ZARA'S POV
The wolf was dying.
I could see it the moment we entered the holding cell. He lay on the floor, convulsing, black veins spreading across his skin like poison ink.
"We're too late," Lyanna whispered.
"No!" I rushed forward and dropped to my knees beside him. "Tell me who ordered it. Who killed my family?"
The wolf's eyes—cloudy and fading—focused on me. He smiled, showing blood-stained teeth.
"Princess," he rasped. "You look... just like your mother."
My throat tightened. "You knew her?"
"I was... Royal Guard. Sworn to protect..." He coughed, more blood. "Failed. We all failed."
Darius knelt on the other side of him. "Who gave the order? Was it the Alpha Council?"
"Bigger," the wolf gasped. "So much bigger than... council."
"Marcus Reed?" I pressed. "Helena?"
"Just... soldiers. Following orders." His whole body shook. "Real enemy... still hidden. Still watching you. Waiting for you to... claim your power."
"Who?" I practically screamed. "Just tell me who!"
The wolf reached up with a trembling hand and grabbed my wrist. His grip was weak but desperate.
"The one who... gains most... from chaos," he whispered. "The one who... never wanted you... to wake up. Who needs you weak... controllable... or dead."
"That doesn't narrow it down!" Darius growled. "Half the Alphas in North America fit that description!"
"Look... for the wolf... who serves two masters," the guard said. His eyes were starting to glaze over. "One in light... one in shadow. That wolf... betrayed your father. Led killers... right to him."
My mind raced. A traitor inside my father's inner circle. Someone he trusted.
"Do you know who the traitor is?" I asked urgently.
"Name... died with me," he coughed. "But I kept... proof. Ledgers. Letters. Photographs of meetings that... never happened officially."
"Where?" Darius demanded. "Where did you hide them?"
The wolf smiled again, crueler this time. "Where princesses... sleep. Where nightmares... are born. Where little girls... cry for parents... who can't hear them."
My blood turned to ice.
"The cupboard," I breathed. "Under the stairs in the Reed house."
The wolf nodded once. Then his eyes went blank. His chest stopped moving.
Dead.
"No!" I shook him. "Wake up! Tell me more! I need—"
Darius pulled me back gently. "He's gone, Zara."
I stared at the dead wolf—a man who'd served my family, who'd kept my secrets hidden for eighteen years, who'd been poisoned for trying to help me.
"They killed him," I said numbly. "Just for talking to me."
"The poison was in his system before he got here," Lyanna said quietly. "Someone knew he was going to betray them. This was a message."
"A message saying what?" I asked.
"That anyone who helps you dies," Darius said grimly.
I stood up, my legs shaking but my resolve hardening. "Then we go back. Tonight. We get those documents from the cupboard before the Reeds destroy them."
"Absolutely not," Darius said immediately. "That house will be crawling with guards. It's suicide."
"He died to tell me where the proof is!" I argued. "I can't just leave it there!"
"You can and you will," Darius said firmly. "We'll find another way."
"There is no other way!" I turned to Lyanna. "Back me up here. We need those documents."
Lyanna bit her lip. "He's right that it's dangerous. But he's also right that we need proof. Without evidence, it's just your word against the Reeds. The packs won't believe you."
"See?" I looked at Darius. "We have to try."
"Not tonight," Darius said. "You can barely stand. Your power is depleted. You have no training. If Marcus catches you—"
"If Marcus finds those documents first, we'll never know the truth!" I interrupted. "My parents' real killer will stay hidden forever. Everyone will keep thinking the Reeds are heroes who saved a poor orphan. And I'll never get justice."
Darius's jaw clenched. I could see him struggling between keeping me safe and doing what was right.
Finally, he sighed. "Fine. But we do this smart. We scout the house first, wait for the right moment, and you don't go in alone."
"I'm coming too," Lyanna volunteered.
"No," I said. "If something goes wrong, the Underground needs you both. I'll go alone."
"Not happening," Darius said flatly.
Before I could argue, one of his wolves burst into the cell.
"Sir! We have a situation at the east tunnel!"
"What now?" Darius groaned.
"It's Garrett Kane. Again. But this time..." The wolf hesitated. "He brought someone with him. Someone who claims she can cure the rejection bond pain."
My heart jumped. The constant ache in my chest had been getting worse every hour. The thought of it finally stopping...
"It's bait," Darius said, reading my expression. "They know you're suffering. They're using it against you."
"What if it's real?" I asked. "What if she really can help?"
"Then she can help from a distance," Darius said. "You're not going near Garrett."
But even as he said it, the pain flared so badly I gasped and grabbed my chest. It felt like my ribs were breaking from the inside.
Lyanna caught me before I fell. "Darius, she's getting worse."
"I'm fine," I lied through gritted teeth.
"You're not fine," Darius said quietly. "The rejection bond is killing you slowly. I've seen it before. If we don't do something soon..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to.
Another wave of pain. I screamed, unable to stop it.
When it finally passed, I was on the floor, Darius holding me up. Tears streamed down my face.
"Okay," I gasped. "Okay, maybe I'll talk to Garrett's healer. Just talk."
Darius looked torn. "Zara—"
"Please," I begged. "I can't keep living like this. It hurts so much."
He finally nodded. "Five minutes. With guards present. And if Garrett tries anything—"
"You'll kill him yourself," I finished. "I know."
We made our way to the east tunnel. With each step, the mate bond pulled harder, knowing Garrett was close.
By the time we reached the meeting point, I was barely holding myself together.
Garrett stood on the other side of a barred gate, looking awful. His perfect hair was messy, his suit rumpled. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
Beside him stood an old woman with kind eyes and gray hair. She carried a worn leather bag.
"Zara," Garrett breathed when he saw me. He gripped the bars. "Thank the Moon Goddess. I was so worried—"
"Save it," Darius growled. "You have five minutes. Your healer talks, then you leave."
Garrett's eyes never left my face. "I'm sorry. For everything. I was wrong to reject you. So wrong. If I could take it back—"
"But you can't," I said coldly, even though seeing him made my chest ache worse. "Why are you really here, Garrett?"
"Because I made a terrible mistake," he said desperately. "And because I know things. About your family. About the night they died. About why the Reeds really took you in."
My breath caught. "What do you know?"
"My father was part of it," Garrett admitted, his voice breaking. "Part of the coup that killed your parents. He told me everything on his deathbed last month. Including who gave the final order."
The tunnel went silent.
"You know who the mastermind is?" Darius said slowly.
Garrett nodded. "And it's worse than you think. The person who ordered your family's death isn't some distant Alpha or council member. It's someone close to you. Someone you're going to meet very soon."
"Who?" I demanded.
Garrett's eyes met mine, full of genuine fear.
"I'll tell you everything," he said. "But first, you need to know something else. Something that changes everything."
"What?"
"The rejection bond between us?" Garrett said quietly. "It's not actually complete. I did the rejection wrong—on purpose. My father taught me the loophole before he died."
My stomach dropped. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that technically, Zara, we're still mates. The bond is damaged but not broken. Which means..." He gripped the bars tighter. "I can still claim you. And according to werewolf law, once I do, you'll legally belong to me. Including your throne, your power, and your right to rule."
Darius snarled and lunged at the bars, but guards held him back.
Garrett looked at me with something between regret and determination.
"I'm giving you a choice," he said. "Accept the healing for the bond pain, hear what I know about your parents' killer, and agree to a political alliance with me. Or refuse, live in agony, and never know the truth about who really destroyed your family."
"You bastard," Lyanna hissed. "You're blackmailing her!"
"I'm offering her answers," Garrett corrected. "And protection. The real killer knows she's awake now. They'll come for her. She needs allies."
I stared at him, my mind reeling.
Everything I wanted—the truth about my parents, freedom from this pain, answers—he was offering it all.
But the price was binding myself to the man who'd already rejected me once.
"Zara, don't," Darius warned. "Whatever he knows, we'll find out another way."
"Will we?" I asked. "How? The guard who could've told us is dead. The documents are hidden in enemy territory. And I'm dying from this bond pain."
The healer stepped forward. "Child, I can help with the pain. But you should know—once I begin the healing process, it will make your connection to Garrett stronger, not weaker. You'll be more vulnerable to him, not less."
Of course. Nothing was ever simple.
Garrett reached through the bars. "Trust me, Zara. One more time. Let me make this right."
I looked at his hand. The hand of the man who'd called me unworthy in front of everyone.
Then I looked at Darius, who'd risked everything to protect me.
My choice would determine everything that came next.
I opened my mouth to answer—
And an arrow shot through the tunnel, piercing through the bars and embedding itself in the wall between Garrett and me.
We all froze.
A note was tied to the arrow.
Darius grabbed it, read it, and his face went white.
"What?" I asked. "What does it say?"
He handed it to me silently.
The note was written in blood-red ink:
"Dear Princess Zara,
Congratulations on waking up. We've been waiting.
Your parents' death was necessary. Yours will be too.
You have 48 hours to surrender yourself to us, or we'll start killing everyone in the Underground. One per hour. Starting with the children.
Tick tock, little wolf.
-Your True Enemy"
Attached to the note was a photograph.
Of me.
Sleeping in my cupboard under the stairs.
Taken
yesterday.
Someone had been watching me. Photographing me. Waiting.
And they'd been inside the Reed house the entire time.