I made the request at breakfast.
Cora brought my tray—oatmeal, toast, a mug of herbal tea I would pour into the planter by the window the moment she left. She set it down gently, her hands still trembling the way they had been since our conversation two nights ago. I waited until she met my eyes, then gave her the smallest nod. She exhaled and left without a word.
I ate slowly. My pup shifted against my ribs, a lazy roll that felt stronger than yesterday. Good. She was holding on.
When the door opened again, it wasn't Cora.
Hudson stepped inside, his suit crisp, his tie knotted perfectly. He looked like a man preparing for a board meeting, not a man who had tried to murder his pregnant mate.
"You wanted to see me," he said.
I set down my spoon and folded my hands in my lap. Kept my voice quiet. Cooperative.
"The border alliance renewals are overdue," I said. "And the healer supply agreements. The Lycan Council inspection is in two weeks. If the contracts aren't signed before they arrive, it reflects poorly on the pack."
Hudson's expression didn't change, but I saw the faint flicker of interest in his eyes. Image. Reputation. The Council. Those were the words that always moved him.
"I thought it might help," I continued softly, "if I could still be useful. During the transition."
Transition. The word tasted like ash, but I said it with the right amount of resignation. The tone of a woman who had accepted her demotion and was trying to soften the landing.
Hudson studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded once.
"Fine," he said. "Bring me the contracts this afternoon. I'll sign them."
He left.
I waited until his footsteps faded. Then I reached for the borrowed tablet Cora had smuggled in yesterday and opened the encrypted files I had been compiling for two nights straight.
---
The Luna Accord forfeiture clause was buried in Section 47, Subsection 12(c) of the Lycan Council's supernatural-legal framework.
It had been written three hundred and twelve years ago, in the aftermath of the Blood Moon Trials, when a rogue Alpha named Matthias Greywood had murdered his pregnant Luna to claim her coastal territories. The Lycan King at the time had been so enraged that he codified a biological failsafe directly into pack law: if an Alpha was proven—through witnessed confession—to have committed treason against his Luna, the Accord would trigger a rank collapse. Instant. Irreversible. The Alpha's aura would shatter, and his biology would rewrite itself at the Omega level.
The clause had only been invoked twice in recorded history. Both times, the Alpha in question had died within hours—either from the psychic shock of the collapse or from the pack tearing him apart.
It was real. It was binding. And Hudson had no idea it existed.
Because Hudson never read the boring paperwork.
I spent the next six hours drafting the activation document with the same meticulous care I had used to build every contract, every alliance, every logistical structure that held this pack together. The forfeiture clause was embedded in the third paragraph of page nineteen, disguised as a standard territorial acknowledgment sub-clause. The language was dense, technical, and utterly forgettable—unless you knew exactly what you were reading.
I surrounded it with forty-six pages of genuine, necessary contracts. Trade renewals with the northern border packs. Training schedule approvals. Healer supply agreements. Inter-pack correspondence protocols. The exact kind of administrative work I had been handling for Hudson since the day we mated.
When I finished, I saved the file and leaned back against the pillow. My hands were shaking.
My wolf stirred faintly in the back of my mind. She was still weak, still wounded, but I felt her shift—just slightly—toward the surface.
*Careful,* she whispered.
I closed my eyes and pressed my palm to my stomach.
*I know.*
---
Hudson returned at four in the afternoon.
I had the tablet ready, the contract portfolio open to the first page. I handed it to him without a word.
He sat in the chair beside my bed, scrolling through his phone with one hand while he flipped pages with the other. His pen moved in quick, careless strokes. Signature after signature. He didn't read a single line.
I watched him sign page nineteen.
My heartbeat was a steady, deliberate drum in my chest. My wolf pressed closer, her breath warm against the inside of my ribs.
Hudson flipped to the next page. Signed. Flipped again. Signed.
When he reached the final page, he closed the portfolio and handed it back to me.
"Good," he said, his tone brisk. "Anything else?"
"No," I said quietly. "That's everything."
He stood, adjusted his cufflinks, and left.
I waited until the door clicked shut. Then I opened the portfolio and ran my finger over his signature on page nineteen.
The trap was set.
---
Cora came that evening.
She brought the tea tray like always, but this time she didn't leave immediately. She lingered by the bedside, her hands twisting the edge of her apron, her eyes darting to the window and back.
I set down the book I had been pretending to read.
"Sit down," I said softly.
She hesitated. Then she sank into the chair, her shoulders hunched, her face pale.
I waited.
"He told me to increase it," she whispered finally. Her voice cracked. "The silver-ash. He said to bring the concentration up gradually. He gave me a timeline." She pressed her hand to her mouth. "Before the Lycan Council inspection. He said it had to be done before they arrived."
I already knew. I had tasted the metallic tang creeping higher with each cup. But hearing it spoken aloud—hearing the deliberate, calculated timeline—made my wolf snarl low in my chest.
"He's trying to kill my wolf," I said quietly.
Cora's eyes filled with tears. She nodded.
I leaned forward slightly, just enough to catch her gaze and hold it.
"When the time comes," I said, "I need you to remember exactly what you saw. What he ordered you to do. The doses. The dates. Everything."
Cora wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her jaw tightened.
"I'll remember," she whispered.
She stood, picked up the tea tray, and left without another word.
I watched the door close. Then I turned to the window and poured the tea into the planter, same as always.
My wolf curled tighter in my chest, her breath steady now, her presence stronger than it had been in days.
*One more witness,* she murmured.
I closed my eyes and rested my hand on my belly.
*Just a little longer.*
