Puppet strings

Kaelric’s POV

“You will pay for all the pain you’ve cost me, Virelle. I will ruin you both,” I whispered as I quietly closed the door.

I rushed straight to my room, packed a few clothes, and stormed out of my cave, face blazing with rage.

I rode south, my mind filled with thoughts of revenge. I was determined to destroy them for good, and I didn't care what consequences came with it. I was prepared.

Soon, I arrived at Rodrick’s deadly compound, seated behind an iron gate covered with silver spikes. Guards with scarred faces eyed me but let me in when I dropped a pouch of gold at their feet.

“Where can I find him?” I asked the guards, and they pointed me in a dark direction, covered in void and cricket sounds, with owls croaking and hisses that might belong to snakes, but I was quick to walk in there.

I sighted him from a distance. He stood in the center of the hall of what seemed to be a sanctuary, his black coat glowed in the dark from the shimmers scattered all over it, rings glinting on every finger. Wearing an awkward smile like he was talking to a ghost.

“Kaelric,” he drawled. “Brother of the great Alpha. To what do I owe this… honor?”

I hated every word from his mouth, his voice made me want to spit on his face, but I had a mission, one I could endure all this hate for Rodrick. His eyes roamed my body and I hated the way his eyes crawled over me like he was already calculating my price.

“I need something important and I figured you have what I want,” I said.

He laughed—quietly. “Everyone needs something from me. What makes you think I’ll give it?”

“Because I also have what you want. You hate Kairox more than you hate me, and I know you want Virelle back.” I stepped closer. “He took Virelle from you without paying the agreed price using his alpha powers. Paid coin and walked away with her like she was his by right. You’ve been waiting for a chance to hurt him ever since.”

Rodrick’s smile thinned. “And you think I’d help you because…?”

“Because if Virelle is broken again—permanently—Kairox breaks with her. And you get to watch from the shadows while I do the work.”

Silence stole the spotlight, then he leaned forward.

“What exactly do you want?”

“I want control. One that can help me ruin both of them for good,” I smeared.

He listened. Then he rose, laughing like he was choking on his own breath as he crossed to a locked iron chest, and returned with something small wrapped in a black ancient locket.

He unfolded it.

A pendant filled with a strange aura that doesn’t belong to this world, i’ve heard of how dangerous that pendant was, how deadly it’s rage was when released, The air around it felt wrong, and heavy, like breathing through invisible cloth and its strength pulled me like it was meant for me—like it was feeding on the rage inside me.

“Hypnotic ward,” he said. “Dark-crafted. Just one touch to any wolf’s skin, with a whisper of your command forms an invisible bind, making you the master. The wolf inside shuts down. It dulls their senses, perhaps erasing their senses. Their body obeys your command. Completely. No memory of the orders afterward unless you allow it.”

I stared at the thing, confused but sure of my decision.

“It won’t kill her,” he continued. “But it will make her your blade. She will follow your vengeance and act on your behalf.”

My fingers closed around it. Cold soaked into my palm.

“How long does it last?”

“As long as you feed it your raging intent. Weeks. Months. Until the wielder dies—or the victim does.”

I met his gaze.

“How much?”

Rodrick smiled wider before chuckling,

“Gold is boring. I want something better.”

“What is it?” I asked, greeting my teeth.

“I want Virelle back in my yard as soon as you’re done with her,”

I clenched my fist until my knuckles were white. I still love her, but when I thought of Kairox’s hands on her. Of her moans drifting through that half-closed door.

I nodded once.

“Deal.”

He laughed again.

“Pleasure doing business, Beta.”

I didn’t waste time storming out of his sight.

Virelle’s POV

The pack house felt too quiet that evening.

Kai was in council with the elders, planning border reinforcements. Alicia sat beside Kairox with her visibly pregnant baby bump—resting in the Luna suite on the east wing. I had spent the afternoon playing with the growing heart in my belly, and the baby’s every shift felt like walking on shattered glass.

I returned to Kairox’s room—intending to rest, but I paused at the corner of the corridor that led to his cave. Kaelric was standing mindlessly, his fingers playfully roaming over an ancient pendant.

“Kaelric?” My voice came out sharper than intended. “What are you doing here?”

He turned slowly. His face was dark and filled with guilt.

“I came to apologize,” he said quietly. “Properly.”

I hesitated, the air around him felt wrong against my skin. Then he stepped closer, held out his hand that still carried the pendant, crustily dangling from his fingers.

“I found this in the old vault my grandmother gave me before she passed,” he lied smoothly. “I thought I should give it to you as a token of my apology.”

“No,” I suddenly heard a faint voice at the back of my mind but I ignored it, since I became tribrid—nyzarelle didn't talk to me. My spirit wasn’t at ease, I sensed something wrong and dark, I could smell it but the look on his face was too innocent to think he’d hurt me.

I should have known better. But I chose to trust him.

I leaned closer, reaching for the pendant.

The moment my fingertips brushed the pendant, my eyes snapped up, blazing with white flames, and my body was heavy and stiffened.

My wolf howled—then choked and went silent, I was numb. My sight went blank and all I could see was myself alone in a white world, no caves, no sky, nothing was visible, it felt like I was in a white box with no edges.

Senses flattened and sound muffled like cotton in my ears.

Kaelric’s voice cut through the fog—clear, commanding.

“Listen to me, Virelle.”

My body locked.

Obeyed.

“You will go to Alicia’s chambers. You will take the dagger from the bedside table. You will kill her. Stab until she stops moving. Do not hesitate. When it’s done, you will return here and stand by the window until I return.”

Tears pooled in my eyes, and I screamed in the void I was but I could only hear myself.

I couldn’t blink them away, my mouth wouldn’t move. I nodded once and turned, walking silently.

The corridors passed in a blur until I entered the Luna suite without knocking.

Alicia lay on her bed, one hand cradling her belly, eyes half-closed in drowsy comfort.

She barely noticed I was inside,

I crossed the room, picked up the silver dagger from the table, and raised the blade above my head. I hesitated at first but I was reminded to stab her by the voice behind my ears. The first stab cut straight through her belly, and blood splashed out, all over my face

She screamed, eyes wide and pale, pleading and trying to fight back but she was too weak to defend herself. I ignored her, increasing the tension as I continued to stab her until some of her organs were out.

I felt nothing, nothing but the command looping in my skull over and over again.

Until her screams thinned to wet gasps.

Until her hands fell limp. Blood soaked everywhere

I stood over her body—staring at it with no expression.

The dagger slipped from my fingers over her destroyed body.

I turned and walked back through the corridors.

Blood dripped from my sleeves.

I reached Kairox’s rooms.

Stood by the window and waited as instructed.

Kaelric’s POV

“She should be done with her task by now,” I murmured as I strode back to the corridor. She was there—blood-soaked, staring at nothing.

I removed the pendant from around her neck before anyone saw me.

The glow dimmed and she finally blinked twice before horror flooded her face.

She looked down at her hands, at the blood.

“What happened? Oh no… blood, what is going on?”

A raw, broken sound tore from her throat.

She collapsed to her knees.

Sobbing. Shaking.

I crouched beside her.

“Shhh,” I murmured. “Are you okay? What happened? What did you do?” I asked innocently

She looked up at me—eyes wild, pleading.

“What did I do? I don’t… I don't know what happened, where did all this blood come from? What have I done?” she questioned, sobbing so hard as her gaze fixed on me

I smiled—small, cold, and unnoticeable behind her, satisfaction settled deep in my belly. She parted her lips—about to ask questions when footsteps thundered down behind us.

Kairox burst in.

His gaze found virelle soaked in blood and back to me.

I quickly tucked the pendant in my hand into my pocket.

Rage detonated across his face as he lunged toward us.

But I was already moving—out the window, into the night before he caught up.

I needed to lie low, no one could know I was behind everything—not until I was ready.

I chuckled as I walked away, at least I had fulfilled one mission, Virelle was shattered.

“Let’s see who gets the last laugh,” I murmured to myself before laughing—a cruel one with no conscience.