Thalia looked at the two as they sat on the couch. Thalia leaned against the table. "So, that's the plan to catch Forrest?" She asked.
Jake nodded, sitting lazily on the old couch.
"Yes, that's the plan." He said as he scratched his fluffy ear. Elena's sparkling as she watched his fluffy ears twitch as he scratched.
Thalia shook her head at her niece, heir to one of the seven houses, reduced to a star-struck mess by a pair of ears.
"Elena, please try to contain yourself while discussing the capture of a slaver," Thalia sighed.
Elena's face went red, clearing her throat and attempting to focus, though her eyes still darted—traitorously—to his ears.
"Sorry, Auntie," she said, her voice polite.
Thalia rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Anything else to discuss? Even for me, this area is… unnatural." She said, looking back at the frozen plates that seemed ready for dinner.
"I do have questions for Jake," Elena said. Both of them looked at her. Elena, unbothered, continued, "Jake, should we inform her about your… idea?"
Thalia looked between them. What was this idea?Jake hesitated, tail thumping lazily against the couch—until it stirred up dust. He sneezed violently. "Fuck," he growled, glaring at the offending tail.
Elena laughed, "Really?"
Jake sighed, wiping his nose, as he muttered curses of dust and a wolf's nose.
"Maybe… The plan is risky no matter what we do." He spoke as he leaned back.
Thalia stayed silent, her fist balled, her amber eyes glowing like flames that ran through her veins.
"What is this plan? What makes it so risky? How dangerous is it?" Thalia finally spoke; her words were sharp and cut clean.
Jake's molten eyes solidified, "I also don't want harm coming to her; the plan is risky mainly for me."
Thalia looked at her niece, then looked back at Jake, "Tell me, or I burn your fur off."
"Auntie," Elena said, her voice cold, warning tinging her voice.
Jake met Thalia's gaze as the two stood off once more. Thalia's knuckles whiten as shadows stirred.
Thalia glanced at the shadows and huffed as her hands loosened. "Fine," she huffed, crossing her arms.
"Jake," Elena spoke softly as shadows stilled.
Jake sighed as he thought more. His eyes filled with thought. "Sorry, Elena," he said softly, "I don't trust her, not yet."
Thalia nodded in agreement. "He's right, I don't trust him either."
"If you have question's I can answer them, but she has to step out," Jake nodded to the door, Thalia glancing at it.
"Jake, you're really gonna have the Flame of Helver step out of a room?" Elena quirked an eyebrow. He gave a smug, unbothered smirk.
Elena looked between her aunt and Jake. She did have questions, so many worries about the plan he in fact didn't explain well on the rooftop, then the rest of that night came, on that same rooftop, that moment, she blushed.
"Elena?" Jake asked as Elena felt relief coming back to reality."Sorry, just uh… thoughts." Her voice was high-pitched, and she cleared her throat as Thalia looked on curiously, but soon her gaze left her.
"Um, Auntie…" she said hesitantly, her gaze flicking to Thalia, who sighed as she pushed off the table and walked out the door, closing it behind them with a slam.
Elena found it surprising that she actually left the two alone. Jake chuckled.
"So what are your questions?" Jake said, his wolf's ears flicking, listening to Thalia outside.
"When are you gonna start reforming the Underground City?" Elena asked, as the possibility of him killing King William—ending the Pact between One and Five—had haunted her since he'd hinted at it. But his answer chilled her, anyway.
"I plan to reform after King William is dead." His words were cold and unsoothing.
Elena froze, "W-Why?"
Jake met her gaze, golden and piercing. Then his eyes widened as he read the fear in hers. "No—no, not like that." He pulled her into his chest. "Elena, no."
"Jake… you're not going to kill him?" she whispered.
"For god's sake, no," he exclaimed, horrified. "I'm reckless, not suicidal."
Elena sagged against him in relief.
Jake held her shoulders, his grip tight, gold meeting amber. "Elena, the pact is a lineage and a land pact. When William dies, the land pact goes away, meaning there won't be a form of government in the underground area. This will cause the five families to be dismantled and my chance to reform the Undercity."
Elena looked at him, her mind processing his plan. Of course, it was the broad strokes, but her mind raced back to memories of them talking while on their adventures. He told tales to her about how he manipulated gangs to fight one another, and then take control while they squabbled, capturing land and power for his family.
But those tales were years old… Were those small gangs practice for him? For this?
"You mean like those small takeover tales you told me about?" Elena asked wide-eyed.
Jake nodded, "Exactly like that, but bigger."
Something in her chest loosened. She shot forward, hugging him with sudden urgency—enough to topple him backward onto the cushions.
Their lips met.
It wasn't frantic. It wasn't stolen. It was the kiss of two people who had worried over each other for days, who had fought and feared and waited, who finally—finally—had a moment where the world didn't demand anything of them.
Her hands slid into his messy black hair, between his fluffy ears. His arm wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her against him as if relieved she was real, warm, safe. Their breaths mingled, slow and deep, like a promise whispered between heartbeats.
For a moment, they let themselves simply love.
~~~~~
Aries did not toss the paper. He released it—slowly—letting it fall onto his desk with a whisper of parchment. His eyes followed it, unblinking.
"So…" he murmured, voice smooth as a blade, "The Wolf and The Fox."
He reached for his whiskey with precision, lifting the glass as though measuring its weight, its temperature, its implication. The sip he took was small, elegant, controlled. Only the faintest tightening of his jaw acknowledged the burn.
Pan waited in silence, her sleek tail flicking side-to-side.
Aries's own tail curled once behind him—a single deliberate motion—before going still again. His gaze drifted, not to the paper, but to the pattern it represented on the chessboard of Altor.
"One move," he said softly, "and the board shifts."
He set his glass down, aligning it with idle perfection. Then a smile—slow and predatory—unfurled, revealing the tips of his fangs.
"So the wolf exposes his stomach to the fox." His voice thinned with amusement. "How… delightful," he murmured as he lifted another sheet.
"Lamore," he whispered, as his tail flicked.
Pan's ears twitched. "Lamore?"
Aries eased back into his chair, spine straight. His movements were clean.
"Tell me," he said, drawing out a lone document from his desk, setting the other down."Does anything about this man seem real to you?"
Pan hesitated, reading his tone. "He was seen recently at a Lover's Ball with Elena Falmil—caused quite a stir."
"Mm." Aries's eyes half-closed in agreement. "And before that?"
Pan's brow furrowed. "He's only been seen three times. Ever."
Aries's smile deepened, not with warmth, but with intellectual satisfaction.
"Three appearances. One at a dancing ball, over a year ago, the other five years ago," He tapped the document of Lamore. The name always interested him.
"Every time he appeared, Elena attended. No lineage. No property. No house sigil. No military registration. No court records. No ancestry. No debt. No footprint."
He steepled his fingers.
"No man is that invisible."
Pan whispered, "A fabrication…"
"A disguise." Aries corrected gently, as though teaching a child. "Lamore is the name you choose when you want access to the Fox without alerting the hounds."
Pan's eyes widened. "You think he's-"
Aries interrupted smoothly, "Yes, and there's only one shadow in this city that moves cleanly enough to pull this off."
"Jake Lockvry," Aries spoke softly.
Only his tail shifted again—once, like the stroke of a pen marking a victory.
"The Shadow himself," he said, voice soft, "slipping into a noble ballroom wrapped in stolen silk and false perfume. All to stand at the fox's side."
Pan swallowed. "So they've… been together for years."
"Of course they have," Aries murmured. "You don't learn a woman's tells, her rhythms, her footsteps in a ballroom… in a single dance."
His hands folded on the desk.
"And now? They work together. Forrest was merely the first thread they pulled."
His tone sharpened almost imperceptibly. "Speaking of Forrest."
Pan straightened. "Cut. Cleanly."
Aries nodded once—pleased, not surprised.
"Good." His fingers slid along his glass but did not lift it. "Borris Dale's temper got the better of him. Fire without restraint is nothing but ash."
A slow, thoughtful inhale.
"And those fight clubs… such waste. With discipline, they could have been good soldiers."
He looked not at the papers, but through them—into the future they represented.
"Prune the weak branches," he said. His voice was silk. "And let the strong ones grow toward me."
He leaned forward slightly.
"The Wolf loves the Fox."
"So he will make mistakes."
A faint smile—dangerous, patient — tugged at Aries' lips.
"And when he does… I'll be waiting."