Maya's POV
"You can't be serious."
Derek's voice cut through the chaos of Haven's Edge like a knife. My people scrambled to pack supplies, to bandage wounds, to process what had just happened. And my brother—blood still dripping from his arm—stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"We don't have a choice," I said, shoving medical supplies into a bag. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. From the fight. From that handshake. From the weight of what I'd just agreed to.
"There's always a choice!" Derek grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him. "Maya, he's a warlord. The Northern Kingdom—everyone says it's brutal. People disappear. Kaden Cross kills anyone who crosses him."
"And Cassandra will kill us if we stay here alone." I pulled away, kept packing. "Thirty days. We survive thirty days, get resources, come back stronger."
"What if he doesn't let us leave?"
The same question that had been screaming in my head since Kaden walked away. "Then we make him."
Derek's laugh was bitter. "How? Did you see him? He's—"
"Dangerous. I know." I'd seen it. Felt it. Felt other things too that I absolutely couldn't think about right now. "But we're out of options."
Lisa appeared, her face pale. "Maya, most of the others want to stay here. They're terrified of the Northern Kingdom."
My chest tightened. "They'll die if they stay."
"They might die if they go."
Fifty-seven minutes left. Not enough time to convince everyone. Not enough time to process that I was abandoning the kingdom I'd built.
Not enough time to figure out why my hand still tingled from touching Kaden's.
I gathered everyone in the center of Haven's Edge. Twenty-three faces, beaten and bloody, looking at me for answers I didn't have.
"I know you're scared," I started. "I'm scared too. But staying here means certain death. The Northern Kingdom is our only chance."
"Kaden Cross is a monster," Tom said, his shoulder wrapped in bloody bandages. "My cousin was in his territory. Said he executed three people for stealing food."
"Then we don't steal." My voice came out harder than intended. "We work. We survive. We come back."
"And if he kills us first?"
Before I could answer, a voice drifted from the entrance. "I don't kill people who are useful to me."
Everyone jumped. Kaden stood there like he'd materialized from shadows—silent, lethal, impossible to ignore. How long had he been listening?
"Time's up," he said, those gray eyes finding mine. "Who's coming?"
The silence was deafening. Then, slowly, Derek stood. "Where my sister goes, I go."
Lisa stood next. Then Marcus. Sarah. One by one, twelve people chose to follow me into the unknown.
Eleven chose to stay.
"You'll die here," I told them, my voice breaking.
The oldest, a man named James, shook his head. "Better to die free than enslaved."
Kaden's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. Respect, maybe. Or pity. "Suit yourself. The Northern Kingdom doesn't force recruitment." He looked at me. "Ready?"
No. I wasn't ready. Wasn't ready to leave Haven's Edge, to trust this dangerous man, to walk into territory ruled by someone who might kill us all.
But I nodded anyway.
The journey to the Northern Kingdom took three hours.
Kaden led us through the Wastes like he'd memorized every street, every danger, every shortcut. His soldiers—ten of them, all heavily armed—flanked our group. Professional. Silent. Terrifying.
I walked near the front, close enough to watch Kaden move. He was always scanning, always aware, hand never far from his weapon. A predator in his element.
"You're staring."
I jerked my eyes away, heat flooding my face. "I'm watching for threats."
"The threats are already dead." He glanced at me, and something almost like amusement crossed his features. "I cleared this route an hour ago."
"You knew I'd say yes."
"I knew you'd make the smart choice." His voice dropped lower. "You're a survivor, Maya Chen. I recognize my own kind."
The way he said my name—careful, deliberate, like he was testing how it felt in his mouth—did something to my pulse that had no business happening.
"How long have you been here?" I asked, desperate to change the subject. "In the Wastes?"
"Six months. First wave."
"And you survived alone for ninety days?"
"Someone's been asking about me." Those gray eyes cut to mine, sharp. "Should I be flattered or concerned?"
"Concerned. I research everything that might kill me."
His mouth curved into something that almost resembled a real smile—brief, startling, gone too fast. "Smart."
We walked in silence for a while. Then Derek fell into step beside me, his face tight with pain and something else. Suspicion.
"He keeps looking at you," Derek whispered.
"He's making sure I don't run."
"No. It's different. Maya, be careful. Men like him—"
"I know what men like him are." I'd spent years dodging grabby bosses, entitled coworkers, men who thought they owned me. "I can handle him."
But could I? When just walking next to Kaden made my awareness sharpen, made every nerve in my body wake up in ways that felt dangerous?
The Northern Kingdom appeared on the horizon, and my breath caught.
It wasn't a settlement. It was a fortress.
Massive walls constructed from salvaged buildings, reinforced with metal and stone. Guard towers every fifty yards. Gates that looked like they could withstand tank fire. And beyond the walls, I could see structures—organized, planned, thriving.
Three thousand people lived here. Three thousand survivors who'd chosen to follow Kaden Cross.
"Welcome to the North," Kaden said quietly. "Try not to die."
The gates opened, and we walked into a world that shouldn't exist in the Wastes.
Streets. Actual streets with organization and purpose. Buildings that were more than ruins—workshops, storage facilities, living quarters. Farms growing under some kind of artificial light system. People everywhere, working, talking, living.
Haven's Edge had been a crude shelter. This was civilization.
"You built all this in six months?" I breathed.
"We built it." Kaden's voice held a note of pride. "I gave them structure. They gave me a kingdom."
His soldiers peeled off, but Kaden kept walking, leading us deeper into his territory. People stared at us—the new arrivals, the outsiders. Some looked curious. Some looked hungry.
One woman stepped forward, and I recognized her immediately. Cassandra.
But instead of attacking, she dropped to one knee. "Lord Kaden. The new acquisitions are settled?"
"They're guests, not acquisitions." His voice went cold. "Spread the word: Maya Chen and her people are under my direct protection. Anyone who harms them answers to me personally."
Cassandra's jaw tightened, but she nodded. When she stood, her eyes met mine. Pure hatred.
Great. I'd made an enemy on day one.
Kaden led us to a tower—the tallest building in the kingdom. "My people will show you to quarters. Rest tonight. Tomorrow, we discuss your role in the Territory War."
He started to leave, but I grabbed his arm without thinking. Electricity sparked again at the contact. Both of us froze.
His eyes dropped to where my hand touched his bicep, and the muscle tensed under my fingers. When he looked at me, something burned in those gray depths that definitely wasn't cold anymore.
"What happens if I fail?" My voice came out quieter than intended. "If my strategies don't work?"
Kaden stared at me for a long moment. Then he leaned in—just slightly, just enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him, could smell leather and danger and something that made my head spin.
"You won't fail," he said, his voice low and certain. "I've seen how your mind works. You're not just a strategist, Maya. You're a weapon I've been waiting for."
He pulled away, leaving me standing there with my heart racing and my hand still warm from touching him.
"Get some rest," he added, already walking away. "Training starts at dawn."
Derek pulled me toward the quarters. "Maya, did you see the way he looked at you?"
"He looks at everyone like that."
"No. He doesn't." Derek's voice was worried. "I've never seen anyone look at someone like that and have it end well."
That night, I lay in an actual bed—the first real bed in two weeks—and stared at the ceiling. Around me, my people slept. Safe. Protected. Alive.
I'd made the right choice. I knew I had.
So why did it feel like I'd just jumped off a cliff without checking if there was water below?
A knock at my door made me jump. It was past midnight. Who—
I opened it.
Kaden stood there, still in his tactical gear, looking like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were darker than before. Intense.
"We need to talk," he said. "Now."
"About what?"
"About the fact that you're not just here as a strategist." His voice was rough. Raw. "The system flagged something when we shook hands. An emotional compatibility warning. Do you know what that means?"
My mouth went dry. "No."
"It means the game recognizes us as a potential... pair." He said the word like it tasted dangerous. "It means keeping you close could be strategic suicide. Or the key to winning everything."
He stepped closer, and I should have stepped back. Should have maintained distance. Should have done anything except stand there while my heart tried to break through my ribs.
"So I need to know, Maya Chen." His eyes held mine, burning. "Are you going to be my greatest advantage or my worst mistake?"
Before I could answer, alarms blared through the entire kingdom.
[WARNING: TERRITORY BREACH DETECTED. HOSTILE FORCES APPROACHING. ESTIMATED NUMBERS: 500. THREAT LEVEL: CRITICAL.]
Kaden's expression went from intense to lethal in a heartbeat. "We're under attack."
He looked at me one last time. "Looks like your training starts now."