Nora POV
Nora scrubs the floors with enough force to wear through the stone.
She hates him. She has to. It's the only way this makes sense. He captured her. He destroyed her pack. He took her freedom and locked her in this territory and made her serve him like she's nothing.
She hates him.
But then he walks past the kitchen and his hand brushes her shoulder, just barely, and her entire body goes hot and confused and wrong.
It's been three days since the kitchen. Three days since he pulled her close and whispered things that made her feel like she was dissolving from the inside out. She's been avoiding him. Staying in the servant areas. Taking different routes through the compound.
It doesn't matter. She still feels him everywhere.
She catches herself watching his hands during meal service. The way his fingers curl around a cup. The way they're both beautiful and deadly. She watches his mouth when he talks to his warriors. The way it gets softer when he thinks no one is looking. The way his voice drops when they're alone, becomes something intimate and dangerous.
She's disgusting for noticing these things.
Nora throws the scrubbing brush down and stands up too fast. Dizziness hits her and she grabs the counter to steady herself. She hasn't been eating properly. Hasn't been sleeping. The other servants have stopped asking her if she's okay because they don't care. They resent her position. The warriors don't trust her.
She's completely alone in this.
The only person who acknowledges her beyond basic necessity is Iris and that's not really comfort because Iris looks at her with pity and understanding that's almost worse than hatred.
Nora leaves the kitchen and heads to the training yard. She needs to move. Needs to do something physical before her mind destroys itself completely.
Iris is there drilling combat forms. She sees Nora and stops immediately.
"You look like hell," Iris says bluntly.
Nora doesn't answer. She starts running through her own forms, pushing her muscles hard, trying to tire her body out enough that it might let her sleep tonight.
Iris comes and stands in front of her.
"Stop," the warrior says.
Nora doesn't stop. She keeps moving, keeps fighting invisible enemies, keeps trying to remember how to be the girl who planned escape routes and didn't feel anything.
"You're playing with fire," Iris says quietly.
The words make Nora freeze.
"He's obsessed with you," Iris continues. "And obsession is a weakness. The other Alphas are starting to notice. They're starting to see that he's vulnerable because of you."
Nora turns away from her.
"Loving Kade means accepting that you might become his weakness," Iris says to her back. "And weaknesses get exploited in wolf packs. People die because of weaknesses."
The words settle heavy in Nora's chest.
"I'm not loving him," Nora says. But the lie tastes like ash.
Iris actually laughs, short and bitter. "You're terrible at lying. Everyone can see it. The way you look at him when you think no one's watching. The way you respond when he's close. You've fallen completely."
Nora walks away without answering because any answer would be another lie.
That night, she doesn't go to her borrowed room.
Instead, she finds the old bag she packed weeks ago and pulls it from under the floorboards. Her hands are shaking as she opens it. The escape plan is still there. The one she'd started and abandoned when Kade told her he knew about it.
But now she has to actually do it.
She adds more supplies. Warm clothes. A knife she stole from the kitchen. Water pouches. Dried food. Everything a person needs to survive in the wilderness long enough to reach the nearest friendly territory.
She's leaving tonight.
The thought should feel relieving. Instead, it feels like dying.
Nora sits on the bed and tries to convince herself that this is the right decision. If she stays, she's going to lose herself completely. She's going to become someone whose entire existence revolves around an Alpha who destroyed her family. She's going to become dependent on him in ways that will get her killed when someone figures out they can use her against him.
Iris is right. She's become his weakness.
And she's learned enough about wolf packs to know what happens to weaknesses.
There's a knock on her door.
Nora's heart stops. But when she opens it, it's just a young servant girl she vaguely recognizes. The girl looks nervous and keeps glancing over her shoulder.
"The Alpha wants to see you," the girl says quietly. "In his strategy room."
Nora closes her eyes. Of course he does. Maybe he senses that she's planning to leave. Maybe he's going to lock her away permanently. Maybe he's going to do worse.
"Tell him I'll be there," Nora says.
The girl nods and leaves quickly.
Nora looks at the packed bag on her bed. She has maybe twenty minutes before she needs to be in the strategy room. Twenty minutes to decide if she's actually going to run or if she's going to walk into whatever trap is waiting for her.
She makes a decision.
She hides the bag again but keeps the knife with her, tucked into her boot. If Kade is planning something, at least she'll have a fighting chance. If he's not, if he just wants to see her for some normal reason, she can still leave after. She can slip out during the night patrol shift change when the guards are rotating.
She can still escape.
Nora walks through the compound toward the strategy room. Her mind is sharp and cold now. All the emotion is packed away. All the confusion and conflict is locked down. She's a warrior again. She's someone who survives.
The strategy room is empty except for Kade.
He's standing by the map on the wall, studying territory lines. When she enters, he doesn't turn around immediately. He just keeps looking at the map like it's more important than her.
"Cole came to me with concerns," he says finally. His voice is careful and measured. "He says he's noticed something. He says the way I look at you, the way I act around you, is making me weak. He says other Alphas are starting to see the obsession and they're planning to exploit it."
Nora's breath catches.
"What do you think?" Kade asks, finally turning to face her.
She's prepared for anger. For possession. For him to lock her down further.
What she's not prepared for is the look in his silver eyes. It's pain. It's fear. It's the same conflict she's been feeling reflected back at her.
"I think he might be right," Nora says quietly.
Kade nods slowly. "So do I."
He walks toward her and her hand instinctively moves to the knife in her boot. But he doesn't grab her. He stops a few feet away.
"I'm going to send you away," he says.
The words hit like a punch.
"What?" she whispers.
"To the northern settlement," he continues. "You'll stay with a trusted family. You'll be safe there. You'll be away from me so that I can stop being weak. So that other Alphas can't use you against me."
This is what she wanted. This is freedom. This is escape without having to run in the darkness.
But it feels like death.
"No," she says.
Kade's expression hardens. "It's not a choice."
"Then you don't get to call it weakness," Nora says, her voice suddenly fierce. "If you're sending me away, if you're choosing the pack over me, then you're not weak. You're just using me."
"I'm protecting you," Kade says.
"By abandoning me," Nora fires back.
Kade moves and suddenly he's right in front of her. His hand cups her face and his silver eyes are burning.
"Tell me you want to stay," he says. "Tell me you want this. Tell me the truth and I'll keep you here. I'll fight every Alpha that questions my weakness. I'll risk everything. But you have to choose me. Actually choose me. Not run away. Not escape. Actually stay."
Nora stares at him and realizes she's at a crossroads.
Stay and let him destroy himself trying to protect her from the world. Or leave and let him send her away like she was never anything.
She opens her mouth to answer.
Behind Kade, the door bursts open.
Cole stands there with warriors behind him and his expression is completely victorious.
"I found the evidence," Cole says coldly. "About the spy in our pack. About who's been feeding information to Shadow pack. About who's been planning the Alpha's downfall from the beginning."
He points directly at Nora.
"Her," Cole says. "She's been the traitor all along. And now the Alpha will finally see what she is."