MARCUS'S POV
Senator Cresswell's blood was still under my fingernails.
I washed my hands slowly in the Council chambers bathroom and watched red swirl down the drain. The Senator had been useful for a while. Helped me plant evidence against Aria five years ago. Helped me manipulate Council votes.
But he'd gotten greedy. Started demanding more money. More power. More recognition for his role in the conspiracy.
So I eliminated him. Made it look like a heart attack. These things happen to men his age.
I dried my hands carefully and returned to the chambers. Three other Council members waited for me around the strategy table. All carefully selected. All indebted to me in ways they couldn't escape.
"The summit is in two weeks," I said without preamble. "The Rogue Faction will demand recognition. We need to ensure they're denied."
"Public opinion is already turning against them," one member said. "Your information campaign has been effective. Multiple Alphas see the faction as a threat."
"Good. But it's not enough. We need something dramatic. Something that proves beyond doubt that the Rogue Queen is dangerous."
"What did you have in mind?"
I smiled coldly. "An incident during the summit. A carefully staged attack that appears to come from the Rogue Faction. When they're exposed as violent and unstable, the Council will have no choice but to deny recognition and disband them."
"You're talking about framing them."
"I'm talking about revealing what they truly are. Violent rogues who can't be trusted."
The Council members exchanged nervous glances but no one dared question me directly. They knew better. I'd spent twenty years building power through careful manipulation and strategic blackmail. Every person in this room owed me their position.
"What about Kaelen?" another member asked. "He's been unpredictable lately. If he sympathizes with the Rogue Faction, he could undermine our plans."
"Kaelen is a broken Alpha barely holding himself together. His wolf has been unstable for five years. When the crisis comes, he'll default to protecting his pack. That's all he understands anymore."
I'd made sure of it. Destroying his mate bond to Aria had shattered something essential inside him. He'd become exactly what I needed. Powerful but controllable. Loyal but damaged.
Perfect.
"We move forward with the plan," I said. "Everything is already in motion. In two weeks, the Rogue Faction will be eliminated and we'll have complete control of the Council."
The meeting ended. My co-conspirators filed out quietly, each carrying instructions for their role in the upcoming performance.
I stayed behind and poured myself a drink. Twenty years of planning was finally coming together. Twenty years since my son Daniel died on that yacht, burned alive while I listened to him scream on the phone.
The investigation called it an accident. Faulty wiring. Bad luck.
But I knew better.
Someone sabotaged that boat. Someone wanted Daniel dead because he'd discovered financial fraud connecting several powerful families. He was going to expose them. So they killed him.
And one of those families had connections to Richard Vale. Aria's father.
I spent two years investigating before I found proof. Richard worked with the wolves who set that fire. He profited from it. His hands were soaked in my son's blood.
But Richard died before I could make him suffer. Heart attack. Quick and painless.
So I made his daughter pay instead.
Framing Aria was almost too easy. She was young and trusting and completely devoted to Kaelen. She never suspected her perfect mate would choose pack politics over their bond.
Watching her get rejected in front of three hundred wolves was the closest I'd come to happiness since Daniel died.
She was supposed to die in the wilderness. Rejected wolves rarely survived alone. But somehow Aria lived. She survived. And over five years she built something that threatened everything I'd carefully constructed.
The Rogue Faction was my fault. I'd created my own enemy by letting her escape.
But that mistake would be corrected at the summit.
My office door opened. My daughter Sienna walked in carrying files. She looked tired. Her dark hair was pulled back and her expression was carefully neutral.
"Father, I have the reports you requested on summit security."
"Leave them on my desk."
She did, but didn't leave immediately. Just stood there with that worried expression that reminded me painfully of her mother.
"Something on your mind?" I asked.
"I've been hearing rumors about the Rogue Queen. About why she built her faction."
"Rumors are meaningless."
"They say she was wrongly rejected by her mate. That she was framed for something she didn't do."
My blood went cold but I kept my face neutral. "Where did you hear that?"
"Around. People talk. I just thought it was interesting that someone would build such a powerful faction from rejection."
She was fishing for information. Sienna had always been too curious for her own good.
"The Rogue Queen is a threat to regional stability," I said coldly. "Her reasons for building the faction don't matter. What matters is stopping her before she destabilizes everything."
"And if she's innocent? If she was wrongly accused?"
"No one is innocent. Everyone has darkness they're hiding. The question is whether we allow that darkness to threaten what we've built."
Sienna studied my face like she could see through the lies. "You really believe that?"
"I believe in protecting what matters. The Rogue Faction matters because they're a threat. The past is irrelevant."
"Is it? Because you seem very invested in destroying this particular rogue leader."
I stood up slowly and walked around my desk until I was close enough to see the fear flicker in her eyes. "Your engagement to Senator Cresswell's son is in two months. You should focus on that instead of questioning Council business."
"Senator Cresswell is dead. The engagement is cancelled."
The news didn't surprise me since I'd killed him yesterday. But I pretended shock anyway. "What happened?"
"Heart attack. They found him this morning."
"How tragic. I suppose you'll need a new match then."
"I suppose I will." She paused. "Unless I decide not to marry at all. Unless I decide to ask questions instead of following orders blindly."
The threat was clear. Sienna was considering rebellion.
"Your mother would be disappointed to hear you talk like that," I said quietly. "She always wanted you to marry well. To have a good life."
"My mother died five years ago. I think she'd want me to find the truth more than she'd want me married to some politician's son."
"The truth is dangerous, Sienna. Sometimes protecting yourself means accepting the story you're given."
"And sometimes it means digging deeper." She met my eyes with rare courage. "I've been looking through old files. Reading about the trial five years ago. About the wolf who was rejected and cast out."
My heart stopped. "Why would you do that?"
"Because something about it felt wrong. The evidence was too perfect. The witnesses too rehearsed. I wanted to understand what really happened."
"What happened is that a traitor was exposed and punished. That's all you need to know."
"Was she though? Was she really a traitor? Or was she just convenient?"
I moved fast. Grabbed Sienna's arm hard enough to bruise. She gasped but didn't pull away.
"Listen carefully," I said quietly. "You're my daughter and I love you. But if you keep digging into things that don't concern you, you'll discover that love only protects you so far. Drop this investigation. Focus on your future. And stop asking questions about the past."
I released her and she stumbled back slightly. Fear and anger warred in her expression.
"You're threatening me," she whispered.
"I'm protecting you. There's a difference."
"No. There isn't. Not anymore."
She left quickly. The door slammed behind her with more force than necessary.
I stood alone in my office feeling rage build in my chest. Sienna was becoming a problem. If she kept digging, she might uncover things I couldn't afford revealed.
My phone buzzed. Unknown number. I answered carefully.
"Sir, we have confirmation. The Rogue Queen is bringing thirty warriors to the summit. All trained fighters. All loyal to her specifically."
"Good. That makes the plan easier. When the staged attack comes, we'll ensure some of her wolves are implicated. The evidence will be undeniable."
"And if things go wrong?"
"Things won't go wrong. I've been planning this for five years. Every detail is accounted for."
I ended the call and looked out the window at Moonstone territory. In two weeks, this place would host the summit. Aria would walk in demanding recognition. And I would destroy her completely.
Just like I'd destroyed her five years ago.
Because Daniel's death still needed avenging. And Aria Vale carried her father's blood.
That was enough.
The ghost of my son watched from every shadow. Judging. Waiting. Demanding justice.
I would give him justice even if it meant burning the entire Council to the ground.
Sienna thought she could dig up the truth. She had no idea how deep my lies went. How carefully I'd buried every piece of evidence.
But if she became too much of a problem, I'd handle her the same way I handled Senator Cresswell.
Family or not, no one threatened what I'd built.
The summit would be perfect. Aria would be exposed. Kaelen would be forced to choose his pack over any lingering feelings.
And I would finally have the revenge I'd been waiting five years to claim.