THALIA POV
The howl behind us is getting closer.
"Faster!" Kael growls, half-dragging me through the forest. My ribs scream with every step, but I don't slow down. Can't slow down.
Through the bond, I feel his battle calculations. He's trying to figure out if we'll reach bear territory before the tigers reach us. The math isn't good.
"There!" Rykan points ahead. "The boundary markers!"
I see massive claw marks gouged into trees—warnings that say cave bear territory, stay out or die. We're almost there.
Then something crashes through the bushes behind us. I spin around and see orange eyes glowing in the darkness. Not one pair. Five. Ten. Twenty.
They found us.
Ryker steps out of the pack, grinning with all his fangs showing. "Going somewhere, wolf?"
Kael shoves me behind him. "Turn back, Ryker. This is your last chance."
"Why would I do that?" Ryker sniffs the air. "We can smell your fear. You're outnumbered. Outmatched. Just hand over the human and we'll let you live."
"Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged." Ryker signals his warriors. They spread out, surrounding us.
My heart hammers against my broken ribs. This is it. We're going to die here.
Then I notice something. The way the tigers are positioned—it's not random. There's a pattern. A hierarchy.
"Kael," I whisper. "The tigers on the left side. They're standing farther back."
"Not now, Thalia."
"No, listen! Look at their body language. Those five warriors aren't committed to this fight. They're nervous. Unsure." I point. "See how they keep glancing at each other? They're questioning this raid."
Kael's eyes narrow. Through the bond, I feel his understanding click into place.
"You're right," he breathes. "They're not loyal to Ryker. They're just following orders."
An idea sparks. A desperate, insane idea.
"What if they had a reason to stop following?" I say.
Before Kael can stop me, I step out from behind him. Ryker's eyes lock onto me immediately.
"You want me?" I call out, my voice shaking but clear. "Then answer a question first. Why?"
Ryker blinks. "What?"
"Why do you want a human female so badly?" I scan the watching warriors. "I can't fight. Can't hunt. Can't shift. Your leader called me useless, remember?" I point at the nervous tigers. "So why are you risking your lives for someone worthless?"
Silence. Several tigers shift uncomfortably.
"Because human females are lucky charms," Ryker says, but his voice lacks confidence.
"Lucky charms?" I laugh, and it sounds slightly hysterical. "That's a superstition. You're dragging twenty warriors into bear territory—into a death trap—because of a superstition?"
More uncomfortable shifting. One tiger actually steps back.
"Shut up," Ryker snarls.
"No. I don't think I will." I'm shaking, but I force myself to keep talking. "Let me tell you what I think. I think Ryker wants me because I'm bonded to an alpha. He thinks if he captures me, it'll hurt Kael's reputation. Make him look weak. Then Ryker can challenge for territory."
Ryker's face goes dark with rage. Which means I'm right.
"This isn't about luck," I continue, speaking directly to the uncertain warriors. "This is about Ryker's ambition. He's using you as pawns in his power game. And when this goes wrong—when the cave bears attack—he'll sacrifice you to save himself."
"She's lying!" Ryker shouts.
"Am I?" I meet the eyes of the nearest uncertain warrior. "When Ryker said there would be glory in this raid, did he mention we're standing fifty feet from bear territory? Did he tell you about the tracker beast that's probably waking up every bear within a mile? Did he explain why he moved the raid up by three days without telling anyone?"
The warrior's eyes widen. He didn't know about the timeline change.
"You changed the plan," another tiger says slowly, staring at Ryker. "You told us the wolf would be unprepared. But he knew. Someone warned him."
Ryker's confident mask cracks. "That's not—"
A massive roar interrupts him. The ground shakes.
The cave bears heard us.
"RUN!" Kael shouts.
Chaos erupts. Half the tigers bolt immediately. The loyal ones hesitate, looking to Ryker for orders. But Ryker's already running.
A cave bear crashes through the trees—fifteen feet tall with claws like swords. It sees the tigers and roars again. More bears answer from deeper in the forest.
Kael grabs my hand. "Time to go!"
We sprint away from the bears, away from the scattering tigers. Rykan leads us through a narrow gap in the rocks—too small for bears to follow.
We collapse on the other side, gasping for breath. I can hear the bears and tigers fighting in the distance. Screams. Roars. The sound of violence.
"You did it," Kael says, staring at me with something like awe. "You turned half his pack against him with just words."
"Psychological warfare," I wheeze. "People—beastmen—act on emotion, not logic. I just... gave them a logical reason to feel their doubts."
"You're terrifying," Rykan mutters. "In a good way."
Through the bond, I feel Kael's fierce pride. And something else. Something warmer.
Then we hear footsteps. Someone's coming through the gap.
Kael's immediately in front of me, ready to fight. But it's not tigers.
It's Soren Nightscale, looking completely unbothered by the chaos.
"Impressive display," he says smoothly. "You used tiger pack dynamics against them. Brilliant."
"What do you want?" Kael snarls.
"To repeat my offer. Alliance." Soren's violet eyes fix on me. "You have a gift, little human. You read people. Predict behavior. That's worth more than strength in the right situations."
"Like I said before—I'm not interested in your games," Kael growls.
"Not my games. Our survival." Soren's face goes serious. "Ryker will regroup. He lost warriors tonight, but he won't forget this humiliation. And now he knows your mate is dangerous. Next time, he'll come prepared."
"We'll be ready," I say.
"Will you?" Soren tilts his head. "Because Ryker isn't your only problem. News of the human female who can split packs with words is spreading. Every clan leader in the Beastworld will want you—either as an ally or eliminated as a threat."
My stomach drops. I didn't think about that.
"What are you proposing?" Kael asks slowly.
"A treaty. Wolf, serpent, and raven clans form an alliance to protect her. In exchange, she helps us negotiate with rival clans. Prevents wars. Brokers peace." Soren smiles. "She could revolutionize the Beastworld. Or she could die because she's too valuable to leave alive."
"Those are terrible options," I mutter.
"Those are your only options," Soren corrects. "So what will it be? Alliance, or—"
A knife flies out of the darkness and embeds itself in the tree next to Soren's head.
We all freeze.
A figure steps out of the shadows—lean and dangerous with midnight-black hair and storm-gray eyes. Raven feathers shimmer across his shoulders.
"Before we discuss alliances," the stranger says coldly, "someone needs to explain why the human female smells like stolen information."
Kael tenses. "Revek Stormcaller."
"In the flesh." Revek's gray eyes bore into me. "I'm the Beastworld's spymaster. I control every information network in five territories. And you, little human, reek of secrets." He pulls another knife from his belt. "So let's start with the truth. What exactly are you?"
Through the bond, I feel Kael's warning. This man is even more dangerous than Soren.
And he's asking questions I don't know how to answer.
"I'm a psychologist," I say carefully.
"Liar." Revek's knife presses against my throat so fast I don't see him move. "Try again. What kind of human can analyze pack behavior she's never seen? Predict strategies she shouldn't understand? Manipulate emotions like a trained spy?"
Kael roars and lunges, but Soren blocks him. "Wait. He has a point."
"I'm not a spy!" My voice cracks. "I just—I study behavior. Human behavior. It translates to beastmen because you're not that different from—"
"Humans?" Revek's smile is sharp. "Oh, we're very different. Unless..." His eyes widen. "Unless you're not just a human. What if you're a weapon?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Someone sent you here. Someone pushed you through the dimensional rift." Revek's knife doesn't move. "Someone wanted a human in the Beastworld. A human who could manipulate us. Who could start wars. Or prevent them."
Ice floods my veins. Because he's right.
Cassius pushed me through. But what if it wasn't to kill me?
What if he wanted me here for a reason?
"The rift experiments," I whisper. "Cassius was working with military contractors. They wanted to weaponize conflict resolution. Control wars." Horror dawns. "Oh my God. What if I'm the test subject?"
"What if you're the weapon," Revek corrects.
And somewhere in the distance, reality tears open with a sound like thunder.
Another rift. Opening in the Beastworld.
And through it steps a figure I recognize.
Cassius. With a team of armed soldiers.
He sees me and smiles.