CHAPTER 4:THE SECRETS OF THE BLOODLINE

"Again, Sienna!" Cassian barked, his arms crossed over his chest. "Don't strike like a lower wolf! Use your bloodline! Bring the heat from your core into your knuckles!"

It had been three weeks of intense training in the Citadel's private courtyard. The air was frigid, frost coating the black stone floor.

I lunged forward, my boots gripping the slippery stone, throwing a lightning-fast combination of strikes. Cassian dodged the first two with frustrating ease, but on the third, I didn't push forward. I channeled the burning sensation in my chest into my heels, spinning low and sweeping his left leg.

Cassian caught his balance, but his boot dragged two inches across the stone, leaving a dark streak in the frost. He paused, looking down at his foot, then up at me with a wide grin.

"There it is," he murmured. "The silver spark."

I looked at my hands. A shimmering aura of silver energy was wrapped around my knuckles, humming with raw power.

"Your father could shatter mountain rock with that aura," Cassian said, stepping forward and gently wrapping his hand over my glowing fist. The silver light absorbed harmlessly into his skin. "You're advancing faster than any soldier I've ever commanded."

Every evening was spent in his private study, going over territorial maps, trade ledgers, and financial records. The castle generals no longer saw me as a guest; they bowed to my counsel.

One rainy evening, as I sat sipping tea while Cassian reviewed military dispatches, Vanya knocked and entered with a sealed letter on a silver tray.

"A runner from Silver Moon just delivered this, Lady Sienna," Vanya said. "It bears your name."

I took the letter and broke the red wax seal. As my eyes scanned the handwriting, a bitter laugh escaped my throat.

Cassian looked up from his desk. "What does the fool want?"

"He's panicking," I said, tossing the letter onto his desk. "The pack council is threatening to strip Jaxon of his Alpha title. Without the commercial trade agreements my father set up, agreements that legally defaulted to me, Silver Moon is completely bankrupt. They can't pay their guards."

Cassian picked up the note, scanning it quickly. "He's asking to meet you at the neutral border market this weekend. Claims he wants to apologize and hand over your father's personal belongings."

"It's a trap," I said coldly, leaning back in my chair. "Beatrice and Felicity know that if I claim my father's estate, they'll be left penniless. They're using Jaxon to lure me out of the Citadel so they can attempt to force me into a settlement."

Cassian’s eyes darkened, the temperature in the room instantly plunging. Frost bloomed across the glass windows. "I'll send three legions tonight. We will erase Silver Moon before dawn."

"No," I said, walking over to his desk and placing my hands flat on the wood. "If you destroy them with your army, they become victims. I want them ruined by their own greed. I want the entire realm to watch them fall."

Cassian looked up at me, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "What's the plan, little bird?"

"I'm going to accept his invitation," I smiled, my eyes glowing faint silver. "I'll go to the market. But I won't go as a weeping orphan. I will go as the head of the Royal Treasury, holding every ounce of Silver Moon's debt."

I leaned down, my lips inches from his ear. "I'm going to buy their loans, repossess their land, and leave Jaxon with nothing."

Cassian grabbed my waist, pulling me into a fierce, deep kiss. When he pulled back, his breath was heavy. "You are ruthless, Sienna Roy. And it is breathtaking."

"Will you lend me your guards for the weekend, my King?"

"I will give you my guards, my gold, and my throne," Cassian promised. "Go take what's yours."