Chapter 7
1337 Words
CARDAN MONTESSORI
I needed to know…
She looked me dead in the eye and said it.
In front of my pack…
In front of my enemies…
In front of me.
“I was sent to kill your Alpha.”
Her voice didn’t shake. Not once.
Her gaze didn’t falter.
You’d think the bond would scream louder, tell me to protect her, shield her, drag her away from the wolves now staring at her like she was meat on a funeral pyre. But all I felt was heat… boiling, searing, throat-clenching heat.
I didn’t move at first. Neither did anyone else.
Then I stepped forward. Slowly.
She didn’t flinch.
“Get up,” I said.
She didn’t move.
“Paedyn,” I said again, slower this time. “Get. Up.”
“I told the truth,” she whispered, her chin tilting like she was daring me to prove her wrong. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
I didn’t answer her.
I grabbed her arm. Firm. No gentleness this time. And when she gasped, I didn’t look back.
“Kai,” I barked.
“Yeah?”
“Take the traitors to the cells. I’ll deal with them later.”
“And her?”
“She’s coming with me.”
The walk back to the estate felt like dragging a fuse toward fire. She didn’t speak. I didn’t look at her. I was afraid if I did, I might say something I wouldn’t take back.
Or worse… something I meant.
The door slammed behind us the second we stepped into the estate’s main hall. She yanked her arm out of my grip. “Was that necessary?”
I spun on her. “You think this is a game?”
“They deserved to know—”
“Know what?” I growled. “That you were sent to kill me? That the girl I dragged out of Stefan’s hellhole just told my entire pack that she came here with a dagger and a death wish?”
She crossed her arms. “You already knew. Now they do too. I did you a favor.”
My hands clenched. “You have no idea what you’ve just done.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
“You embarrassed me in front of my own wolves.”
“I told them the truth. Maybe they respect that more than your whips and speeches.”
I took one step closer to her. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. But that mouth of yours? It’s gonna cost you.”
She tilted her head, that same infuriating calm on her face. “Are you threatening me, Alpha?”
“I’m promising you.”
She didn’t even blink.
So I turned around, shoved the heavy door to the east wing open, and called out, “Jorah!”
A tall man appeared from the shadows down the hall. One of my oldest guards. Loyal. Silent. Brutal when he needed to be.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Take her to the cellar. Lock the door. No one goes in. No one comes out.”
Jorah stepped forward, his face unreadable. “For how long?”
“Until I say otherwise.”
Paedyn’s face didn’t change. Not once. Not when Jorah reached for her. Not when the cuffs clicked around her wrists.
But as she passed me, she said under her breath, “You can chain my body, Cardan… but you won't break me.”
I didn’t look at her.
Didn’t speak.
Didn’t let my heart react.
Because if I did—if I let myself feel anything for her right then— I’d never be able to lock her away.
By the time the council arrived that evening, the moon had risen behind dark clouds and the air outside had turned cold enough to bite.
I sat at the head of the long stone table in the war room, drumming my fingers against the surface.
One by one, the chairs filled.
Kai sat to my right. Malric, the oldest among us, took the far end. Then came Elora, Orin, Jasper… faces worn by loyalty, fear, and power.
No one spoke until I did.
“Three men betrayed the pack last night,” I started. “They’re barely alive. For now.”
Jasper leaned forward. “And the girl?”
“She’s in the cellar,” I said. “Where she’ll stay until I decide what to do with her.”
“She confessed in front of the entire pack,” Elora said, arching a brow. “And you let her live?”
“What if she's my mate?” I asked, staring at them. I didn't want to admit it to them.
Orin exhaled. “Well, that complicates things.”
“No,” I said coldly. “It clarifies them.”
Malric scratched his beard. “You think you can still trust her?”
“No,” I said. “But I don’t trust any of you either. And yet here we are.”
Kai smirked, but didn’t speak.
“What do you want from us?” Elora asked.
“Your ears and your honesty.”
She gave a short laugh. “Those are dangerous things to ask for in this room.”
“I’m not asking. I’m demanding it.”
Jasper cleared his throat. “Then I’ll say it plainly. We can’t survive being divided. If the pack thinks their Alpha is under the influence of a killer—”
“She’s not influencing me,” I snapped.
“She doesn’t have to. The bond already is, even if you won't say it”
“That bond saved her life,” Orin muttered.
“It saved all of ours,” I corrected. “You think Stefan’s wolves would’ve let us walk out of that border unchallenged if she hadn’t hesitated?”
There was silence.
“She’s dangerous,” Malric said. “But she’s not stupid. If she wanted you dead, Cardan, you’d be dead.”
Exactly.
And that’s what kept me up at night.
She’d had chances, but she hadn’t taken them.
But why?
Kai finally spoke. “We need to stop dancing around it. Do you want our vote? Fine. I say keep her locked up. Let the pack settle. Show them you’re not ruled by a bond.”
“And if they still whisper?” I asked.
“Then give them something louder to listen to.”
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the fire burning in the hearth across the room.
“Something louder…” I murmured.
Jasper stood. “Whatever you decide, do it fast. Tensions are climbing. The other Alphas have started watching us again. They smell weakness.”
“They smell blood,” Elora said. “And they’re wondering if it’s yours or hers.”
“I shall decide her fate when the time is right. For now, you may all leave,” I said to them.
The council filed out one by one.
Only Kai lingered.
“She’s not broken,” he said quietly once the room was nearly empty.
“No,” I replied. “She’s fire.”
“Then why are you treating her like ice?”
I didn’t answer him.
Because fire burns.
And I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
That night, I went down to the cellar alone.
No guards, no warnings.
Just me and her.
And the sound of the iron door creaking open.
She looked up from the corner of the stone room, hands chained, hair messy, lips chapped… but eyes still blazing.
She smiled.
“Come to finish what I started?”
I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.
“No,” I said quietly. “I came to ask you a question.”
Her head tilted. “What question?”
I took a slow step forward, letting the door click behind me.
Then another…
And another…
Until I stood right in front of her and said,
“Who sent you?”
- Writer
