CHAPTER 465: CHAPTER 465: NEGOTIATION.

Dean frowned. "But... how would they even know? I manifested weeks ago. They’re on a different continent."

Caelan and Serathine exchanged a look, one adults only used when the truth was inconvenient.

Lucas set his cup down. "What aren’t you telling us?"

Serathine sighed, folding her hands. "Dean... in the modern era, dominant bloodlines are monitored. Quietly, discreetly, but monitored. Alamina has been tracking prospective families in Palatine for decades. They have the technology and the political reach to pull data from half the hemisphere."

Caelan nodded. "And you manifested with unusually strong, stable markers. That information doesn’t stay contained, not with how many governments keep eyes on dominant emergence reports."

Dean’s stomach tightened. "So they knew... immediately."

"Within hours," Serathine confirmed softly. "And before you worry... Sebastian is monitored too."

Sebastian stiffened beside Dean, jaw tightening, eyes flicking away like he hated anyone acknowledging it.

Dean blinked. "Why him?"

Caelan answered without hesitation. "Because he’s a dominant alpha. Stable now, yes, but one day he’ll need a dominant omega to stabilize him just as urgently as Alamina’s prince does."

Trevor rubbed his brows tiredly. "Every major empire wants long-term stability. Dominant alphas without matches are considered high-risk assets."

Lucas added, voice low, "Some nations monitor them even more aggressively than dominant omegas."

Dean looked between them, first at Sebastian’s tense jaw, then at his parents’ resigned expressions.

"So... both of us are being watched."

Sebastian muttered, "Welcome to the club."

Dean shot him a glare. "That’s not encouraging at all."

"No," Sebastian agreed, utterly unbothered, "but nobody would hurt you. The conditions would be set by Palatine, by you, and by our parents." He paused, his tone sharpening into something older than his years. "The best approach is to ask for time. You’re eighteen. Arion can protest all he wants, but he doesn’t actually have other choices."

Dean’s brows drew together. "Other choices... meaning?"

Trevor sighed. "Meaning Alamina has no backup dominant omega. Not in your age bracket. Not with your stability. Their prince doesn’t have a lot of margin left."

Lucas nodded grimly. "And a dominant alpha nearing instability doesn’t negotiate well. His advisors will be the ones pushing this, not him."

Serathine added gently, "Arion may not even want this. He is pressured by his court, by biology, and by an empire that fears collapse."

Dean blinked slowly. "So he’s as trapped as I am."

Caelan snorted. "Worse. You have a family who will fight tooth and nail for your freedom. He has a council who will leash him until he breaks."

A chill prickled down Dean’s spine.

Sebastian noticed and nudged his knee. "Look, I’m not saying it’s pretty. But you have leverage. More than him. More than most people on this planet."

Dean’s voice wavered. "And what exactly am I supposed to do with leverage I never asked for?"

Trevor leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You use it to buy time. Years, if necessary. You focus on school, training, and figuring out who you want to be."

Lucas reached for Dean’s hand, warm and grounding. "And if, at the end of that time, you don’t want Alamina?" His stare hardened. "Then the answer is no."

Caelan lifted his cup. "And if they push after that, well... Palatine has handled worse diplomatic tantrums."

Dean let out a shaky breath. "So I just have to out-stubborn an entire empire."

Sebastian grinned, sharp and proud. "Lucky for you, stubbornness runs in the family and we have uncle Dax as backup."

Trevor groaned instantly. "Please don’t involve your uncle in this."

Caelan nearly choked on his tea. "Oh, absolutely involve him. Dax loves a good international incident."

Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose. "He does not love incidents. He just... embraces them very aggressively."

Serathine folded her hands, perfectly composed. "Dax would declare war if someone looked at Chris incorrectly. Imagine what he will do if we ask for help."

Sebastian brightened. "Exactly. Weaponized uncle."

Dean stared at all of them, horrified. "I don’t need a weaponized uncle!"

"Of course you do," Sebastian said. "It’s part of the extended family package."

Trevor pointed at him. "No. No weaponized relatives. No threats. No military deployments."

Caelan raised a finger. "Well... a hint of military deployment..."

"Caelan," Serathine warned.

He sighed like a man deeply misunderstood. "Fine. No deployments. Yet."

Dean slumped back into the couch, overwhelmed but somehow... less alone.

"If things get bad," Sebastian said quietly, nudging Dean’s knee, "you won’t be the one fighting an empire. We will."

The room went still for a heartbeat, united, a wall of people who had already decided the future wouldn’t claim Dean unless he let it.

Dean swallowed. "Okay. That helps. A little."

Lucas squeezed his hand again. "Good. Because you’re not facing Alamina alone."

Trevor nodded. "Not now. Not ever."

—

Negotiations did not end in three days. They didn’t even end in three weeks.

They sprawled, mutated, and circled back on themselves like political hydras. Every time Trevor or Lucas cut down one argument, Alamina produced two more, polished, elegant, and terrifyingly reasonable.

And Sirius, now Emperor, sat through every meeting with the patience of a saint and the headache of a man contemplating early abdication.

"Again," he muttered after week two, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the Alaminan delegates proposed a revised academic program for Dean. "They’ve rewritten his entire higher education just to get leverage in a marriage negotiation."

Trevor scowled across the table. "They’re weaponizing scholarships."

"They’re weaponizing prestige," Lucas corrected dryly. "It’s working. This is the best international education package I’ve ever seen, and that’s the part that offends me most."

The Alaminan negotiator, a woman with a voice like etched steel, merely offered a serene smile.

"Our Crown Prince’s future consort deserves nothing less than excellence. Dean would study at our capital university under full protection. No one would so much as breathe on him without authorization."

Sirius arched a brow. "You mean my authorization."

Another serene smile. "Of course, Your Majesty. Cooperation is a cornerstone of trust."

Trevor muttered, "I hate this."

Lucas muttered back, "I hate how smart they are."