Bram;

I stare at the mirror for a long time before I smile.

It’s still strange, seeing her face move when I move. Seeing Alana blink back at me.

Soft eyes, gentle mouth... That careful tilt of the head that makes people underestimate her.

...Underestimate me.

I lift a hand and brush my thumb beneath my eye, slow, deliberate. The reflection copies me perfectly. The illusion is the strongest thing I’ve ever seen.

One wouldn’t expect less from a monster like Avaren.

My smile melts into a smirk as I slowly wrap my arms around myself.

Koda’s arms were warm.

That’s the thought that lingers longest, curling in my chest like a satisfied cat.

It’s not that I care about his touch. Fuck, no. I don’t care about that.

What matters is the way I felt his aura shift. The way I felt the moment something inside him gave way.

The doubt. The instinct I’ve noticed Alphas pride themselves on so dearly. I felt it bend under the weight of a single, well-placed act of heroism.

A drowning child, a selfless leap... A trembling collapse into his arms.

It almost makes me laugh.

Koda is a smart man, but the goodness of his heart is a weakness I am grateful for discovering.

I press my palms against the wall and lean closer to the mirror.

"Poor Koda," I whisper, with Alana’s lips shaping the words so sweetly.

"You really do want to believe people are good," I add with a small chuckle.

That’s always been his weakness.

He thinks goodness announces itself loudly. That evil snarls, bares teeth, makes itself obvious. He doesn’t understand that the most dangerous creatures learn to kneel first.

Rhydian understands. I taught the fucker that lesson.

That’s the problem.

I straighten, smoothing my hair, and watching the way my expression settles back into something soft... compliant. Something harmless.

My heart thuds with sharp irritation as my mind settles on him.

Rhydian watches like a predator now. Not the loud kind. The patient kind. The kind that doesn’t chase prey, but waits for it to make a mistake. That pisses me the fuck off.

And Alpha Liandria!?

I click my tongue in annoyance.

The bitch was meant to die from the poison. How the fuck did she survive!??

She’s smarter than I gave her credit for.

I felt her eyes on me today. I felt the way her aura pressed against my skin like a warning.

She didn’t confront me openly. But I know she will.

Wolves like her circle first. Test. Sniff for rot...

She knows something is wrong. Heck, she might even already know the truth.

But is she powerful enough to see through Avaren’s magic??

Ugh! Those are all unimportant bits of bad news. I should focus on Koda.

My Trump card.

He just chose me.

I saw it in the way his spine straightened when he carried me. In the way his voice sharpened when he spoke to Liandria.

That’s all I needed.

I turn away from the mirror and pace back and forth in the small hut.

The reason I’m here is very simple.

Gravemaw is a crossroad.

Everything worth breaking passes through here.

Koda is a beloved Alpha. A symbol. A steady hand holding the reins while King Wilhelm is away licking his wounds and tending to his fragile peace elsewhere.

And right now, the only thing that will pull him back within reach is hurting Koda.

Hurting Koda isn’t about cruelty. It’s about...gravity. Strategy.

The kind of loss that pulls kings back to their thrones whether they want to return or not.

If Koda falls... If Koda bleeds...

If Koda is broken badly enough that Gravemaw trembles—

King Wilhelm will come home.

The warlocks can not attack him at the capital because for some reason there’s a powerful and untraceable ward keeping the capital safe.

So, we must lure him back.

And when he returns... when they all return, I’ll be waiting.

Waiting to meet that little shit again.

Rhydian, of course, complicates things.

He’s already too close. Already sniffing at my heels. The resemblance he feels isn’t a coincidence. It’s memory. Trauma.

The kind that never lets go of the scent of the hand that birthed it.

He feels me because I made him feel dumb once.

People like him never forget that.

Which means I can’t simply remove him. Not yet. That would be sloppy. Obvious.

No.

Rhydian needs to be wrong.

He needs to doubt himself. To second-guess that newly sharpened instinct of his until it dulls again. Until he looks at me and wonders if his hatred has finally rotted his judgment.

And Alpha Liandria?

I smile again at the mirror, slow and thin.

She thinks she’s hunting me.

She doesn’t realise she’s already in my trap.

I reach for the small pouch tucked beneath the loose fabric of my dress and roll one of the nuts between my fingers, feeling its familiar weight.

Addiction is a language the body never forgets.

She noticed that. I saw it in her eyes the night she and Rhydian were stalking me.

Okay then.

Let her notice. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Let her collect pieces that don’t quite fit. Let her feel clever and confident.

The more certain she becomes that she’s uncovered me, the easier it will be to turn the board.

Because when the time comes, I won’t strike from the shadows.

I’ll strike from trust.

I picture Koda’s face again. The way his grip tightened when he defended me. The way his voice carried quiet authority when he warned Liandria away.

He won’t see it coming.

That’s the beauty of it.

I’ll let him keep believing.

I’ll let him invite me closer.

Let him speak to me gently. Let him convince himself that the woman who saved a child couldn’t possibly be capable of orchestrating a kingdom’s collapse.

When I hurt him, it won’t be with claws or blades.

It’ll be with betrayal.

The kind that leaves scars no healer can touch.

I stop pacing and glance back at the mirror one last time.

Alana’s face looks back at me.

Kind. Loyal. Earnest.

A perfect lie.

"I’m almost done," I whisper to her reflection, to myself... to the echo of the man I used to be.

"Just a little longer," I add.

Let Rhydian watch.

Let Liandria circle.

Let Koda believe.

When King Wilhelm returns...

I’ll make sure the welcome home is unforgettable