The Alpha's Caged Bird Is Secretly the Chief Arbiter

Three days earlier, in the afternoon.

I lounged on a bed of furs in the private hunting preserve Gideon had transformed just for me.

It stayed as warm as spring all year. He'd gone out of his way to stock the hills with rare plants and prized game.

Gideon had set aside the entire snow-covered mountain preserve for my exclusive use.

I rolled a plump, sweet arctic berry between my fingers and glanced at the butler waiting beside me. "Buy the preserve and the whole valley with it. Put both in my name for good. No more lease renewals."

But when the butler went to handle the paperwork, he found that the Obsidian card Gideon had given me no longer worked.

I'd always spent freely on rare jewels, one-of-a-kind gowns, and luxury cars. Even when I'd bought out every high-end boutique in an entire city on a whim, the card had never failed me.

Today, though, it failed for the first time.

Almost at the same moment, the message crystal hanging in the stone hall flared with a warning.

[The Obsidian Pack is under siege by an alliance of ten northern packs. Supplies critically low. Large stretches of territory lost.]

The butler's expression changed instantly. When I made no move, he snapped at me, "Miss Evelyn, the pack is under attack. I'm going back to help."

I watched him leave, picked up my wine, and took a sip. I felt nothing.

Gideon was one of the most powerful Alphas in the north. His pack was under attack? That was surprising, but what did it have to do with me? I was only a pampered caged bird.

I set down my glass. I couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore. I just hoped Gideon could clean up this mess himself.

Three years ago, I'd gotten sick of the High Council's endless scheming and bloodshed.

Now, no matter what happened out there, it had nothing to do with me.

I smoothed my skirt, calm as ever, and left the preserve.

The moment I entered the Obsidian stronghold, I saw the wreckage. Houses had been smashed. Rubble and blood covered the ground, and wounded wolves lay everywhere, moaning in pain.

Gideon's sister, Lilith Thorne, rushed up to me, her eyes red. She pointed at me and screamed, "Our pack is about to be taken, and you're out there enjoying yourself? Evelyn, do you even have a heart?!"

"Don't listen to her." A deep voice came from outside.

The next second, the door flew open, and Gideon's tall frame filled the doorway. He was covered in blood, his armor in pieces. He'd clearly come straight from the battlefield.

I looked up at him, my eyes resting on the blood for a moment. "Rough day?"

I didn't sound worried. If anything, I sounded faintly disgusted.

Gideon strode straight up to me, pushed Lilith aside, and checked me over from head to toe. Only when he was sure I wasn't hurt did his clenched jaw relax. "Don't listen to her. They only took some outlying wasteland. Sorry this spoiled your day."

I smiled, wrapped my arms around his waist, and snuggled close, just as I always did. "It's fine. I've got you, and that's enough. Just don't get blood on my clothes, okay?"

Gideon looked at me and gave a low laugh.

I ignored Lilith and brushed a bit of debris off his shoulder.

The heavy smell of blood clinging to his armor told me the battle outside was nowhere near as easy as he'd made it sound.

But so what?

As long as Gideon could hold on, I still had a safe place to hide.

That night, I brought Gideon his usual glass of warm milk and overheard the Elder's grim report outside the study. "Alpha, we can hold out until tomorrow morning at most. If no reinforcements come, we're finished."

After a long silence, Gideon's voice came from inside, hoarse but resolute. "Cash out my personal assets and get a travel pass. Hurry. I want it done tonight."

Gideon opened the door and found me standing outside.

He froze for a second, then pulled me into the room and thrust a card and a travel pass into my arms.

He ruffled my hair, his gaze gentler and more determined than I'd ever seen it. "Go pack your things. I'm getting you out of here first thing tomorrow."

I looked down at the card with the last of his money on it and the travel pass that must have cost him dearly.

But it still didn't feel real to me that the pack was about to fall.

I nodded with the detachment of a heartless outsider, then obediently returned to my room.

I'd seen too many Alphas abandon their mates at the first sign of danger to save their packs.

But with his entire pack on the brink, Gideon had drained the last of his personal fortune to buy me a way out.

Something stirred deep inside me, but I smothered it at once.

It was none of my business. I was just a pampered caged bird.