"Someone who scares them more than they scare you." His hand came up, fingers brushing her jaw. The touch was gentle, almost tender. Completely at odds with the dead bodies between them. "Someone who makes Derek Winters wake up screaming. Someone who turns the hunters into the hunted."
Iris jerked away from his touch. "By becoming just like them? By killing prisoners?"
"By doing whatever it takes." Liam's voice hardened. "You think you can have revenge and keep your hands clean? You think you can destroy Silverpine and still be the innocent girl who baked bread with her mother? That girl died in the fire, Iris. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can make real progress."
"Maybe I don't want to make progress. Not like this."
"Then you're wasting my time." Liam turned away from her, dismissive. "Go back to bed. We'll resume regular training tomorrow."
"That's it? You're just giving up?"
"I'm being realistic." He glanced back over his shoulder. "I thought you had potential. Thought you had the spine to do what needs to be done. But you're still too soft. Too human. And humans don't survive in pack wars."
The words stung more than they should have. Iris wanted to prove him wrong. Wanted to show him she was strong enough, ruthless enough. But not like this. Not by murdering bound prisoners.
She walked back to her room, the image of those three bodies burned into her mind.
Sleep didn't come. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying Liam's words over and over. Was he right? Did revenge require her to become a monster? To throw away everything her parents taught her about honor and mercy?
Marcus's voice echoed in her memory. "Tell my mom I wasn't scared."
But he had been scared. They'd all been scared. And fear hadn't saved any of them.
Maybe fear was the wrong tool. Maybe she needed to make her enemies scared instead.
Dawn light was creeping through the window when someone knocked. Iris opened the door to find Dominic standing there, his expression neutral.
"The Alpha wants to see you. War room."
She followed him through the fortress, dreading what fresh horror Liam had planned. But when she entered the war room, he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him. Tall, lean, with silver hair despite looking no older than thirty. Her eyes were the pale blue of winter ice.
"This is Elena," Liam said without preamble. "She's going to teach you something I can't."
"And what's that?" Iris asked warily.
Elena smiled. It wasn't warm. "How to lie. How to manipulate. How to make your enemies trust you right before you destroy them." She moved closer, studying Iris like she was evaluating merchandise. "Physical strength is useful. But in pack politics, the real weapon is here." She tapped Iris's forehead. "Mind games, little wolf. That's how you'll get close to Derek Winters. That's how you'll tear down everything he's built."
"I don't understand."
"You will." Liam pulled out a chair, gesturing for her to sit. "We've been training you to fight. Now we're going to train you to infiltrate. To spy. To become someone Derek Winters will want to keep close."
"He'll never trust me. He knows I survived. He'll kill me on sight."
"Not if he thinks you're broken. Not if he thinks you've given up on revenge and just want to join a strong pack." Elena sat across from her. "You're going to learn to play a role. To be whoever you need to be to get what you want. And when the time is right, when he's dropped his guard—" Her smile sharpened. "That's when you strike."
Iris looked between them. This was different from Liam's brutal approach. More subtle. More insidious.
More likely to work.
"When do we start?" she asked quietly.
"Now." Elena pulled out a file. "First lesson: Derek Winters's weaknesses. What he wants. What he fears. What he'll die to protect."
They worked through the morning and into the afternoon. Elena was a ruthless teacher, exposing every flaw in Iris's acting, every tell that gave away her true feelings. By evening, Iris's head pounded from the effort of maintaining false emotions.
"Better," Elena said finally. "You're learning. Give it a few more weeks, and you might actually be convincing."
After Elena left, Iris found Liam on one of the balconies overlooking his territory. He stood with his hands on the railing, watching the sun set.
"Why the change in approach?" Iris asked, joining him.
"Because I pushed too hard too fast. You're not ready to be a killer yet." He glanced at her. "But you might be ready to be a spy. And spies can do just as much damage as warriors. Sometimes more."
"You killed those prisoners to test me."
"I killed them because they were enemies. The test was just a bonus." No apology. No regret. Just cold pragmatism.
Iris should have been horrified. Should have hated him for it. But instead, she found herself understanding. In Liam's world, there was no room for mercy. Only survival.
"I won't become you," she said quietly.
"Good. I don't need another me." Liam turned to face her fully. "I need someone who can do what I can't. Someone who can smile and lie and make monsters think she's harmless. Someone who can get close enough to Derek Winters to put a knife in his heart." His eyes held hers. "Can you be that person, Iris?"
She thought about Marcus dying in her arms. About her mother's last words. About the smell of burning flesh and the sound of screams.
"Yes," she whispered. "I can."
"Then we have work to do." Liam pushed off the railing. "Elena will handle your training in infiltration. I'll continue combat training. And in three months—" He paused. "In three months, we're going to introduce you to Derek Winters."
"Three months? That's not enough time—"
"It has to be. The mercenaries who came looking for you will report back to whoever hired them. Word is spreading that you survived. The longer we wait, the harder this gets." Liam's jaw tightened. "We move fast, or we don't move at all."
Iris nodded slowly. Three months to become someone else. Three months to learn to lie convincingly enough to fool an Alpha. Three months to prepare for the moment when she'd stand face to face with the wolf who'd destroyed her life.
"One more thing," Liam said as she turned to leave. "Those mercenaries. The ones who were hunting you. I've been thinking about who might have hired them."
"And?"
His expression darkened. "There's only one person with the resources and connections to mount that kind of search. Only one person who'd want you alive rather than dead." He met her eyes. "Someone from your past. Someone who knew you well enough to describe that scar on your shoulder."
Ice flooded Iris's veins. "That's impossible. Everyone I knew is dead."
"Everyone from your pack, yes. But what about before? What about people you knew from outside pack territory?" Liam tilted his head. "Did you ever have contact with humans, Iris? Friends? Relationships?"
A face flashed through her memory. Dark eyes. Warm smile. Promises made under moonlight.
No. It couldn't be. He was human. He didn't know about any of this.
"Iris?" Liam's voice sharpened. "Who are you thinking of?"
"No one. It doesn't matter." She forced the memory down. "Whoever hired them, they won't find me here. I'm safe."
"For now." Liam didn't look convinced. "But if someone's looking for you that desperately, they won't give up. Which means we need to move faster than I thought." His smile was grim. "Get some rest, little wolf. Tomorrow, your real training begins."