Theron's POV
Keira's determination was impressive, but determination alone wouldn't win against Marcus.
I led her down a hidden staircase beneath my study—a passage most of my pack didn't even know existed. She followed silently, processing everything from the last hour.
Trial by combat. Three days to prepare. Everything riding on one fight.
"Where are we going?" she finally asked.
"Somewhere that will change your perspective on exactly how long I've been involved in your situation." I pushed open a reinforced door. "Welcome to my war room."
She stepped through and stopped dead.
The underground chamber was massive, filled with tables covered in documents, maps covering every wall, and shelves packed with intelligence reports. Every surface held evidence—letters, photographs, witness statements, financial records.
All of it about Silverpine Pack.
"What is this?" Keira moved to the nearest table, picking up a letter with Helena's seal. Her hands trembled as she read. "This is... this is correspondence between Helena and a rogue poison merchant. About heart-stop toxin."
"Dated two weeks before your father's death," I confirmed. "I intercepted it four years ago."
Her head snapped up. "Four years? But that means—"
"I've been investigating Silverpine's corruption since before you went into hiding." I gestured to the walls. "Everything Helena and Marcus did—every bribe, every murder, every lie—I've documented it. Names, dates, evidence that would hold up in any Council hearing."
Keira moved through the room like she was in a trance, examining documents with growing horror and recognition. "You have proof my mother was murdered. You have the falsified will. You have testimony from the elders Helena bribed." She spun to face me. "You've had all this for years. You could have exposed them anytime. Why didn't you?"
"Because exposing them without a legitimate alternative leader would have thrown Silverpine into chaos." I met her fierce gaze. "The Council doesn't just remove corrupt Alphas. They need a clear successor with legal claim. Otherwise, every ambitious wolf in the region would fight for control, and Silverpine would tear itself apart in civil war."
"So you waited for me."
"I waited for you to resurface." I moved to a map showing both territories. "Three years ago when you disappeared, my spies reported it immediately. I had two theories: either Helena had killed you, or you'd gone into hiding. When 'Kira Stone' appeared seeking work six months later, I knew which theory was correct."
Her face paled. "You knew where I was this whole time?"
"I knew you were alive and in Silverpine territory. I didn't know your exact cover until I arrived for the treaty meeting." I smiled slightly. "You were clever. Hiding in plain sight as a servant. Most wolves would never think to look there for a True Alpha."
"And you just... watched? For three years, you let me scrub floors and gather evidence while you had everything you needed to help me?"
"I watched and waited for the right moment to approach you." I kept my voice even. "If I'd contacted you too soon, Helena might have discovered the connection. If I'd exposed her without your cooperation, she could have claimed I was lying to destabilize a rival pack. I needed you to be ready. To be strong enough to reclaim your throne without looking like my puppet."
"But you were planning to make me your puppet!" Keira's voice rose. "Your original offer—Silverpine becomes your vassal, I answer to you. That's not freedom. That's just a different kind of prison!"
"It's survival," I shot back. "Do you think the other packs will just accept a restored Alpha who appears out of nowhere? They'll question your legitimacy, your strength, your ability to lead. But if you have Shadowcrest's backing, if you're my mate and ally, they have to respect you. It's politics, Keira. It's how this world works."
She was shaking now—with rage or fear, I couldn't tell. "You've been manipulating me from the start. The mate bond was just convenient timing for your plans, wasn't it?"
"The mate bond was fate. The plans were necessity." I moved closer. "Yes, I've been strategic. Yes, I've been patient. That's what being an Alpha King means—thinking ten moves ahead, using every advantage. But don't accuse me of not caring about what happens to you."
"Why should you care? I'm just a means to control Silverpine!"
"You're my mate!" The words came out harsher than I intended. "Do you think I bind myself to just anyone? Do you think I risk my life sharing a curse for political advantage?"
That stopped her. "Then why did you do it?"
"Because—" I caught myself, the truth too complicated to voice. "Because letting you die wasn't acceptable."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer you're getting right now." I turned back to the evidence tables. "We have three days before your trial. Are you going to waste them being angry at me, or are you going to use them to prepare for the fight of your life?"
Silence fell. Through our bond, I felt her internal struggle—hurt, betrayal, but also pragmatism. She knew I was right. She needed my help whether she trusted me or not.
"Show me everything," she finally said. "Every piece of evidence. Every strategy you've planned. If I'm going to fight Marcus, I need to know exactly what I'm fighting for."
Relief coursed through me. "Good. Smart. We'll start with—"
"But after the trial," she interrupted, her amber eyes hard, "after I win or die trying, you and I are going to have a serious conversation about what our mate bond actually means. Because I won't be your political tool, Theron. I won't trade Helena's prison for yours."
"Noted." I respected her fire even as it complicated everything. "Now sit. We have a lot to cover."
For the next two hours, I walked her through everything. The poison network. The bribed elders. The falsified documents. The timeline of Helena's rise to power and Marcus's illegitimate claim.
Keira absorbed it all with fierce intelligence, asking sharp questions and connecting dots I hadn't even noticed.
"Helena has a contact in Shadowcrest," she said suddenly, pointing to a financial record. "This payment—it's to someone inside your territory. Someone who's been feeding her information about your movements."
I went very still. "What?"
"Look." She spread out three documents. "Helena knew exactly when your father would be at that peace summit. She knew which route he'd take. She knew how many guards he'd have. That's not luck or good spying. That's inside information."
My blood ran cold. She was right. The rogue attack that killed my father and brother—it had been too perfectly timed, too precisely executed.
"There's a traitor in Shadowcrest," I said slowly. "Someone who's been working with Helena for years."
"And if they're still here, they know I'm here too." Keira met my eyes. "Which means Helena knows everything about your evidence, your plans, maybe even your weaknesses."
"We need to find them. Now."
"We need to do more than that." She stood, determination replacing her earlier anger. "We need to feed them false information. Use their betrayal against them. Make Helena think she's winning right up until the moment I tear Marcus's throat out in the combat ring."
A slow smile spread across my face. "You really are a strategic genius, aren't you?"
"I survived three years in enemy territory. I learned from the best—and the worst." She moved to the map. "Helena's weakness is her arrogance. She thinks she's smarter than everyone. We use that. We let the traitor feed her exactly what we want her to know."
"Such as?"
"Such as me being weak. Unprepared. Terrified of facing Marcus." Keira's smile turned predatory. "Let her think she's already won. Then when I step into that ring in three days, she'll realize she's made a fatal mistake."
Pride swelled in my chest. This was the True Alpha I'd been waiting for—not just powerful, but clever. Dangerous. Perfect.
"There's one problem with your plan," I said carefully.
"What?"
"For it to work, you actually have to beat Marcus. And while your strategy is brilliant, your combat skills are three years rusty and weakened by wolfsbane." I held her gaze. "We need to fix that. Fast."
"Then train me." She moved closer, eyes blazing with determination. "Show me every dirty trick, every weakness to exploit, every way to win against a stronger opponent. You've been planning this for years. You must have planned for this too."
I had. I'd spent countless hours strategizing how to defeat Marcus if it ever came to direct combat. But I'd never imagined it would be Keira facing him instead of me.
"The training will be brutal," I warned. "I won't hold back just because you're my mate."
"Good. Because I'm not asking for mercy. I'm asking for victory." She extended her hand. "Deal?"
I took her hand, feeling the mate bond pulse between us. "Deal. But Keira—when this is over, when you've won and reclaimed your pack, we will have that conversation about our bond."
"About me being your vassal?"
"About us being partners." The words came out before I could stop them. "Equal Alphas. United territories. Real alliance, not subjugation."
Her eyes widened. "You're offering me equality?"
"I'm offering you what you deserve—respect, power, and a mate who sees you as you truly are." I squeezed her hand. "The political details we can negotiate later. Right now, all that matters is keeping you alive long enough to claim your throne."
For a moment, something soft flickered across her face. Then her mask snapped back into place.
"Three days," she said firmly. "We have three days to turn me into a weapon capable of killing Marcus Crane."
"Then let's not waste another minute." I led her toward the training chambers. "First lesson: never trust anyone completely. Not even your mate."
"Even you?"
"Especially me." I looked back at her. "Because the wolf who can betray you easiest is the one who knows you best. And through this bond, Keira, I'm going to know you better than anyone ever has."
Her expression shifted—part fear, part anticipation. "Is that a warning or a promise?"
"Both."
We descended deeper into the palace toward my private training grounds. But as we walked, I felt it—that nagging sensation of being watched. The traitor was here somewhere, feeding information to Helena.
Which meant everything I did with Keira would be reported. Every weakness shown. Every strategy discussed.
Unless I turned that against them.
"Change of plans," I said suddenly, stopping in the corridor. "Tonight, we're hosting a formal dinner. Inviting all of Shadowcrest's leadership—including whoever's betraying me to Helena."
Keira understood immediately. "You want to flush them out."
"I want to give them a show. You'll attend as my mate, looking weak and terrified. I'll publicly express doubt about your chances against Marcus. We'll argue. You'll cry." I met her eyes. "Can you play the part?"
"I've been playing parts for three years. I think I can manage one more performance." Her smile turned sharp. "And while everyone thinks I'm falling apart, what will you really be doing?"
"Teaching you privately. Every night after the palace sleeps. Three days of intensive training where no traitor can watch or report." I felt my own smile match hers. "By the time you step into that combat ring, you'll be ready to shock everyone—including Helena."
"And Marcus will die never knowing what hit him." She said it with such cold certainty that I almost pitied her stepbrother.
Almost.
"One more thing," I said as we reached the training chamber door. "When you win—and you will win—the Council will recognize you as Silverpine's rightful Alpha. But you'll need to make a decision immediately."
"What decision?"
"Whether to rule independently, or formally ally with Shadowcrest through our mate bond." I held her gaze. "That choice will define everything that comes after. Not just for us, but for both our packs."
"You're asking me to decide our future before I've even survived my present?"
"I'm asking you to think about what kind of Alpha you want to be." I opened the training chamber door. "The kind who rules alone and vulnerable to the next Helena? Or the kind who builds alliances strong enough that no one would dare challenge her again?"
Keira stepped into the chamber, her expression unreadable. "Ask me again after I've killed Marcus. When I'm standing over his body as the rightful Alpha of Silverpine. Then I'll tell you exactly what kind of leader I plan to be."
Fair enough.
As I closed the door behind us, sealing us in for our first training session, I felt the weight of everything riding on the next three days.
Keira's life. Both our packs' futures. The revenge I'd been planning for fourteen years.
All of it coming down to one fight.
But as I watched her drop into a fighting stance—instinct overriding years of suppressed training—I felt something unexpected.
Hope.
Maybe, just maybe, fate had given me the perfect weapon to destroy my enemies and the perfect partner to rebuild everything they'd broken.
"First lesson," I said, circling her. "Never let your opponent see your real strength until it's too late to defend against it. Show me how you'd pretend to be weak."
Keira immediately dropped her stance, hunching her shoulders and letting fear show in her eyes. The transformation was stunning—from powerful Alpha to cowering victim in seconds.
"Like this?"
"Perfect. Now show me how you'd kill someone who believed that lie."
Her eyes blazed amber. She moved so fast I almost didn't catch it—a strike aimed at my throat, followed by a low sweep that would have taken out my legs if I hadn't blocked.
"Better." I grinned. "Again. Faster this time."
As we began training in earnest, I realized something that should have worried me but didn't:
I wasn't just training Keira to win her trial.
I was training her to be the most dangerous Alpha in the region.
Which meant if she ever turned that power against me, I'd be in serious trouble.
But through our bond, I felt her determination, her integrity, her fierce sense of justice.
And I realized: I was willing to take that risk.
Because having Keira Ashford as an ally was worth any danger.
Even if it meant creating a wolf strong enough to destroy me.