I won't come out alive

Kayden's POV 

“Do you know what you’re asking me to do?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them, thick with disbelief.

He turned slowly, a predator amused by its prey’s squeak. “Yes, I do. Do I look dumb to you?” His smile was a thin, cruel slash. "You’ve been on more dangerous missions—”

“No!” I snapped, “Not like this, and you know it.”

“What makes this any different?” he asked.

“You’re asking me to assassinate the Alpha Queen, goddammit!” I yelled, 

"Watch your tone with me boy!"

I took in several breaths to calm myself down. This was an impossible mission. The queen is known far and wide for her ruthlessness. In fact, she's heartless! I am a trained assassin but I know when and where to draw the curtain and this was one of those moments. The few who had dared to take the job did not live to tell the story.

“I won’t do it,” I said, the words final. I crossed my arms, bracing for the storm.

“You won’t?” Silas’s voice dropped to a whisper, more terrifying than any shout. 

He rose from his chair and began to walk towards me. He closed the space between us.

“I wonder,” he mused, circling me like a vulture, “what would become of you if the Alpha Queen were to discover that the one responsible for slaughtering her entire family… was standing right here in this very room.”

The breath left my lungs. Ice flooded my veins. "Are you threatening me?"

"Maybe? Maybe not!"

“I was a child,” I choked out, “And I was acting on your orders.”

“Does it matter?” he hissed, his face inches from mine. “The truth is a weapon, boy. And the truth is, you handed that poison to the kitchen staff. Your fingerprints are all over that night. As long as that truth exists, you are a dead man. If she ever finds out.”

He let the implication hang in the air, suffocating me.

“And if I attempt to kill her, I’ll be a dead man anyway!” I argued, desperation seeping into my voice.

“Precisely.” Silas spread his hands as if it were the simplest equation in the world. “The outcome is the same. So why not take the chance? Why not die trying to secure your freedom, instead of waiting for her to inevitably uncover your secret and execute you in her dungeons?”

My shoulders slumped. There was no point fighting him. I sighed, a sound of utter defeat. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

“There’s my boy,” Silas said, his tone shifting to false warmth. He clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have a full-proof plan. The others went in like bulls, all brute force and no finesse. We will use a woman’s greatest weakness.” He leaned in, his breath a foul whisper. “Love. You will seduce her. You will make the heartless queen fall in love with you. And once she is utterly, completely yours… you will end her.”

The plan was as audacious as it was insane. “How?” I asked, numb. “How am I supposed to get close enough to even try?”

A wicked grin spread across his face. “As we speak, she is on her way to an abandoned warehouse in the docks. A little bird told her I would be there. She will not find me. She will find you.”

The sheer arrogance of it was breathtaking. He was using her hunt for him as the stage for my introduction.

Without another word, I turned and walked out. The door clicked shut behind me, muffling his world of manipulation. I slid into the driver's seat of my car, my hands gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

Seduce the Alpha Queen. The most dangerous creature walking the earth. The architect of my own personal hell.

An idea, dark and desperate, began to form. It was a gamble, but it was the only card I had to play.

I parked a few blocks from the designated warehouse, my heart hammering against my ribs. Taking a deep breath, I made a fist and slammed it into my own face. The pain was sharp and blinding. I did it again. And again. I grabbed a tire iron from the trunk and used the blunt end to bruise my ribs, my arms, opening a gash on my forehead that bled freely. I had to look like a victim. I had to be pathetic enough to trigger a sliver of something in her—curiosity, if not mercy.

Staggering into the warehouse, I collapsed onto the cold concrete, the coppery scent of my own blood filling my nostrils. I arranged my limbs into a posture of utter defeat and waited.

The roar of engines announced her arrival. Doors slammed, and footsteps echoed with military precision. Then, she was there.

The Alpha Queen.

She was more stunning than any tabloid photo could capture. Dressed in a tailored black suit that screamed power, her face was a mask of cold, beautiful fury. Her eyes, like chips of amber ice, scanned the empty space. Seeing no one but a broken, bleeding man, her lips curled in disgust. She turned to leave, the dismissal absolute.

This was it. Failure before it even began.

Acting on pure instinct, I reached out a trembling, bloodied hand and grabbed the ankle of her pristine leather boot. The leather was soft and shockingly expensive against my skin.

“Please…” I rasped, pouring every ounce of broken weakness I could fake into that one word.

She went perfectly still. Then, she slowly, deliberately, bent down. Her face came inches from mine. I expected pity, concern, maybe even kindness. But all I saw was pure, unadulterated hate and irritation. It was like staring into the eyes of a blizzard. My heart sank. I said a silent prayer, waiting for her to end me.

But then she paused. Her nostrils flared subtly. She leaned in closer, sniffing the air around me. A deep, primal confusion flickered in her eyes, followed by a dawning, terrifying recognition.

Her gaze snapped back to mine, sharp and lethal.

“I smell him on you,” she whispered, her voice low and deadly as a snake’s hiss.

A cold terror, far colder than any I had felt with Silas, seized me. The scent. In my panic to set the scene, I had forgotten the most fundamental rule of dealing with werewolves. I had been in Silas’s study mere minutes ago. His scent was all over me.

She straightened up, her expression now one of cold, calculating i

nterest. She gestured to her guards, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Take him.”