smile touched his mouth.

I picked it up and started reading.

The terms were generous. Protection clauses for my pack. Shared resources with clear boundaries. Explicit provisions for dissolving the arrangement under defined conditions. My autonomy was written into every paragraph.

"This is a structured arrangement," Magnus said. "We maintain our independence. Your choices remain your own. Nothing will be forced."

I read through it again.

His precision was disarming. His transparency was even more so.

The protection this offered was real. The alliance was powerful. On paper, it was almost perfect.

But Kora wouldn't stop moving.

She had been restless since the moment I walked back into this room. Every time Magnus spoke, she shifted. Every time he looked at me, she leaned toward him like something was pulling her.

It was strange. It was distracting. And I didn't know what to do with it.

Magnus noticed my hesitation.

"There's one more thing you should know," he said. "The Shadow Warrior Pack has an ancient ritual. It functions like a mate bond - but it can be dissolved."

I looked up.

"The condition is that we live as true partners for one year."

My face went warm.

"True partners," I repeated carefully.

Something in his expression softened, just slightly.

"Living together," he said. "Managing pack affairs. Nothing more will be required of you."

"I understand," I said, though my face was still hot.

The air between us had shifted. It was harder to ignore now. Something charged and quiet that I didn't have a name for.

Kora was practically vibrating.

Aaron is our fated mate, I reminded her silently. Stop this.

We don't need a mate who keeps walking away, Kora growled back. We need someone who stays.

I pressed my hands flat against my knees.

"I think..." I said slowly, "this sounds like a reasonable option."

But even as I said it, I felt uncertain. Kora was howling in my chest, loud and insistent in a way that felt completely out of place, and I didn't understand why she was reacting this way to a man I had met less than twelve hours ago.

"So then," Magnus said quietly, watching me with those steady gold eyes. "What is your answer, little wolf?"