The Man Behind the Shadows.

Keon's POV:

The chamber had become so quiet that the steady, low hiss of the burning torches seemed to echo off the vaulted ceiling. Not a single chair scraped against the stone floor. Not a single person shifted their weight. Even the oldest, most battle-hardened wolves in the room knew better than to interrupt Derrick once he reached this point.

He stood over the old Delta without crowding him. He didn’t need to. The sheer difference in height and presence alone was enough to pin the man in place.

"...Let's start again," Derrick’s voice remained cool, almost conversational, cutting through the heavy air. "Where were you yesterday?"

The old Delta swallowed hard, his eyes darting briefly toward the ancient black granite table before locking back onto the prince. "I... I already submitted my official report, Prince Derrick—"

"You did," Derrick agreed with a slow nod, his expression entirely unreadable. "And it was false."

A sharp muscle jumped beneath the old wolf's jaw, the only outward sign of his fraying composure. "Your Highness, I don't know what information you've managed to—"

"Where," Derrick interrupted, his tone dropping an octave, delivering each syllable like a deliberate hammer blow. "Were. You. Yesterday."

The old Delta's breathing changed. It was a minute hitch, a fraction of a second where his chest stalled. Most of the room wouldn't have noticed the subtle shift in biology, but I did. Rowan did, too. His fingers remained folded neatly behind his back, his posture rigid as he waited for the crack.

"Should I be more precise?" Derrick continued, leaning in just a fraction. "Five in the morning. Just before dawn. What were your exact coordinates?"

"I was at the western gate," the old man insisted, his voice tightening. "The guards on duty at the checkpoint can testify to that."

"Yes, they can," Derrick countered smoothly. "They can testify that you were seen at six in the morning. Not five."

"I—"

"No," the word landed heavily between them, cutting off the defense before it could form. "You were seen entering this very chamber exactly six hours before Rowan uncovered the hidden compartment beneath the floorboards."

Silence stretched over the granite compass.

"You remained inside for eighteen minutes," Derrick noted.

Another thick silence.

"You exited carrying nothing."

Derrick tilted his head, his dark eyes tracking the old man's pale face. "So I'll ask you one more time. Where were you yesterday?"

The old wolf's composure cracked for the first time since the doors had been locked. "I've served this kingdom for over thirty years," he said, his voice rising with a touch of desperate indignation.

"I know."

"I served your father faithfully through the worst of the border conflicts."

"I know."

"I helped raise both of—"

"I know," Derrick cut him off, each answer coming flatter and colder than the last, completely stripping away the armor of the past.

The old Delta spread his hands helplessly, appealing to the rest of the silent council. "I would never betray this family. My life belongs to the pack."

"No?" Derrick's expression didn't change, but a dangerous spark lit his eyes. "Interesting."

He reached down toward the granite table and lifted one of the recovered folders. Not mine. Not Rowan's. He picked up Sabrina's file and placed it gently onto the stone directly between them. The old wolf's eyes flickered downward, just for a single heartbeat, before snapping back up.

Derrick saw it. So did I.

"You recognize it."

"I don't," the Delta shot back too quickly.

"You looked."

"I merely—"

"You looked," Derrick repeated, his voice dropping to a whisper as he flipped the folder open. The pages rustled softly in the quiet room. "According to the detailed logs kept in this folder, the poisoning began exactly forty-three days ago."

Exactly the day before Winter's arrival. How perfectly timed. He didn't need to say it for the point to be passed across.

Nobody spoke. The words seemed to hang in the air like a physical shroud.

"It started small," Derrick read, turning another page with agonizing slowness. "Tiny quantities. Intentionally undetectable to standard screening. Designed to be progressive."

My eyes immediately shifted toward Sabrina. She had gone perfectly still, her amber eyes wide as she stared at the parchment.

"The dosage increased systematically every four days," Derrick continued. "And when the poison failed to incapacitate its intended target quickly enough..." He stopped reading, letting the silence build before he closed the folder. "...the second plan was activated."

Sabrina frowned, her voice tight as she broke her silence. "...Second plan?"

Derrick looked up from the table, his gaze locking onto her. "The vampire ambush."

The room seemed to inhale all at once, a collective spike of pheromones flooding the air as the pieces of the puzzle violently slammed into place.

"You weren't the ultimate objective of that day, Sabrina," Derrick said softly. He looked back down at the old man. "You were simply the obstacle."

Understanding washed over Sabrina’s face in slow, horrifying stages. The analytical mind of a Gamma dismantled the strategy in seconds. "...They were weakening me," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "They were draining my strength for weeks."

Nobody answered her, but the truth was written in the files.

"So that when Winter was finally attacked..." Sabrina's breath caught, her hand unconsciously lifting to touch the heavy bandages covering her injured shoulder. "...I wouldn't be strong enough to protect her."

Derrick gave a single, solemn nod. "So they could reach her without a warrior in the way."

"It all makes sense now. The random headaches that would hit me during the most random times of the day. The dizziness I felt during training. I've been dying slowly in the hands of one of my own people."

She laughs, as if in shock at the irony of it all.

The realization landed harder than any physical accusation could have. I watched her look down at the floor, the weight of the manipulation sinking in. "Gods," she murmured to herself.

Underneath that laugh however, was the side of Sabrina that earned her the title of "Sabrina the Slayer." I could see something dark settle on her features, her eyes dropping several shades deeper. Her muscles tighten, her breathing slower. She looks at the retired royal dead in the eye, as if daring him to lie to her face yet again.

The Delta speaks up again. "Forgive me my prince, I realize now that I made an error in my reports. I did come here, in the early hours of the morning, but it was for the mandatory bi-annual inspection of the palace structure. Besides, I wasn't the only one who came here-"

Derrick shakes his head. "No. That's impossible. The inspection can only be carried out after signed permission from a reigning Royal, including either the Beta or the Alpha. And with all that's been happening I doubt the first thing on anyone's mind is whether an abandoned chamber is still structurally sound."

The old wolf turns deathly pale. "I meant—"

"Though I do find it interesting that you said you weren't the only one who came here before the attack. So you concur that this was a joint attempt then, no?"

The old man realizes what he's just admitted. The entire chamber freezes. Derrick slowly tilts his head, a dark glint flickering in his eyes.

A silence so heavy it threatens to crush us fills the room. The Delta says nothing, his heartbeat hammering so loudly against his ribs that every wolf present can hear it.

That's when Derrick changes. He doesn't shift, and he doesn't need to. His pupils stretch into lethal slits, as dark fur creeps rapidly over the backs of his hands. The air pressure drops immediately suffocating the room with sheer power. Every instinct inside me immediately screams a single word:

Royal.

This isn't mere dominance. It's violence, barely contained. His shadow stretches impossibly long across the torchlit walls, looking less like a man and more like something ancient waiting in the dark.

Across the room, I catch Rowan's eye. Neither of us moves a muscle. We both know exactly what happens when Derrick reaches this point.

Talking is officially over.

The Delta instinctively tries to step backward, but there isn't enough room. Derrick catches his shoulder, not aggressively, but almost gently.

"My prince—"

"Derrick."

Sabrina's voice cut through the silence. Derrick looks at her. Something in his eyes visibly shifts, the tension around his mouth loosening in just the slightest.

His tongue ran slowly across the inside of his teeth.

Crack.

The brutal sound echoes through the stone chamber. The Delta screams, a raw sound of pure agony as his right shoulder drops unnaturally. Several council members flinch, yet nobody moves. Even the elite guards remain rooted to the spot, terrified that Derrick might mistake the slightest twitch for interference.

Derrick has broken his right shoulder.

The same shoulder silver had torn through Sabrina less than twenty-four hours earlier.

The symmetry wasn't lost on anyone.

Not because Derrick is being poetic, he was making a point.

Feel what she felt.

The screaming continues, but Derrick never raises his voice.

"There," he says softly, releasing the ruined joint. "Now we're equal."

The Delta collapses to one knee, clutching the shattered shoulder as his breathing comes in ragged, desperate gasps. My instincts scream at me to step in.

Every Alpha is born with the deep-seated urge to protect members of their pack. Every lesson, every law, every fiber of my being tells me to stop this.

Instead, I stay exactly where I am.

Because this isn't mindless punishment. It's an interrogation, and Derrick is getting answers.

The old wolf looks up through a veil of pain and tears, his voice breaking completely. "I didn't plan the attacks... I swear it!"

Derrick crouches until they are at eye level, his gaze unblinking. "But..."

The Delta squeezes his eyes shut, defeated. "I only... opened the door."

Derrick didn't blink, and neither did I. Because in this room, opening the door for the enemy was no different from wielding the knife yourself.