Sleep was a country I'd been exiled from. Three nights since Joren's body. Three nights of doubled patrols, of whispered conversations that stopped when I entered rooms, of Kael disappearing into war councils and returning with shadows under his eyes that matched my own.
On the fourth morning, I did what no one expected. I walked into the council chamber uninvited.
Twelve Alpha-blooded males turned to stare. Elder Harlow's mouth actually fell open. Kael, at the head of the obsidian table, went very still — the particular stillness of a man deciding whether to be furious or proud.
"Luna." Elder Craven's voice dripped condescension. "This is a war council. Perhaps the kitchens need—"
"The kitchens," I said pleasantly, "are managing fine without me. The eastern border, however, is not."
I walked to the great map spread across the table, my skirts whispering against stone. Every eye tracked me. Good. Let them look.
"Show me where Dain's scouts were sighted."
Kael's eyes locked on mine. A warning. A question. I answered with the barest lift of my chin. Slowly, he gestured to the map. "Here. The river crossing. And here — the old Vale road."
I studied the markers, my father's tactical lessons surfacing like stones in a receding tide. "He's not testing your borders, Kael. He's mapping your response times." I traced a line with my fingertip. "First the ridge — you sent six warriors, response time forty minutes. Then the river — you sent twelve, response time twenty-five. He's learning how many men you commit and how fast they move."
The chamber had gone silent. Even Craven had stopped sneering.
"Dain doesn't want the border," I continued. "He wants to know exactly how empty Thornwood will be when he strikes the real target." I looked up, meeting each Alpha's gaze in turn. "Me. He'll draw your forces east, then come for the keep from the north, through the Vale pass — because he thinks my father's lands are undefended while Vale warriors guard Thornwood's walls."
Elder Harlow found his voice. "That's... actually sound tactical reasoning."
"It's what I would do," I said simply. "If I were a ruthless bastard with a bloodline obsession."
A strangled sound came from Kael's direction. When I glanced at him, his mouth was twitching — fighting a smile in the middle of a war council. My heart did something stupid and fluttery.
"So what's your solution, Luna?" asked a younger Alpha, Brennor, leaning forward with genuine interest.
"We give him what he wants." I placed both palms flat on the map. "We let him think the eastern border is our weakness. We pull back the visible patrols — make it look like we're stretched thin, like the council argued this morning." I caught the flicker of surprise; yes, I knew about the morning's argument. Walls have ears, and servants have loyalties. "But we move Vale's best trackers into the northern pass. Quietly. Dain watches the east? Fine. Let him watch. While he's counting our eastern patrols, my father's wolves will be waiting in the dark where he actually plans to strike."
"And you?" Kael's voice was low, controlled. "Where will you be while we spring this trap?"
I met his gaze steadily. "Bait."
The chamber erupted.
"Absolutely not—" "Have you lost your mind—" "The Luna cannot—"
"SILENCE." Kael's Alpha command rolled through the room like thunder, and every wolf in the chamber dropped their eyes. All except me.
He held my stare, and I saw the war in him — the Alpha who needed this plan, and the mate whose wolf was already snarling at the thought of me in danger.
"You'd use yourself as bait," he said flatly.
"I'd use myself as the one thing Dain can't resist," I corrected. "He's obsessed with my bloodline. He won't be able to stop himself from coming personally. And when he does—" I let my wolf rise just enough that my eyes flashed silver. "He'll find out what happens when you corner a Vale heir on her own ground."
Kael stood slowly. Walked around the table. The council held its breath as he stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off him.
"If one hair on your head is harmed," he said, each word precise as a blade, "I will burn the Nightfang territory to ash and salt the earth. Do you understand me?"
"I understand," I whispered, "that you love me."
His breath caught. The chamber faded — the twelve Alphas, the map, the war — all of it dissolved into the space between us, into the gold of his eyes and the hammering of my heart.
"I've loved you since you told me you'd rather die than be a broodmare on our wedding night," he said roughly. "Don't you dare make me regret it."
Then he kissed me — hard, desperate, right there in front of the entire council — and somewhere behind us, Elder Harlow cleared his throat loudly and muttered something about young people.
When Kael finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. "The plan is approved," he announced without looking away from me. "The Luna commands the northern defense."
And as the council scrambled to adjust, I caught Selene Cross's reflection in the window glass — standing in the corridor outside, her face pale with fury. She'd heard everything.
My blood went cold. Because Selene didn't just hate me. Selene had been sending letters north for weeks.