The sound beneath the throne came again.
A low metallic groan echoed through the chamber floor, ancient enough to feel less like machinery and more like something waking after centuries of silence. The silver lines beneath the marble brightened sharply, spreading outward from the throne dais in widening circles until the entire room seemed submerged beneath pale moonlight.
Every wolf inside the chamber reacted instantly.
The imperial guards stiffened along the walls. Several lowered themselves unconsciously to one knee before realizing what they had done. The southern wolves behind Darius looked equally unsettled, their instincts responding against their will to the pressure rolling upward through the throne room.
And at the center of it all --
Selene stood frozen beneath the weight of the awakening seal.
The pulse inside her chest answered the chamber immediately.
Not fear.
Recognition.
