Chapter 274

Elliot

I wake to an almighty crash. It’s something between a thunderclap and a hurricane slamming into our door I jerk upright, half asleep.

heart pounding. Macey squeaks beside me, fumbling for the sheets. Before I can even cover myself, Envy bursts into the room with one

hand over her eyes and the other waving wildly through the air.

“I hope everyone has pants on!” she shouts.

Macey collapses into laughter. I, on the other hand, trip over the corner of the blanket trying to grab mine. “Not yet! Not yet!” I yelp.

hopping on one foot as I shove them on.

“Good” Envy says, still covering her eyes. “Boys!”

The word barely leaves her mouth before all four of her mates barrel through the door like an invading army–Xavier, Haiden, Noah, and

Levi–all grinning like hyenas.

Xavier claps his hands together. “Alright, lover boy. Time to say goodbye to the future Queen. The girls have to get ready.”

I blink. “Now?”

“Now,” Noah confirms, smirking. “You don’t want to make the Goddess wait, do you?”

Macey’s giggle from behind me doesn’t help my nerves one bit.

Haiden grabs my arm, and Levi snatches the other. “Come on, Romeo,” Levi says. “You’ve had two days of honeymoon quarantine. Time to

face the music.”

Macey grins up at me from the bed, hair tousled, eyes sparkling. “Go get ready to be crowned, my King.”

Gods, I love her I lean down and kiss her, slow and tender, until Envy clears her throat dramatically.

“Okay, enough of that Go on, shoot” she says, flapping her hand at me “We have a Queen to make beautiful

Haiden drags me toward the hallway “Don’t make it sound like he’s not beautiful already

“Thank you,” I mutter dryly as they haul me off

They deposit me in one of the side chambers of the palace a room lined with black marble and gold mirrors. It smells faintly of costar and candle smoke, and the light from the glowing runes Bickers against the polished walls And were not alone. Pa and Pop are already there, both standing near the mirror in matching suits that make them look like they stepped straight out of a royal portrait Pa similes the moment he sees me. “Well, if it isn’t my boy Look at you”

Pop grins, his voice rough with emotion “You clean up alright, kid

I laugh, but my throat’s tight. “You two are going to make me cry before we even start

“That’s the point.” Pa says. “Get it out of the way now before you’re in front of a crowd

Xavier passes me a crisp black jacket embroidered with faint silver thread–the official colour of the Underworld’s rulers “Here Let’s make you look like someone who can handle divine politics.”

“I can’t handle Envy before coffee,” I mutter, but I put it on anyway.

Noah straightens the collar for me. “You’re doing fine.”

Levi leans against the wall, smirking. “You nervous?”

“Yes,” I admit. “Terrified.”

Haiden adjusts his cufflinks. “Good. That means you understand the weight of it.”

Pop claps me on the shoulder. “Just remember: it’s not about power, son. It’s about what you do with it.”

Pa nods. “And who you share it with.”

That nearly does me in. I swallow hard. “Thanks, guys. All of you.”

They all smile, and for a moment, the room is quiet–just the sound of the Underworld humming softly beyond the walls.

Time moves strangely after that–Haiden ties my cuffs with perfect precision. Levi fusses with my hair until Xavier tells him to stop. Noah

pours me something dark and strong from a crystal decanter, muttering that it’ll calm my nerves. Pa straightens my lapels while Pep tells a story about his own mating ceremony that involves a chicken and a broken chandelier. By the time Envy bursts through the door again,

I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

“Good” she says, eyes shining. “You look the part. Finally.”

“Finally?” | echo. Tve been ready for five minutes.”

She rolls her eyes “Five minutes is an eternity in ceremony preparation time” Then her expression softens “You look good, Elliot Really

good”

“Thanks, Mum.”

Her smile wobbles slightly “Your mother would be proud

‘That one hits straight in the chest I can only nud I think she already is

And of course, that would be the moment that Ma bursts in, tears already down her face as the lunges for me with open arms, Oh my

sweet little boy! Look at you!”

“Ma! I laugh, hugging her back I’m a grown man.

She pulls back enough to hold my face in her hands as she looks up at me. No, sweetheart You I always he my haby

The next thing I know, I’m walking through the corridors of the palace, flanked by the people I love most in the world. The sound of

music echoes fainth from ahead–haunting and beautiful, unlike anything I’ve ever heard. The grand hall doors open, and I stop dead

It’s… breathtaking. The obsidian floors gleam like mirrors, reflecting the cascade of gold and silver light from above. Hundreds of glowing

orbs float in the air, illuminating a river of starlight that runs outside the windows at the end, just past an archway of living crystal.

Below that archway stand two thrones of shadow intertwined with light.

And the people–gods, there are so many people. Our family fills the front rows, and behind them, the pack. Beyond them, hundreds of

souls–those who once served the Underworld. But they’re not the only ones here. My breath catches when I see the figures standing to

the side of the thrones. Selene, the Moon Goddess herself, stands radiant in silver, her eyes gentle and knowing. Beside her is Hecate.

Macey’s benefactor, the one who blessed her wolf–tall, regal, and shadowed in starlight. Beyond them gather others, divine beings I only

half–recognise from old stories: Nyx, goddess of night, her hair a curtain of darkness; Thanatos, silent and patient, keeper of peaceful

death: Eos, dawn’s first light, glowing softly like the promise of a new world, and Hemera, goddess of day, the perfect harmony made flesh

-just as Macey now embodies it.

I am completely awestruck that they would show up to witness our coronation.

Selene catches my gaze and smiles. “Are you ready, Elliot?”

I swallow hard. “As I’ll ever be.”

Hecate steps forward, her voice echoing through the hall, soft and powerful all at once. “Then take your place, King of the Underworld.

For when the Queen arrives, the realms will balance again.”

I move to the end of the aisle and stand beneath the arch of light, heart pounding so hard I can barely breathe. Behind me, the music

swells The doors open again. And all the world holds its breath.