CHAPTER 484: THE HETEROCHROMIA EYES

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Chapter 484

~Draven’s POV~

The next morning came not with fanfare, but with the soft roll of fog curling over the mountains.

Dawn light filtered through the heavy curtains in streaks of pale gold. My estate was already stirring—footsteps in the halls, faint voices in the distance, and servants moving with quiet urgency.

I arrived in the dining wing early, but Snow was even earlier still.

He sat at the end of the long table, sipping a black coffee that steamed gently in the cool morning air.

His coat was draped over the back of his chair, and his shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, exposing the runes etched faintly into his skin—remnants of oaths, bloodlines, and wars past.

"Morning," I greeted.

"Draven. Morning.’

Two words. No pleasantries. Straight to it. I appreciated that.

I sat across from him as a server entered silently and placed a platter of warm bread, roasted meats, and boiled eggs between us. A bowl of fruit followed.

We ate with the kind of quiet only two battle-worn alphas could share—every movement efficient, calm, measured.

Snow set his fork down first. "About what we discussed last night."

I nodded, wiping my hands with the edge of the linen napkin. "I’m listening."

"I hope you’ve had time to sleep on it."

I inclined my head slightly. "I have."

"Good," he said. "Because it’s time for an answer." His gaze locked onto mine. No heat, no pressure. Just the truth. "Will you join the alliance and help rid this kingdom of the rogue threat once and for all?"

There was no hesitation in his tone, no soft approach. Snow didn’t ask questions, he wasn’t ready to answer himself.

I leaned back slightly, fingers steepled. The answer had already taken root in me the moment I saw those maps last night.

"Yes," I said clearly. "I will."

Snow didn’t nod immediately, but I saw the way his jaw relaxed by a fraction.

"I told you yesterday," I continued, "the old council members of Etheria—those who still hold sway over the neutral zones—can be contacted. They still remember the oaths made after the Ashfall Wars."

"Do you think they’ll answer?"

"For you? For Zara?" I gave him a hard look. "Yes. If they believe this threat is real, they’ll come."

"They’ll believe it," Snow said simply. "I’ll make sure of it. I will show them proof."

"I don’t think that would be too much trouble. I believe everyone had been touched one way or the other by the Thorned Crescent.

We stood and moved from the dining wing through a private corridor, the hall bathed in the hush of early light. No guards followed. There was no need.

My study was a large chamber, lined with towering shelves of scrolls and books older than most kingdoms. A long oak table stretched near the window, already covered in open folders and ink-marked parchments.

Once the door shut behind us, Snow walked straight to the far side and placed a stack of documents down, then turned. "Before we call the others, I want to speak about Zara."

I looked up at him, surprised—but only slightly.

"What about her?"

"She’s the reason most of this is holding together," he said, his voice quiet but certain. "But she’s also carrying more than any Alpha should. She’s facing every side of this war: the alliance, the rogues... and still making out time to ask if I have eaten."

A faint smile tugged at my lips, but I didn’t interrupt.

"I don’t want her to burn for this kingdom, Draven. I want her to win. And to do that, we can’t just support her. We need to amplify her."

I nodded once. "I understand."

"She’s not the kind to ask for help. But she built this alliance. She laid the foundation. If it falls, she’ll blame herself even when it’s not her fault."

"And that’s what makes her the kind of leader we need," I replied. "Zara doesn’t rule through fear. She rules through presence. Through intention. And she reminds me of her father as well as her mother."

"She’s also going to kill someone if another rogue attacks again or those dark witches."

I laughed, and it broke the tension enough for both of us to breathe a little deeper.

"Then it’s settled," Snow said, stepping toward the communicator panel on the far wall. It was lined with rune-etched stones, their symbols glowing faintly beneath his touch.

"I’ll summon some of the Alphas from our council back in the day. Alexander, Xavier, Zeno, and the others. If they see us—Draven and Snow—on the same side of the war table, they’ll listen. And if they don’t..."

"They’ll fall in line," Snow finished calmly. "Because this time, we’re not negotiating peace. We’re declaring war on the ones who think chaos is strategy."

I nodded. "Exactly."

I called each of the alphas one by one. Each call sent a signal—an invitation and a summons and made a group call to speak to them.

A meeting of war.

When Snow stepped back, I looked at him again and said, "When they arrive, let’s give them a reason to believe in this cause. In her."

His gaze sharpened. "They will."

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~Snow’s POV~

The meeting had gone smoother than I expected. Alphas Alexander, Xavier, Zeno, and the others—seasoned leaders I hadn’t stood beside in years—were more than willing to listen once they realized this wasn’t just a skirmish over land or pride.

This was war. Real war.

And the stakes had never been higher.

Zara’s name carried more weight than even she knew. Just the mention of her at the meeting had straightened spines and softened some of the hard lines on grizzled faces.

These weren’t sentimental men. They were pragmatic. And yet, they respected her. They feared her—rightly so.

We had just concluded a strategy draft when Draven began shifting parchments across the wide oak table, marking travel routes and secure passages through neutral zones.

"So if we reposition a strike group here," he was saying, finger trailing along a carved ridge on the map, "we can intercept any movement between the eastern outpost and—"

I rose from my seat quietly, giving him a nod. "One second. Just stretching my legs."

He didn’t even look up. "Sure. But when you’re done, take a look at this valley passage near Northmere. Might be where they’re nesting."

I gave a slight sound of acknowledgement, stepping away as casually as I could manage.

A glass bookshelf was tucked neatly into the corner of Draven’s office, half-hidden behind a large iron lamp.

I hadn’t noticed it before, not in detail. The books were ancient, bound in worn leather, their spines inscribed with runes and titles long forgotten by most of the continent.

Some weren’t even in a tongue I recognised.

I stepped closer, mostly out of habit, letting my fingers hover over the edge of one thick tome. But as I leaned in, the sharp glint of the morning sun off the glass reflected back my face.

And something stopped me cold.

I stared at the reflection.

My right eye was blue—icy, familiar, always steady. But the left? It shimmered with a faint hue of violet.

Purple.

No.

My breath caught in my chest. I blinked rapidly and leaned closer, trying to convince myself it was a trick of the glass or the sunlight or the damned lamp beside me.

But it wasn’t. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t. This wasn’t the first time it was happening. I had seen these colours before when I brushed my teeth the morning before I left home.

I had believed it was just my tiredness, but this... no.

The longer I stared, the colour didn’t change. It didn’t fade.

One blue. One purple.

No. This wasn’t possible. This shouldn’t be possible.

The air suddenly felt thinner, like I’d been pulled underwater without warning. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, the old pulse of instinct roaring beneath my skin.

"Snow," Draven’s voice called from across the room, calmly and focused. "Come take a look at this—you’ll want to see this angle between the border towns. There’s a path here I missed last time."

I turned my head too fast, just enough for the reflection to vanish from view. I steadied my breathing.

Focus. I couldn’t afford to let him see this and start asking questions I did not have answers to.

"Yeah," I said, too quickly. "Give me a minute. I need to use the restroom."

He glanced up, but I was already moving. "Down the hall, second door—" Draven started.

"Got it," I muttered, already halfway through the office doors.

The moment they shut behind me, I walked faster, boots thudding softly against the marble floor. Then I stopped at the nearest side wall and braced my hands against the cold stone, dragging in a sharp breath.

My mind raced, not with fear—but with a thousand calculations at once. What did it mean? Why now? How long had it been like this without me noticing?

I wondered if Zara had ever seen this before and shook my head.

"No. If Zara had done so, she would have notified me. I bet she hadn’t..."

I froze in my thoughts. "Shit."

My mind raced back to the few moments I noticed she froze briefly, just by staring into my eye.

I swallowed, and I stared down at my hands. They weren’t trembling, but they weren’t still either. I closed them into fists and took another breath.

"Did she now?’ I questioned myself a bit loudly this time.

I shook my head. I needed to think. I needed space.

But most of all, I needed to keep this hidden, not from Zara. She would eventually know, but she had to.

But from the others? Yes, not yet. It was not until I understood what was happening to me.