Chapter 14

Nadia

The days after the attack blurred together in a haze of meetings, wound-checking, and careful planning. Three warriors had been injured defending the compound, none fatally, but the reminder of how close things had come sat heavy over everyone.

"We can't keep playing defense," Alpha Ashford said, three days later, all three pack leaders gathered again in my father's study. "Draven proved he's willing to strike directly now. Waiting for his next move means waiting on his terms."

"Agreed," my father said. "Which means we need to know exactly where his stronghold is, and exactly what we're facing before we move against it."

Row leaned forward. "My scouts tracked the retreat pattern from the attack. They believe they've located the stronghold, deep in the unclaimed wilds, roughly two days north of my border."

"Numbers?" Kade asked.

"Uncertain. At least forty, based on the attack itself. Possibly more remaining behind to guard the stronghold." Row spread a fresh map across the desk, a location circled in red near a river bend. "If we're going to move, it needs to be soon, before he has time to recover and plan a second attack of his own."

My father studied the map for a long moment. "A direct assault risks heavy losses on both sides, even if we succeed. Draven's wolves are desperate, and desperate fighters are dangerous."

"Then we don't give him a fight to prepare for," I said.

Every eye in the room turned to me.

"Draven wants me," I continued, steadying my voice. "Specifically me, bonded by force, to legitimize his claim. That gives us something to work with. If he believes he has a chance to get what he actually wants without a full assault, he might agree to meet on terms we control instead of terms he does."

"Absolutely not," my father said immediately. "You are not offering yourself as bait."

"I'm not offering myself," I said. "I'm offering him the appearance of an opportunity. A trap, not a sacrifice. We control the location, the numbers, everything. He walks in thinking he's finally getting what he's chased for ten years, and instead he walks into an ambush he can't escape."

Kade's jaw was tight, clearly torn between logic and fear. "It's risky."

"Everything about this is risky," I said. "But a full assault on a defended stronghold with unknown numbers is risky too, and that plan guarantees losses on our side no matter what. This way, we choose the battlefield."

My father was quiet for a long moment, weighing it. "If we do this, every detail is controlled. Multiple fallback positions. Warriors hidden before he arrives, not scrambling to respond after. And you," he added, voice sharp, "do not engage him alone under any circumstances, no matter what opportunity presents itself."

"I won't be alone," I said, glancing at Kade. "I'll have backup exactly where I need it."

The plan took another four days to finalize. Row's scouts identified an abandoned trading post near the river, neutral ground close enough to Draven's stronghold to seem plausible, isolated enough to control fully. A message was sent through one of the captured scouts, released specifically to carry it back — an offer from the Royal Pack to negotiate, framed carefully to sound like desperation rather than strategy.

Draven took the bait within two days, sending back terms of his own: Nadia would come alone, unguarded, or the next attack would target the school itself.

"He's testing how much control he still has," my father said grimly, reading the response. "Trying to force compliance through threat instead of trust."

"Then we let him believe it worked," I said. "I go in looking alone. Everyone else stays hidden until the moment it matters."

Kade's hands were clenched tight at his sides. "I don't like this."

"I don't either," I admitted. "But I trust the plan. I trust all of you to be exactly where you're supposed to be."

He studied me a long moment, then nodded slowly, though the worry never fully left his expression. "If anything goes wrong—"

"It won't."

"If it does," he pressed, "I'm not waiting for a signal. I'm coming in."

"Kade"

"That's not negotiable, Nadia. Some things aren't."

I didn't argue further, because some part of me was grateful for that certainty even as I understood the risk it carried for him too.

The night before the meeting, I couldn't sleep. I found my father still awake in his study, staring at the map one more time, tracing the planned positions of every hidden warrior.

"You should rest," he said, echoing the same words I'd given him weeks earlier.

"I keep thinking about what happens after," I admitted, sitting across from him. "If this works, if Draven's finally stopped, what does that even look like? I spent eighteen years hiding from exactly this kind of danger, and now I'm about to walk into it on purpose."

My father set down his pen, studying me with something between pride and sorrow. "It looks like the future I always hoped you'd have, even when I was too afraid to let you reach for it. A future where you're not hiding what you are, but using it. Protecting people instead of being protected from the world."

"That's a lot of pressure for eighteen years old."

"It is," he agreed quietly. "I wish I could carry more of it for you. But watching you these past months, training, fighting, choosing this path with your eyes open instead of running from it — I don't worry the way I used to. Not because the danger is smaller. Because I finally believe you're ready to face it."

I reached across the desk, squeezing his hand. "Thank you. For trusting me with this."

"Thank you," he said, "for becoming someone worth trusting." He studied the map one final time, then looked back at me, steady and certain despite the danger waiting tomorrow. "Tomorrow, we end this. Together, exactly the way we planned."

I nodded, and for the first time since the attack, I let myself believe we actually could.