The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 260

Gift 1-1

Back in the Royal Palace, Iva felt like she was drowning

The past days had been a blur of activity-nonstop, relentless, utterly consuming. She moved from one obligation to the next without pause, without breath, without a moment to simply be.

The ceremony was tomorrow.

And she was not ready.

Protocol lessons that stretched for hours, drilling her on how to walk, how to speak, how to curtsy to visiting dignitaries. Dress fittings that left her standing on a platform for what felt like days while seamstresses pinned and prodded and debated the cut of her gown. Makeup trials that painted her face into something she barely recognized. Hair that was curled, pinned, sprayed, and re-curled until her scalp ached.

And the guest list.

Oh… the Guest List!

Pages and pages of names. Alphas and Lunas and their heirs. Ambassadors from allied packs. Dignitaries who had somehow been invited. Iva had spent hours reviewing the list, trying to memorize faces and titles and the intricate web of alliances that connected them all.

She had barely seen Caleb.

He arrived in their room late at night, long after she had collapsed into exhausted sleep. And when she woke in the morning, he was already gone-called away by meetings and duties and the endless demands of being the crown prince.

It was insane.

Everything was insane.

The king and queen were warm, accommodating, eager to make her feel welcome. But their kindness did not ease the pressure. The weight of what was happening pressed down on her from all sides.

After tomorrow, everyone in the kingdom and beyond would know her name.

She would become the Crown Princess.

She would become part of the Adama family.

A shiver crossed her back.

۴

All the alphas would be present for the event. Every pack leader, every powerful wolf, every figure of importance in the supernatural world. And among them-she knew-would be her former Alpha and Luna.

The thought made her stomach churn.

She had no reason to fear them anymore. She was protected. Powerful. Mated to the future Lycan King himself. They could not touch her, could not hurt her, could not even look at her without consequence.

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< Gift 1

But still.

Something inside her made her uneasy.

Caleb had asked if she wanted to exclude them from the guest list. She had said no.

Not because she was brave.

Because excluding them would attract attention. It would raise questions. It would cause drama she didn’t have the energy to handle.

And more than that-her mother was still in that pack. Lori’s parents too-the godsent angels who had taken her in when she was down, who had fed her and sheltered her and given her love and respect.

Claim

Lori was still part of the pack. And with the Alpha’s current maneuvers in the background, the last thing Iva wanted was to rattle the snake without reason.

It wasn’t about fear for herself.

She was well protected now.

It was about the good people who could still suffer through association.

Iva squealed when Lori arrived.

Her best friend. Her biggest supporter. The one person in the world who had never asked her for anything, who had loved her without conditions, who had been there through every high and low.

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