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Shadows and daggers

Author: Zophirya
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-20 21:53:47

RAVEN

The first assassination attempt came at dawn.

A cook—someone we'd trusted for months—slipped poison into the Council's breakfast. Only Chen's paranoia saved us. He'd started testing all food after Dimitri's warning.

The cook died fighting rather than be captured. Coalition tattoos hidden under his sleeves.

"How many more?" Alpha Catherine demanded at the emergency meeting. "How many sleeper agents are waiting to kill us?"

"We're vetting everyone." Rodriguez's exhaustion showed. "Every wolf who joined in the last six months. Every refugee we took in. But it's slow work."

"Slow gets us killed." James paced like a caged animal. "We need to act faster. More decisively."

"Meaning what?" I kept my voice level. "Mass interrogations? Torture? Become the tyrants we fought against?"

"I'm saying we need to survive long enough to be tyrants or saints or whatever we decide." He whirled on me. "Your principles are lovely, Raven. But they're worthless if we're all dead."

"My principles are th
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  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   Shadows and daggers

    RAVEN The first assassination attempt came at dawn.A cook—someone we'd trusted for months—slipped poison into the Council's breakfast. Only Chen's paranoia saved us. He'd started testing all food after Dimitri's warning.The cook died fighting rather than be captured. Coalition tattoos hidden under his sleeves."How many more?" Alpha Catherine demanded at the emergency meeting. "How many sleeper agents are waiting to kill us?""We're vetting everyone." Rodriguez's exhaustion showed. "Every wolf who joined in the last six months. Every refugee we took in. But it's slow work.""Slow gets us killed." James paced like a caged animal. "We need to act faster. More decisively.""Meaning what?" I kept my voice level. "Mass interrogations? Torture? Become the tyrants we fought against?""I'm saying we need to survive long enough to be tyrants or saints or whatever we decide." He whirled on me. "Your principles are lovely, Raven. But they're worthless if we're all dead.""My principles are th

  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   New foundations

    RAVEN The new Council chamber was barely more than a reinforced tent, but it held thirty wolves comfortably. Representatives from every surviving reformed pack, plus three coalition wolves who'd proven themselves during reconstruction.Anton sat among them now, no longer a prisoner but a provisional member. Earning trust one day at a time."The financial reports are grim." Rodriguez laid out spreadsheets salvaged from the archives Elise had died protecting. "We spent everything on the war effort. Food supplies will last another month. Medical supplies maybe two weeks. Building materials are nearly gone.""The German packs have offered loans," Maya reported from her position beside me. She'd grown into her role as heir, speaking with confidence I envied. "Klaus says we can repay when we're stable. No interest.""That's generous." Alpha Catherine studied the numbers. "Suspiciously generous. What does he want in return?""Alliance." I met her suspicious gaze. "Klaus believes in what we'

  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   Ashes to Phoenix

    RAVEN The funeral pyres burned through the night. Seventy-eight wolves laid to rest with honor. Seventy-eight families destroyed. Seventy-eight holes that would never fully heal.I stood before Jax's pyre, watching flames consume the body of my mate. Theo and Asher flanked me, silent in their grief. The bond between us felt incomplete now. Wrong. Like missing a limb."He would have hated this." Theo's voice was rough from crying. "All the ceremony. The speeches. He'd want us drinking and telling embarrassing stories.""He'd want us living." Asher's hand found mine. "Not standing here drowning in grief.""Then why does living feel like drowning anyway?" I watched sparks rise toward the winter sky. "Half of me died with him. How do I keep going when half of me is ash?""Because he died so we could." Theo pulled me close. "Because giving up now would make his sacrifice meaningless. Because we're still here, still bonded, still responsible for finishing what we started."Maya approached,

  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   Winter solstice

    RAVEN They came with the sunrise. Four hundred wolves emerging from the forest like a tide of death. Coalition forces in perfect formation, disciplined and deadly. At their center, Soren's massive black wolf radiated ancient power. Our forces stood ready—two hundred fifty wolves spread across defensive positions. Inexperienced. Afraid. But standing. "Hold the line!" I called out, my voice carrying across the clearing. "Remember your training. Remember what we fight for!" Soren shifted to human form, his voice booming across the battlefield. "Last chance, young Supreme. Kneel now. Save your wolves this slaughter." "The only one dying today is tyranny!" I shifted, my black wolf standing tall against the dawn. "Attack!" The coalition charged. The world exploded into chaos. Wolves collided in a fury of claws and fangs. The carefully planned formations dissolved within seconds into brutal individual combat. Blood sprayed across frozen ground. Screams filled the air—both wolf and hu

  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   The night before

    RAVENThe camp was quiet. Too quiet. Wolves sat around small fires, checking weapons, writing letters they hoped wouldn't become final words. The nervous energy of impending battle hung thick in the winter air.I walked through them, offering what comfort I could. A hand on a shoulder. A few words of encouragement. Acknowledgment that fear was natural, even necessary."Supreme." A young wolf—barely sixteen—stopped me. Thomas, I remembered. A refugee from the Montana pack that had fallen. "Can I ask you something?""Of course.""Do you think we'll win tomorrow?" His eyes held desperate hope.I could have lied. Should have, maybe. Given him false certainty to carry into battle.Instead, I told him the truth."I don't know. The odds aren't in our favor. We're outnumbered, outmatched in experience, facing wolves who've been planning this for years." I sat beside him at his fire. "But winning isn't just about survival. It's about proving something. That wolves can choose. Can govern themse

  • Alpha Step Daddy : Four Mates, One heart   Training ground

    RAVEN The training field was chaos. Two hundred wolves attempting coordinated combat drills while speaking six different languages and following completely different tactical traditions."No, no, no!" Marcus shouted at a group of Romanian wolves. "Shield wall formation means you protect each other, not compete for glory!"Across the field, Sara was drilling younger wolves in emergency evacuations. Maya worked with German reinforcements on communication protocols. Rodriguez coordinated supply distribution while Chen managed medical preparations.And I stood in the center of it all, trying to forge an army from refugees and idealists in four days."This is a disaster." Alpha James watched two wolves nearly come to blows over the correct way to execute a flanking maneuver. "We're going to get slaughtered.""Probably." I didn't sugarcoat it. "But we'll go down fighting as a unified force instead of scattered victims. That counts for something.""Does it?" He looked at me. "Really? Becaus

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