Diana stared at her signature.
It was unmistakably hers.
But she knew she had never written the document.
“I didn't sign this.”
Elias shook his head.
“We know.”
Diana looked at him sharply.
“Who is we?”
Elias hesitated.
Then he said:
“The Redblood loyalists.”
Diana's heart stopped.
“They survived?”
“A few.”
“Where?”
“Hidden.”
Diana folded the document.
“Take me to them.”
Katherine stepped forward.
“No.”
Diana turned.
“You're staying here.”
“I came all this way because of what happened to me. I'm not staying behind while you risk your life.”
“This isn't your fight.”
“It became my fight when they hurt me.”
Diana saw something in her daughter's eyes.
Not fear.
Resolve.
The same fire Diana had carried at that age.
“You're more like me than I wanted.”
They traveled north.
By sunset, they reached an abandoned stone chapel.
Inside, six wolves waited.
The oldest among them lowered his head.
“Your Majesty.”
Katherine looked at her mother.
Diana said nothing.
The old wolf stepped forward.
“I am Thomas Vale. I served Lord Julius.”
“What happened to him?”
Thomas's eyes filled with pain.
“He discovered that Alpha Marcus Conroy had been selling battle plans to the enemy.”
Diana's fists clenched.
“Why didn't Julius tell me?”
“He tried.”
Thomas handed her a second letter.
“His final message never reached you.”
Diana opened it.
The first line made her breath catch.
Diana, if you're reading this, trust no one wearing the silver wolf.
Diana immediately remembered the night Julius died.
The messenger who brought her the report had worn silver.
She had believed him.
She had signed the order to retreat.
And by morning, Julius was dead.
But there was another problem.
Katherine was staring at Thomas.
“Why does he call my mother Your Majesty?”
Thomas looked confused.
“You don't know?”
Diana stepped between them.
“Thomas.”
Too late.
Thomas looked at Katherine.
“Your mother didn't surrender the crown.”
He lowered his voice.
“She abandoned it.”
Katherine stared at Diana.
“Why?”
Diana's voice broke for the first time.
“Because when Julius died, I believed I had caused it.”
She looked at the letter.
“I thought my throne had brought death to everyone I loved.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Julius left one final order.”
Thomas opened a hidden compartment beneath the chapel altar.
Inside was a small wooden box.
He gave it to Diana.
“Your crown.”
Diana opened it.
The ancient Wolf Queen's crown lay inside.
But beneath it was a blood-red ring.
Diana recognized it immediately.
Julius's ring.
And engraved inside were four words:
The traitor is within.
Before Diana could speak, Katherine suddenly collapsed—and the broken-crown mark on her wrist began to glow.