Chapter 8- The Whisper Behind the Wall

Alina’s POV

I pressed my ear against the wall before I realized I was doing it. My fingers shook so badly I kept missing the spot where the sound had slipped through earlier. It was probably stupid to listen. It was definitely stupid. But the silence after Cassandra’s voice cut off was worse. Too thick. Too loud. My heart was pounding like it wanted to warn me of something I could not name.

The wall felt cool against my cheek. Cool but vibrating with leftover echoes. Almost like it remembered the voices even if they had already moved away.

I closed my eyes and inhaled once.

Slow.

Sharp.

Metallic on the exhale.

I hated how my breath still smelled like the twins’ skin. Like their warmth had settled into me. I tugged the robe tighter and pulled myself back from the wall. My knees felt unsteady again. I could not tell if it was fear or something else crawling up my spine.

The room felt wrong.

Too bright.

Too soft.

Too empty.

A golden sliver of sunlight spilled across the marble floor, hitting the edge of the bed like a spotlight revealing just how out of place I was. My old life had been cold stone floors and scraps of food and Damon’s shadow lurking around every corner. Now I stood in a palace chamber with silk curtains and carved mirrors and a bed that looked like it belonged to someone important.

I did not feel important.

I felt like a secret shoved into a room no one should find.

I paced once across the floor. Then again. The robe whispered against my thighs with every step. My wolf pressed weakly against my ribs, still drained, still wounded, but nudging me as if she sensed a threat.

“I know,” I whispered. “I feel it too.”

A soft knock at the door made me jump.

Not the twins’ knock. Theirs was confident. Grounded. This one trembled like whoever stood outside wanted to disappear.

“Lady Alina,” a voice murmured. “I have been asked to bring you breakfast.”

A maid.

I hesitated.

Kaden said not to open the door.

My stomach twisted at the thought of disobeying him, but so did the idea of letting someone see me shaking like this. I swallowed hard.

“You can leave it outside,” I said, trying to sound steady.

The maid hesitated. “I was instructed to hand it to you personally.”

That felt wrong.

Too wrong.

I stepped closer, careful, every muscle tight. “Who instructed you.”

“The Luna candidate,” the maid whispered.

My breath froze.

Cassandra.

Of course.

I stepped back so fast my heel hit the bed frame. My pulse surged painfully.

“No,” I whispered. “Just leave it. I do not want it.”

Silence.

Then the sound of footsteps retreating quickly.

I stood there staring at the door long after she left, heart pounding. The twins had only been gone minutes and Cassandra was already trying to get something to me. Why. Why would she care. Or pretend to care. Or send something under the excuse of kindness.

My wolf growled weakly in the back of my mind.

Not safe.

Do not touch anything.

Do not trust anyone except them.

I pressed a hand to my mouth.

Them.

The thought came so naturally it scared me.

Footsteps echoed distantly down the hall. Loud. Confident. Familiar.

Kael and Kaden.

I rushed toward the door without thinking. Before I could reach it, it opened on its own with a quiet click.

Kael stepped in first.

Kaden behind him.

Both of them looked different. Something heavier clung to their expressions. Something brittle. Kaden shut the door with a soft thud and Kael moved past me, checking the room as if expecting someone to be hiding inside.

“Did anyone come in,” Kael asked without looking at me.

“A maid tried to. She said Cassandra sent breakfast.”

Kaden’s head snapped toward me. His eyes darkened instantly. “You did not open the door.”

“No,” I whispered.

Relief flashed across his face so quickly I almost doubted seeing it.

Kael stepped close enough that his shoulder brushed mine. The heat of him rolled into me like a wave. “Good. Do not accept anything she sends.”

“What happened,” I asked.

Kaden ran a hand through his hair, pacing once before facing me again. “She requested a private meeting because she believes she deserves to know the terms of her… position.”

“That is reasonable,” I said quietly.

“It is,” Kael agreed. “But she did not want the terms.”

“Then what did she want.”

Kaden exhaled. “She wanted answers.”

The words dropped into the room like stones into water.

“Answers to what,” I asked.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Why we will not look at her.”

My heart stuttered. “Look at her.”

“She noticed everything this morning,” Kaden said. His voice was flat, but it shook underneath. “She noticed you.”

Heat flooded my face. “I did not do anything.”

“We know,” Kael said. “But she does not.”

Kaden stopped pacing and lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed. He looked tired. Truly tired. Dark shadows under his eyes, tension tight across his shoulders.

“She asked me directly,” he said softly. “Why I looked at you the way I did.”

My breath caught.

“And what did you say.”

“Nothing,” Kaden whispered. “Because I could not lie. Not to her. Not to myself.”

My pulse hammered so hard I felt it in my fingertips. I backed away, bumping into the dresser.

Kael watched us both, unreadable.

“She is unraveling faster than we expected,” Kael said. “Her voice cracked when she spoke your name. She tried to pretend she was not jealous, but she is losing control of it.”

I swallowed. “Why does she care so much. She just arrived.”

“It is not about you,” Kael said. “It is about losing what she was promised. Losing the future she imagined herself in. Losing the illusion that she mattered to us.”

“But she likes one of you,” I whispered.

Kaden stood slowly. “She thinks she does.”

“Is she dangerous.”

Kael met my eyes. “She will be.”

A knock interrupted us. Three short taps. Hesitant. Not Cassandra.

Kael moved to the door, cracking it open. A guard stood outside holding a rolled parchment stamped with the royal crest.

“A message from the Council,” the guard announced.

Kael took it, shut the door, and unrolled it with a flick of his wrist.

His eyes darkened as he read.

Kaden stepped beside him. “What is it.”

Kael’s voice dropped low. “The Council is summoning all three of us to the eastern courtyard.”

My chest tightened. “Why.”

Kael handed the parchment to Kaden. His jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched.

“They received an anonymous report,” Kael said. “Someone informed them the breeders’ quarters were not used last night.”

My blood ran cold.

Kaden’s breath hissed through his teeth as he finished reading. “They suspect the contract Luna’s place is being undermined.”

No.

No, no, no.

My vision blurred. My throat burned.

“They think I tried to take her place,” I whispered.

Kael met my gaze. “Someone is trying to make them believe that.”

I knew who.

Cassandra.

Or the person whispering to her.

I felt the walls closing in around me.

Kaden stepped toward me and gently lifted my chin with two fingers. His touch was warm and steady. “Alina. Listen. You are not in danger as long as we are here.”

Kael moved closer on my other side. “You will stay behind us. Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not look anyone in the eyes. Do not react to Cassandra.”

I nodded slowly, but my body trembled too hard to hide.

Kaden touched my cheek lightly. “They will not harm you. We will not allow it.”

A horn sounded outside the window. A long, low call.

The Council summoning.

Kael straightened and opened the door. “It is time.”

We stepped into the hallway together.

I kept my head down.

The palace corridors felt colder. The air felt heavier. Every guard we passed stared too long. Every servant paused mid step.

The courtyard doors opened.

I froze.

The Council stood in a half circle.

Cassandra stood in the center of them, hands folded, eyes lowered like a perfect angel.

Until she lifted her gaze.

And smiled directly at me.

A smile that did not reach her eyes.

A smile that promised war.