RAVENI sat across from Lucian in his study, the scent of burning cedar filling the air. The flicker of the fireplace cast sharp shadows across his face, and for a long moment, he said nothing…just stared into the flames like they held the answer to a war none of us could win. I took a deep breath, knowing I had to say it even if he didn’t want to hear it.“Lucian,” I started quietly, my voice rougher than I meant it to be, “the only reason Alpha Kieran might release that spy is because he wants to make an example of him. You know how he operates. He’ll send him back half-alive…just breathing enough to remind us what happens when anyone crosses him.”Lucian’s jaw tensed, and he closed his eyes, leaning back against his chair. His hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose, a tired sigh escaping his lips. “You think I don’t know that, Raven?” he muttered, his voice low but laced with frustration. “I sent that man because I trusted him. Because I believed he could handle himself. And no
RAVENThe night was silent… too silent. The kind of silence that presses against your chest until you can feel your own heartbeat echoing in your ears. I sat up in bed, gasping for air as though I’d been drowning in my sleep. My room was dim, lit only by the faint glow of the moon seeping through the curtains, and for a moment I didn’t know where I was.Then the memories came; swift, brutal, merciless…dragging me back to the one night I’d spent my whole life trying to forget.I pressed a trembling hand to my forehead, trying to steady myself, but it was useless. His face… Kieran’s face…burned in my mind like fire. The way he’d looked at me years later, so composed, so damn righteous, as though he hadn’t been the monster that turned my world to ashes.“You think I forgot?” I whispered bitterly into the darkness. “You think I ever could?”I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t stop the flashbacks. The screams. The smell of smoke. My father’s voice shouting for me to hide. I could still
KIERANThe room was tense…one of those mornings where every council member seemed to have something to argue about. Papers scattered across the long oak table, voices clashing and overlapping until it felt like the walls themselves were pulsing from the noise. I sat at the head, hands clasped together, pretending to listen while my mind drifted somewhere else entirely.“Alpha Kieran,” Marcus, my beta, called sharply, jolting me back. “You’ve been quiet. What’s your stand on the border expansion?”I blinked, trying to recall what we’d even been talking about. “The border stays as it is,” I said flatly, rubbing the bridge of my nose.“We don’t need another confrontation with Lucian’s men right now.”Marcus frowned. “But if we don’t push forward, they’ll…”“I said, leave it,” I snapped, cutting him off. Silence fell like a heavy curtain. I sighed, feeling the weight of their stares, and forced my tone to soften. “We’ll revisit it later.”And then, out of nowhere, it hit me. A flash…quick
LUCIANI was sitting in my office when the door burst open without warning. The air around me shifted instantly…the tension in the man’s eyes said everything before he even spoke. I leaned back slowly in my chair, my gaze locking on him like a blade finding its mark.“Talk,” I said, voice low but sharp enough to slice through the heavy silence.The soldier bowed slightly, trying to steady his breathing. “Alpha… we have a problem.”My jaw tightened. “What kind of problem?”He swallowed hard, his voice almost trembling. “It’s the spy, sir. The one we sent into Kieran’s territory.”That got my attention. I straightened immediately, eyes narrowing. “What about him?”“He’s been caught,” the man said in a rush, his tone breaking slightly under pressure. “Alpha Kieran’s ismen found him near the border. He was taken alive.”For a moment, I said nothing. Just silence…the kind that makes grown men wish they hadn’t spoken. Then I rose from my chair slowly, each movement deliberate, calculated.
KIERANI stood by the window, my fingers drumming lightly against the frame as the moon cast a faint silver glow across the compound. The night was too still…unnervingly so. The kind of quiet that didn’t feel peaceful, but rather like the calm before something snapped. My instincts had never failed me before, and right now, every nerve in my body screamed that something wasn’t right.Just then, I saw my head guard, Marcus, step out of the building I’d been watching for the past few minutes. He glanced around once, his movements cautious, deliberate. My jaw tightened.When he finally spotted me through the window, I gestured for him to come up. Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door.“Come in,” I said, my voice lower than usual.Marcus entered, his boots echoing lightly against the wooden floor. “Alpha,” he greeted, his tone respectful but uneasy.“What did you see in there?” I asked immediately. I wasn’t in the mood for formalities.He hesitated, rubbing the back of his nec
RAVENThey called me Raven because I moved like one…quiet, dark, always watching from the boughs. I sat by the brazier in Lucian’s tent and listened to them brag as if bragging could change fate. Lucian lounged like a king who’d never known hunger, smiling when he spoke of the dawn.“We’ll set them up at the western ridge,” he said, tapping the map with a ringed finger. “Kieran will walk right into our teeth. We take the supplies, his captains, and the rest scatter like frightened sheep.”A dozen men laughed and spat into the fire. I kept my face neutral. That’s my trade…look like you belong, and no one thinks to look closer.“You were to place the woman, Raven,” Lucian said suddenly, indulgent, as if testing a toy. The tent fell silent. A dozen eyes tilted to me; even the fire seemed to lean in.“She did,” I lied. “She crawled into his courtyard as planned. He’ll be distracted tonight.”Lucian’s smile was slow and approving. “Good. Make sure she has the final nudge. Kieran will never