Chapter 76

Dante’s POV

“A kid at the north gate tipped me off. Said the trackers went east. Saw the rearguard peel off, but he got that part backwards.” Her jaw worked so hard I half-expected a molar to shoot across the room. “Somebody told them to do it.”

So, not just your average idiots with knives, then. Felt too clean. “We’re not dealing with random bandits,” I muttered, low. “Someone’s calling the shots.”

She nodded, but for once she didn’t bother hiding behind her usual tough-girl mask. Eyes met mine, real, raw. “I spotted Mira skulking around before the meeting. She had a guy with her, whom I had never seen re. He slipped out before I could catch a name. Mira was acting like the queen of the damn place. Laughing too loud. Dante...”

“Yeah, I clocked it.” My palms were flat on the table, the map spread out like a bad omen. I was this close to telling her I had noticed it too, the tracks by the burned-out storehouse, way too neat for a bunch of drunks. Precise, like somebody paid top coin for subtlety. I’d already nudged an old friend, the kind who could listen without getting noticed. But I just leaned in, kept my voice quiet.

“We need to catch her in the act,” she hissed, digging little crescent moons into the map with her nails. “If she’s paying off rogues, or worse, if she’s got another Alpha in her pocket...”

“If we botch this, she’ll twist it on us,” I cut her off, maybe sharper than I meant. “Remember what happened last time someone whispered sweet poison in Dominic’s ear? You go after Mira and he’ll see it as a grab for his crown. Still loves her, that idiot. After everything. You know he’ll see betrayal, even if you’re just trying to save his ass.”

For half a second, Elora’s breath hitched. Saw the Luna in her, whole pack on her back, but also just a woman, crumbling at the edges. She spun around on me, voice shaking but cutting clean. “He almost died, Dante. You think I’m gonna let the bastard who did it just waltz away? Should I let Dominic rot because I’m scared of pissing off the wrong people?”

“You don’t actually want advice,” I said, probably too blunt. “You want backup, no questions.”

She closed her eyes, just for a beat. “I’m not asking you to pick a side. Just… stand with me.”

I should have told her no. I should have said the pack is bigger than both of us, that when bonds snap, the whole house shakes apart. But after months in that cell, tasting rust and freezing every night, revenge wasn’t my top priority. I just wanted to keep the good ones safe from all the crawling snakes.

“You’ve got me,” I finally said. “But we do this my way.”

She looked at me, eyes all tangled up, hope and dread at the same time. Like a kid who broke the only thing that mattered. “How?”

“Proof. We box her in.” I scrubbed my face with my hands. “We dig up evidence she can’t wriggle away from. Letters, witnesses, money changing hands. Not just burnt wagons and footprints in the mud. Real, heavy stuff. When we move, we make sure Dominic doesn’t go swinging and knock the wrong head off.”

Elora nodded, quickly. “I found something.”

She shoved a scrap of parchment across the table. My fingers hovered like it was a coiled snake. The handwriting was all curly, like someone trying too hard to look innocent. Names, lists, something about a ‘gift’ for a guy by the south crossing. Two lines circled, foxbane root, midnight drop-off.

My gut twisted. Foxbane. Not exactly seasoning for your stew, you know?

“Where did you find this?” My voice was rough.

“Hidden pocket in Dominic’s chest. I hoped it was nothing, but… There it was.”

“We keep this quiet,” I said, tucking the letter into my folio and sliding it under my shirt. Almost laughed, a hard, ugly sound. Danger’s the only thing that sharpens me up these days. “No one else gets a look. Just us. Maybe one more.”

Her eyes snapped up, all blade. “Who?”

The gate kid. Loyal as a puppy, sharp as a sack of wet socks. He’ll do, stick him someplace quiet, let him eavesdrop, nobody’ll notice. Messenger shows? We pounce. Luka’s at Mira’s place, he won’t miss a thing.

Elora just made this sound, kind of half-laugh, half like she was about to cry. “You’d seriously go that far?”

“For the pack.” Almost blurted out for you, but, nah, that’d screw her up way worse. She didn’t need that mess. So I laid it out, barebones, stay low, let them snoop, rack up real dirt. I wanted the council to see the truth before some slick talker spun it into fairy tales. “We get her with facts, not rumors. If the council chickens out, we dump the proof in Dominic’s lap, he can’t pretend it away, not even if he wants to.”

She looked...tiny, like a kid hiding under the stairs, but also huge, like she could eat the world. Torchlight did weird things, made her face look half alive, half ghost. “If this blows back on him… will you...?”

“If he gets burned because we jumped the gun,” I muttered, voice soft but sharp as broken glass, “it’s on us. Whatever it costs, we pay. But I’m not letting one drama queen torch everything just ‘cause she hates being background noise.”

She whispered, “Don’t cover for me. Just… don’t leave me alone in this.”

I reached for her, just real quick, palm to wrist, soldier habit. Said more than words ever could... I got you. You’re not on your own.

After that, when the patrols shuffled off and the crew was fixing busted wagons, I took a lap by myself. Night felt heavy, like walking through stew. Trees everywhere, pressing in, like they were leaning close to catch every thought. Being angry? That’s easy. Prepping for a fight full of secrets and bribes, no swords in sight? Way more rotten.

Mira kept rattling around my head, how someone could smile sweetly, hide a knife, and ruin everything without blinking. The whole pack, teetering, not because of some war plan, but because one mate got restless and a bunch of old men started sweating bullets. Dominic was hanging on by a thread, and if we blew this, he’d fall to pieces.

So we’d take it slow. Wait for the perfect shot. Get the dirt, lock it down so tight the council couldn’t wriggle free. And when it finally blew up, because it would, we’d make every blow count.

I yanked my cloak tighter, let the wind smack me awake. The rogues would show, rivals would circle, all of them waiting for a slip. And under all that, something nastier was spreading, a greed that’d already eaten Mira alive, and wasn’t about to stop ‘til it chewed up the rest of us too.