Chapter 52

Elora’s POV

I was still clutching the shredded pieces of those forged letters...a real mess. Dominic’s stubborn denial just kept banging around my skull, refusing to leave.

Fine. If he wouldn’t listen, I would make him see. Somehow.

I couldn’t just go storming in, throwing dirt at Mira with nothing but a hunch. The guy was basically worshipping the ground she walked on. And running my mouth wouldn’t change anything. So… evidence. I would find it. Pick apart Mira’s little crew of liars and backstabbers, drag the whole cowardly lot into daylight. Maybe then Dominic would wake up.

I yanked my cloak tighter. The servant corridor was darker, stinking of soap and old sweat. Mira thought she was clever...sure, she was. But nobody schemes alone. There’s always at least one idiot in the secret.

Step one, Maren. Mira’s handmaiden, the one who stuck to her side like glue. I had seen her at weird hours, sneaking and mumbling to herself.

Found her by the laundry house. She was folding bedsheets in the torchlight, all nervous hands. When she clocked me, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Luna,” she stammered, bobbing down so low she dropped a sheet.

“Cut it out,” I snapped. My voice came out colder than the wind. “Just talk.”

She looked around like maybe someone would swoop in and save her. “I…I don’t know what you mean.”

Was she kidding? I stepped in close, let a bit of wolf snarl leak into my voice. “Spare me. You moved letters, right? With Dante’s name forged on them.”

For a second, I thought she might faint. “I...only did what Lady Mira told me,” she whispered, like maybe I’d go easy on her if she acted innocent.

I grabbed her chin, forced her eyes up. “You read them?”

She sagged. “Some. They were fake but Lady Mira said the pack needed it. She said the Alpha had to see the truth about Dante.”

My stomach twisted at that. Kept my face blank though. “Who else helped?”

Maren’s mouth trembled. “A scribe from the council…someone with the border guards. I don’t know their names. Don’t, please, Luna, don’t hurt me. I just did what I was told.”

I let her go, even though my hand wanted to slap her. “You’ve already screwed yourself, Maren. Best keep your mouth shut until I need you. Get it?”

She nodded, eyes wide. “Yes, Luna.”

I turned on my heel. My head spun with what to do next. If I could catch this scribe, connect Mira to him, I’d have more than rumors. Something real. Something undeniable.

But every step felt heavier than the last. Dominic had already shot me down once, and if I screwed it up again? Might not just lose his trust. Might lose everything.

Still, quitting wasn’t in me. Not while Dante rotted downstairs for a crime Mira cooked up and everyone else turned a blind eye to.

By the time I snuck out of the servants’ wing, the whole palace sank into midnight. Torches guttered in the corridors, shadows stalking after me along the flagstones.

Should I have been scared? Yeah, probably. Instead, I was straight-up blazing inside. Fear didn’t stand a chance.

Maren tossed me a hint, and you’d better believe I was gonna chase it wherever it led.

Back in my room, I dumped the pilfered letters all over my desk, full of crime scenes, lining up handwriting, scribbling circles around awkward little slip-ups. My wolf was a low, rumbling bass in my bones, especially when I ran my finger over lopsided seals. Seriously? Amateur hour. Whoever Mira paid off apparently hadn’t heard of subtlety.

I sagged onto the chair, every muscle giving up, but deep underneath, something fierce burned hotter.

Dominic could brush me off, yeah. Cut me loose, toss out those ugly accusations. But once I slammed him with real proof? No more room for doubt.

He’d have to finally look. Finally see the real problem wasn’t me, or Dante, for that matter.

It was Mira. When wasn’t it Mira?

And if Dominic still decided to play dumb…

I exhaled, shaky and furious. Well, then he wouldn’t get a choice anymore. I would make it for him.

DANTE'S POV

These dungeons sucked. Stone walls dripping gross water, iron chains grinding my wrists raw. My wolf wanted to tear something apart. Pity all I had to rage at was old rocks.

Closed my eyes and went hunting for the bond...Elora flared bright in the dark, all focus and pushy energy.

She’s doing something.

Could practically taste it, she had made up her mind. Not for love, not yet, but she was on some kind of warpath, and this stank of Mira.

A crooked grin pulled at my lips. “Stubborn, stubborn woman,” I muttered, so low only the rats could hear. Even locked up like a damn criminal, her strength warmed something in my chest. Pride or fear, maybe both.

But Elora’s not the only wicked one in this game. Mira’s dangerous, she’s lived and breathed lies, probably thinks she invented the stuff. If she caught wind of Elora poking around, she’d bite.

And Dominic. Moon above, that fool. Head stuck in the sand, too jealous to see he’s being played. Mira could raze the whole pack with him smiling dumbly by her side.

Slumped back, chains clanking. “Don’t be stupid, Elora,” I whispered, voice gone rough. “Don’t give Mira a reason to chew you up too.”

But the bond pulsed, fierce as ever. She wasn’t pulling back, not for anything.

And maybe I should have begged her to bolt and leave it all burning behind, but part of me loved it. That was my mate right there, stubborn as hell, zero chill, absolutely refusing to back down. She was a menace, and I was half in love with her because of it.

Meanwhile, my wolf wouldn’t let up, pacing back and forth in my head, nerves sparking. My gut kept shrieking, Mira's shadow was stretching, dark and ugly, and Elora? She was waltzing straight into the monster's maw like she didn't even care.

And me? Well, I stood useless as a paper sword, locked up and forced to watch from somewhere I couldn’t even breathe.

My hands balled into fists so tight my nails bit deep. If anything got to her before I could fix it, before I could rip Mira’s web apart, this cell would be my mausoleum.