Elis
Douglas stepped into my war room, silent as a shadow. I didn't need to ask, the look on his face told me everything. Jose was moving again.
"He's heading toward the eastern wall," Douglas said, lowering his voice even though we were alone. "We caught wind of him passing a strange message to a rogue. One we haven't seen before."
I leaned over the map stretched across the oak table, fingers tracing the contour of the palace's outer barrier. "A distraction?" I murmured, already seeing the pieces shift in my mind.
Douglas gave a tight nod. "Likely. Our spy followed him into the forest last night. He wasn't alone. Spoke with someone cloaked in shadows. Too far to hear much, but… the air around them shimmered. Not witch-magic. Something darker."
I exhaled slowly. "So he's not just a traitor. He's working for someone." We had suspected as much. Jose had been growing restless. His loyalty was brittle and forced. I've noticed, the longer Lily remained in the palace, the more his temper cracked. And it wasn't just jealousy of her closeness to me, I could feel his fear. But fear of what?
I glanced at the eastern quadrant. "Tonight, double the patrols around the main gates. Don't fall for whatever trap he's setting. If he thinks he'll bite, let him."
Douglas's eyes glittered with anticipation. "You want him to come in?"
I gave a sharp nod. "Let him feel like his plan is working. If he slips in, we follow. No alarms. I want to know what he's after. Who he's meeting. And why the hell his Dark Lord seems to have spared Lily in every attack."
The last part clawed at me. I couldn't even understand it. Every battle, every sabotage attempt, every damn curse or brute-force breach, we'd all been targets. My warriors had died, my walls had bled. But Lily? Not once had a blade been raised to her.
Jose had seen it too. That's why he was spiraling. He didn't understand what made her so important. Neither did I. But I wasn't going to wait for answers to fall into my lap. I was going to drag them out of whatever hole they were hiding in.
"Keep Lily inside tonight," I said, stepping away from the map. "Tell her it's for safety. She doesn't need to know we're springing a trap."
Douglas gave a curt bow. "Yes, Alpha."
As he turned to leave, I caught sight of the moonlight slipping through the narrow window. A hunter's moon. Fitting. Because tonight, Jose would finally show his hand. And I'd be waiting.
***
I sat alone in my private chamber, the flickering candlelight casting restless shadows across the stone walls. My jaw clenched. Hands balled into fists. There was no reason for this tension coiling inside me…no threats, no alarms. Every security measure had been doubled since my private meeting with Douglas. Everything was in place.
And yet… I couldn't breathe. Lily. Her name pulsed in my chest like a second heartbeat. That pull I had felt from the moment we met. It haunted me in silence, stirred my wolf to unease whenever she was near, and made my mind ache when she was away.
I pressed a hand against my chest, as if I could calm the storm inside, but it only churned harder. Then it happened. Like a thread snapping taut between us, I felt her. And somehow, I knew, so did she. She looked up. I didn't need to be near her to know. I felt her stillness, her wide eyes scanning the space around her… searching for something. For me. My breath caught.
We were yards apart, stone and duty between us. But in that single moment, without a word, we were together. Reaching for each other through something deeper than bond, stronger than magic. And I knew…Something was coming.
Lily's pov
The wind whispered something restless and urgent to me. I stood alone in the moonlit garden, my fingers brushing over the petals of my herbs. Their softness grounded me for a second, but my mind wasn't truly here. Not tonight. Not with the strange pull tightening in my chest.
Something was coming. I didn't know how or why, but I could feel it. Like an invisible thread winding around me, tugging at something buried deep in my spirit. Drawing me toward… something. Or someone. I swallowed hard and lifted my face to the wind.
It wasn't just the breeze tonight. It carried voices; ancient, wordless warnings. They curled around my skin, dancing through my hair, whispering truths I didn't yet understand. But I felt them. In my bones and in my blood. Danger.
Douglas had come earlier, his expression tight with concern. He told me to remain indoors, and said there were new safety protocols being enforced around the palace grounds. That everything was being monitored. Secured and watched.,But it wasn't enough to keep the unease at bay.
Because my instincts; those strange, sharpened senses that had only grown stronger since Elis touched my soul were screaming. Not in fear. In alert. Something dark was moving beyond the palace gates, something unseen, but not unfelt.
I wrapped my arms around myself, more to steady my thoughts than to keep warm. The herbs trembled at my feet, as though even they sensed it. The wind shifted again. And this time, I didn't just feel watched. I felt hunted.