Ficool

Chapter 9 - Chapter Nine

Raelyn didn't stop talking as we walked, her words bouncing off the stone of the corridor. I nodded along, not really absorbing much. My focus was stretched thin, caught between the weight of what was ahead and the ghosts I'd left behind.

Back in my father's stronghold, I wasn't allowed at the main table. Dinner with my siblings was off-limits. Predators didn't dine with prey, not unless they were sharpening their teeth. I'd grown used to the chaos of the servants' hall, used to laughter too loud, elbows too sharp, and stories told over clattering dishes. Whatever this was going to be felt like stepping onto a battlefield blindfolded.

Raelyn stopped us outside a pair of massive oak doors, her expression tightening. "All right. Here's what you need to know."

I braced myself.

"We'll be eating dinner with my brother's four generals. They're the heads of the Knights of Lenerum. Along with Garth, they're the only other Lycans who know exactly who and what you are."

"Right. The kingdom's best-kept secret." My voice was edging into sarcastic as I lifted a brow.

She smirked but kept going. "They're our pack. Sons of our mother's siblings. Callum's the curious one. He'll talk your ear off, so be prepared. Tristan is the spymaster. You'll be working closely with him and Tomas during training."

"Callum and Tristan. Got it." I locked the names into place. "Who are the other two?"

"You've technically met William already. He was with Tomas when they came for you."

I sifted through the haze of pain and confusion from that night. There were voices in the wagon. Faces I couldn't remember because my eyes had been swollen shut. I nodded anyway.

"Last is Derek. He's not your biggest fan. He thought Tomas's idea was reckless from the start. He's more the stab-first-and-don't-bother-with-questions type. He'll push you, try to get under your skin. Don't let him."

"Charming. So that's Callum, Tristan, William, and Derek. Plus your highness and the ever-looming King of Lycans. Can't wait."

Raelyn squeezed my arm, hard enough to ground me. "This is going to feel like an interrogation, not a meal. But I like your spirit, Cassidy No-Clan. Don't let them break it. You've overcome more than most to be here, even if it's as a mildly unwilling tool. Carve your place, and make sure no one can take it from you."

The sincerity in her voice threw me. "Why are you helping me?" I asked.

"I want you to survive." She sighed, giving herself a gentle shake. "The Lord Alphas are getting bold. If they move against my brother, they'll throw prey shifters at the front lines like they always do. I had a friend once. A maid." 

She paused a moment when she caught my expression. "Don't look at me like that, Cassidy. Just because the predator shifters in your little backwoods village cling to their hierarchy, doesn't mean everyone else does. We are Lycans. We are the top of the food-chain here. Everyone is prey to us. Your hierarchy isn't ours. Friends are friends, no matter their shift."

Something small and broken healed in that moment. 

"Lila was quiet. Kind." Raelyn carried on as if she hadn't just sealed up a crack in my heart. "She left to care for her mother and ended up beaten to death because she asked her Alpha for healers. That's the world they want."

I exhaled, shoulders slumping. "There are too many stories like that."

"Exactly." Her voice was flat. "Which is why we're walking into this dinner, and you're going to own your space. Now come on. The food is worth the bruising."

She flung the doors wide with the confidence of someone who belonged. I didn't. But I followed anyway.

The dining hall was all polished wood and glittering glass, with one entire wall opening to a dark verandah. I couldn't see anything past the reflection of candlelight, but it still felt like something was watching.

At the far end of the massive table, five men were bunched together, deep in conversation. Judging by the way they all stopped mid-sentence to stare at me, I was the topic of the hour.

The King sat at the head, looking bored out of his mind, though his eyes flicked to me the moment I stepped inside. Gods, he was maddening. The way his tunic pulled across his chest, the slight curl of his hair falling over one eyebrow. The effect he had on me was almost rude in the way it battered against my defences. 

Raelyn dropped into the seat beside him, nodding toward the empty chair next to her. I made my way over, spine straight and expression blank. I wasn't prey anymore. Whatever space I carved for myself, it wouldn't be by cowering away.

Five pairs of eyes tracked my every step.

"So, she knows how to tell time." Tomas eyed me, voice light but his gaze sharp enough to cut.

I bowed my head slightly, choosing silence over the first hundred responses that burned on my tongue.

"She's a slip of a thing, isn't she?" The voice came from the left. I looked up to find curious green eyes studying me. He smiled, too many teeth and plenty of mischief. "Pleasure to meet you, shifter."

"Wouldn't say it's a pleasure." That voice was sharper, colder, definitely judgey. Derek, I guessed. His gaze was narrow, dark brows winged low over eyes that held nothing but skepticism. "She's trouble. This entire plan is. Tomas, surely even you can see that."

The King didn't even blink. "What's done is done. Cassidy is in my employ. She'll be treated accordingly."

A flush of gratitude bloomed in my chest. Until he continued. "Unless she fails me. Then we'll let her people finish the job they started."

The words hit like ice water, and my spine stiffened. I looked to Raelyn. She gave the barest shake of her head.

But obedience had never been my strong suit.

"Wouldn't it have been easier, Your Majesty, to leave me bleeding outside Serrat?" I kept my voice steady as I gestured toward Derek. "Your general here seems to think so."

"You're not wrong, Fox." Derek said with an easy shrug. "Far simpler to silence dissenters than bring a mongrel in to slit throats in the dark."

I smiled, all sweetness and venom. "Careful, Lycan Lord. In the dark, men tend to look the same. I'd hate to confuse your pretty throat for someone else's."

More Chapters