ARAXIE POV
The moment Cassian's footsteps disappeared down the corridor, I closed the door.
The room finally fell silent.
For a long time, I didn't move. Then slowly… I laughed softly.
Just a quiet breath of amusement.
"Arrogant fool," I murmured.
Cassian believed everything tonight had gone according to his plan.
Well who wouldn't.
After all the council trusted him again, the elders believed the ledgers.
And Lucien…
My chest tightened slightly at the thought of him standing in my room earlier.
His eyes had looked at me like I was a stranger.
Good.
He needed to believe that, because if Lucien discovered the truth now... Everything would fall apart. I walked toward the desk and pulled open the bottom drawer.
Hidden beneath a stack of papers was a small leather pouch.
Inside it was a folded document sealed with dark wax. The royal council seal.
Proof.
Proof that Cassian had been secretly sending pack funds somewhere the elders would never approve of. He has been sending money to the person whom we think betrayed him and the pack.
My fingers brushed the seal lightly.
"Soon," I whispered.
I brought my phone and called the number I promised myself never to call again. Mr Dael my step father.
I needs his help now, even though I know he doesn't do something from the good of his heart. Whatever the price may be. I'm ready to pay.
My fingers hovered over the screen for a moment.
The number stared back at me like a ghost from a life I thought I had buried.
I hadn't called it in three months.
Not since the night I left his house and swore I would never depend on him again.
But tonight…
Tonight I didn't have the luxury of pride.
I pressed the call button, the phone rang once twice. Then the line clicked. For a moment there was only silence.
Then a deep, familiar voice spoke on the other end.
"So," he said slowly, "the prodigal daughter finally remembers I exist."
My jaw tightened.
Mr. Dael, my stepfather. The man who taught me that the world didn't reward kindness… only intelligence.
"You sound surprised," I replied coolly.
A low chuckle came through the speaker.
"I'm not surprised. I've been waiting for this call."
That made me pause. "You expected it?"
"Of course."
His voice was calm.
"You only contact me when you're standing in the middle of something dangerous."
My eyes drifted to the sealed document resting on the desk. "You always did know me well."
"Yes," he said softly. "Better than most."
I leaned against the desk. "I need information."
A brief silence followed, then he laughed again.
"You always get straight to the point. No greeting. No pleasantries."
"I'm not calling for conversation." I answered.
"Obviously." He said sarcastically. The amusement in his voice faded slightly. "Tell me what you want, Araxie."
I glanced again at the document. "Cassian has been moving pack funds."
"I know."
My breath caught slightly. "You know?"
"Your brother-in-law isn't nearly as careful as he thinks he is."
I frowned. I know he purposely mention the word brother-in-law to piss me off. He made it his objective to mock me after getting to know I left Lucien for Cassian.
I waved it off immediately focusing on what is at hand. "Then you already know where the money is going, since you're one of the best in tech and tracking in the pack."
"I do."
A slow, uncomfortable feeling crept into my chest.
"Then tell me."
Another pause. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter, and colder.
"Why should I?"
Of course, nothing with him was free. I wondered why my mother got married to him
"What do you want?" I asked.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead he asked a question of his own.
"Do you remember the last thing I told you before you left?"
My hand tightened around the phone.
Unfortunately…I did.
__The world will eat you alive if you keep trying to save people. _ He said that after I tried saving my sister from her abusive boyfriend.
I exhaled slowly.
"You said helping others would destroy me." I answered softly.
"And yet here you are." His tone carried faint amusement again. "Still trying to save someone."
My gaze drifted toward the door Lucien had walked through earlier.
My chest tightened again. "I'm not saving anyone," I said quietly.
"Oh?" he gasped like he was surprised by my outburst.
"I'm ending something."
Silence filled the line. Then Mr. Dael spoke again.
"And what exactly are you ending?" I said, as I stared down at the royal seal.
"Cassian."
The word sat heavily in the air. My stepfather didn't react the way I expected. Instead he laughed, not loudly. But with genuine interest.
"Now that," he said, "sounds like the daughter I raised."
My fingers curled slightly against the desk.
"So you'll help me?" I asked for the last time.
"Perhaps." He responded with a soft chuckle. Of course. "But there's a price."
I closed my eyes briefly. "I assumed."
"Good," he murmured, his voice sharpened slightly. "Because this isn't a small favor."
My stomach tightened. "What do you want?"
There was a long pause on the other end. Long enough that I wondered if the call had dropped.
Then finally...
"I want something you have."
My brows furrowed. "What?" I asked, my heart beating fast.
His next words made my blood run cold.
"The truth about Lucien." For a moment the room seemed to tilt around me.
"You're going to have to be more specific," I said carefully.
Mr. Dael's voice lowered. "You know exactly what I mean."
My heart began beating faster. "That information doesn't concern you." I replied. I know Dael so well, he is a cunning bastard. I know he was up to no good asking for Lucien information.
And I also know what denying him can result to.
"Everything concerns me," he replied calmly. "Especially when it involves the future Alpha of this pack."
My grip on the phone tightened.
Lucien.
What did he know? More importantly, How much?
Mr. Dael spoke again before I could respond.
"Cassian isn't the real threat here, Araxie."
The words sent a chill down my spine. "You're wrong."
"No," he said quietly. "You are."
My mind raced.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're so focused on destroying Cassian," he continued, "that you've completely ignored the truth standing right in front of you."
My patience was wearing out. "Stop speaking in riddles."
A soft sigh came through the phone. "Very well."he said.
Then he said the one sentence that made my entire world freeze. "Lucien already knows."
The phone nearly slipped from my hand.
My heart slammed against my ribs. "That's impossible." I yelled out in fear.
"Is it?"
My thoughts raced back to earlier tonight. Lucien standing in my doorway, the intensity in his eyes. The way he studied every word I said.
A cold realization crept through me. Was that why he came to question me thinking I would spit the truth?
"What exactly does he know?" I asked quietly.
Mr. Dael chuckled.
"That," he said, "is the question you should be asking him."
The line went silent for a moment, then he added one final sentence. And this time, there was no amusement in his voice.
"Because if Lucien discovers the truth before you finish your plan…" He paused. "You won't be the one destroying Cassian."
My breath became difficult, I held my chest like it was about to pump out of my heart.
"You'll be the one he destroys." The call ended.
The room fell silent again. For several seconds I stood there without moving, my heart was still racing.
Lucien knows. The words echoed inside my head like a warning.
Slowly, I looked toward the door again.
Toward the exact position where Lucien had been standing earlier. A new, unsettling thought crept into my mind.
What if... he had never truly believed my lies? What if he find the real reason, and what I spents years trying to hard.
And if that was true, then the game I thought I was controlling…
Might already be slipping out of my hands.
Slowly, I looked back at the document sealed with dark wax on my desk. The proof that could destroy Cassian… or destroy all of us.
My fingers tightened on the edge of the table.
If Lucien truly knew the truth, then the fragile balance I had spent years building was already starting to break.
And once it finally broke, there would be no way to stop what came next.
One wrong move now would not only ruin my plan.
It could destroy the entire pack.