POV: Raina Cruz
The gates didn't creak when they opened.
Of course not.
Power didn't announce itself with noise it simply appeared, silent and deliberate, like fog before a storm.
Raina stood by the window, breath still uneven, the ledger clutched tight against her chest. The name "Reina Delgado" stared back at her from the faded page like a curse.
And outside, the woman stepped out of a matte black car.
She was tall slender but commanding. Black gloves. Crimson lipstick. Hair pulled back so tight it sharpened her cheekbones into weapons. Her heels clicked once on the cobblestone.
She didn't look around.
She already knew her way inside.
Raina watched, transfixed. Something deep inside her shifted instinct, fear, anger maybe all three.
The front doors opened without a single knock.
Reina Delgado entered like she owned the air inside the house.
She moved through the marble corridor, slow and sure, as if measuring the walls for a coffin.
Raina stepped into the hallway just as Damián appeared at the base of the stairs.
He wore black on black. No tie. Tension radiated from every inch of his posture. His jaw flexed once before he finally said, "Reina."
"My wolf," Reina purred.
The nickname made Raina's stomach twist.
Reina lifted a gloved hand and adjusted Damián's collar, brushing imaginary dust off like a mother grooming a misbehaved son. Her gaze flicked up, clinical and unimpressed.
"You look exhausted."
He didn't respond.
"Your voice on the phone yesterday was tight," she continued. "I thought maybe you'd finally caught a bullet. But now I see" she trailed off, eyes sweeping the hallway until they landed on Raina. "Ah."
She took a breath like she'd just smelled something unpleasant.
Then her lips curved into a smile too elegant to be kind.
"You must be the little flame."
Raina walked forward, spine straight, chin up.
"Raina," she said clearly. "Not little. Not yours. Not scared."
Reina's brow rose slightly, amused.
"Fiery," she said. "He always liked the feral ones. Until they bit."
"I bite harder than I look."
"I'm sure you do, querida," Reina said softly. "But biting only works when you're not already in someone's mouth."
Damián shifted slightly, stepping between them.
"Reina," he said. "Not here."
Reina ignored him.
She took another step closer to Raina, gaze cutting and calm.
"You know who I am, don't you?"
"I know enough," Raina said, fingers tightening on the ledger behind her back. "You bought my name. You erased my mother. You own half the people chasing me."
Reina's eyes glittered.
"And yet, you're still alive. Do you know why?"
Raina didn't answer.
"Because he" Reina tilted her head at Damián "broke every rule I gave him for you. I taught him to lead armies, not whisper poetry to pretty strays."
Damián's voice cut in, rough. "She's not a stray."
"She's not a queen, either," Reina snapped, voice silk over steel. "She's a problem. And I solve problems."
Raina stepped forward again, just enough to feel the weight of Reina's perfume jasmine and ash.
"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered.
Reina's smile faded.
"No. But you should be afraid of what he'll become again if you leave."
Raina blinked.
"You think I'll leave him?"
"I think you'll be his last softness," Reina said. "And softness is a luxury men like him can't afford."
Raina's heart slammed against her chest.
"Then maybe he should choose something other than war."
Reina gave a low, elegant laugh. "Darling he is the war."
The air between them buzzed.
Tension thickened.
Neither of them moved. It was more than a stare-down it was a silent declaration of war.
Damián finally stepped between them, eyes hard.
"This ends now. Reina, you came here to talk business. Do that. Or leave."
Reina didn't flinch.
But her tone changed.
"Then let's speak plainly," she said. "You've weakened. She is your weakness. And I don't let my wolves go soft for scraps of affection."
"She's not a scrap," Damián growled. "She's the only person who sees me when I'm not wearing your fangs."
Reina blinked.
For a split second, her mask cracked.
And Raina saw it fear.
Not of Raina.
But of losing him.
Reina turned sharply and walked toward the parlor.
"We'll continue this when the girl isn't standing on her hind legs like she's earned the right to bark."
And just like that, she vanished into the shadows.
Raina let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
Damián turned to her, expression unreadable.
"You okay?"
"No," she said honestly. "But I will be."
Then she handed him the ledger.
"Page forty-seven."
He opened it. Read the note.
His face hardened.
Raina stepped closer, her voice low.
"She knew about me before I knew about you. You think you've protected me. But she's been orchestrating both of us like pieces on a chessboard."
Damián stared at the page.
"Then maybe," he said quietly, "it's time we take her off the board."