KAEL POV
"Absolutely not," I tell the serpent lord. "Get out of my den."
Soren doesn't move. He just smiles that infuriating smile. "You didn't even hear my proposal."
"I don't need to. Any alliance with you ends with poison in my food."
"How dramatic." Soren examines his nails like we're discussing the weather, not a coming war. "I'm offering to help protect your human from Tiger clan. You should be grateful."
"I don't need your help."
"Really?" Soren's violet eyes gleam. "Three days from now, Ryker brings twenty warriors. Can you fight twenty tigers alone while protecting her?"
Through the bond, I feel Thalia's fear spike. She's listening carefully, probably analyzing every word like the strange creature she is.
"I've fought worse odds," I growl.
"And nearly died each time." Soren steps closer. "Your pride will get her killed, wolf. Accept my help. In exchange, I get access to her... unique perspective."
"She's not an object to trade!"
"I'm standing right here," Thalia interrupts. We both turn to stare at her. She's small and pale and should be terrified, but her green eyes are sharp. "What do you mean by 'unique perspective'?"
Soren's smile widens. "You're human. You think differently than beastmen. I find that... intriguing."
"You want to study me like a lab rat."
"I want to understand you. There's a difference."
"No," I snarl. "Deal's off. Everyone out. Now."
The tigers leave first, shooting dark looks at Thalia. Soren lingers at the entrance. "Three days, wolf. Think about it." Then he's gone.
I turn to Thalia, expecting tears. Expecting her to beg me to accept help. Expecting her to break under the pressure.
Instead, she squares her shoulders. "Teach me to fight."
I blink. "What?"
"You heard me. If warriors are coming, I need to defend myself. Teach me."
"You can't fight tigers. You're human."
"Then teach me to survive them!" Her voice cracks, but she doesn't back down. "I'm not going to sit in this cave and wait to be captured. I refuse."
Something in my chest tightens. She should be useless. Weak. A burden. But she's standing there with broken ribs and bruised skin, demanding to learn how to survive.
"Fine," I hear myself say. "We start tomorrow."
For the next three days, I teach her everything I can. Which plants are poison. How to hide her scent using mud and herbs. Where to find water. How to read tracks. She absorbs it all like a sponge, asking smart questions that make me think.
"Why do predators avoid this area?" she asks on day two, pointing at a section of forest.
"Cave bears. Too dangerous even for beastmen."
"So if I'm being chased, I run there?"
"No! You'll die!"
"But so will whoever's chasing me." She grins. "Mutually assured destruction. Basic game theory."
I don't know what "game theory" means, but the logic is sound. Terrifying, but sound.
She doesn't complain even though I can feel her pain through the bond. Her ribs are healing slowly—too slowly. She should be resting. Instead, she pushes herself harder each day.
On the fourth day, I find her examining the walls of my den.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Learning." She traces claw marks on the stone. "These patterns tell a story."
"They're just scratch marks."
"No, they're not." She points. "See how deep these are? How evenly spaced? Someone was angry when they made these. Really angry. And here—" She moves to another section. "These are lighter. Sadder, somehow. Like whoever made them was grieving."
My blood runs cold. She's reading my history from scratches on a wall.
"The deep ones," I say slowly, "are from when I found my parents' bodies. The lighter ones are from the anniversary of their deaths."
Her eyes soften. "I'm sorry. That's—" She stops. Studies me. "You were alone. Completely alone. That's why you don't trust anyone."
"Stop analyzing me."
"I can't help it. It's what I do." She touches the bond marks on her collarbone. "Through this connection, I feel your emotions. Your pain. You've been betrayed before, haven't you? By people you trusted."
"Enough." But my voice lacks force. She's right. After my parents died, my uncle tried to steal my alpha position. My supposed friends sided with him. I survived, but I learned that trust is weakness.
"I understand betrayal," Thalia says quietly. "Cassius was my fiancé. My partner. I trusted him with everything. And he threw me away like garbage." Her hands clench. "But I'm not going to let that break me. I'm not going to stop trusting everyone forever."
"That's naive."
"Maybe. Or maybe it's brave." She meets my eyes. "You saved me even though you didn't trust me. That took courage."
Something shifts in my chest. This infuriating, stubborn human sees right through me.
"Show me your fighting stance," I say roughly, changing the subject.
She tries. It's awful. She has no balance, no strength, no instincts. A cub could knock her over.
"This is hopeless," I mutter.
"Then teach me something else. Strategy. Tactics. If I can't win with strength, I'll win with my brain."
"You can't outsmart claws."
"Watch me."
Her confidence is insane. And somehow... infectious.
We spend the afternoon going over battle tactics. She asks about pack hierarchies, about how tigers fight, about weak points. She takes mental notes of everything.
That evening, she sits by the fire and stares into the flames.
"What are you thinking?" I ask.
"About the raid. Three days isn't much time."
"We'll be ready."
"Will we?" She looks at me. "Twenty warriors. Even with your strength, those are bad odds."
"I'll manage."
"What if you don't have to fight them all?" Her eyes light up with that dangerous intelligence. "What if we could split them up? Use their pack dynamics against them?"
"Explain."
She grabs a stick and draws in the dirt. "Tiger clan has hierarchy, right? Alpha, betas, warriors. If we can make the lower-ranked ones question the raid, create doubt, maybe some won't come."
"How would we do that?"
"Psychological warfare. We make them afraid. We plant rumors. We make this raid seem cursed." She grins. "I told you—I might not be strong, but I'm smart."
For the first time in years, I feel something like hope.
Then Rykan, my beta, bursts into the cave. His eyes are wild.
"Alpha! The Tiger clan—they're not waiting three days!"
My blood turns to ice. "What?"
"They're here. Now. Soren's information was wrong—or he lied." Rykan's breathing hard. "Thirty warriors, not twenty. And they brought something with them."
"What?"
"A tracker beast. It's already locked onto Thalia's scent." Rykan looks at her with pity. "They'll find her no matter where she hides. We have maybe an hour before they reach the den."
Thalia goes pale. Through the bond, I feel her terror—but also her determination.
"Then we don't hide," she says, standing up. "We fight smart."
"Against thirty tigers?" Rykan shakes his head. "That's suicide."
"Not if we even the odds." Thalia turns to me. "Kael, you said cave bears live east of here. How far?"
"Ten minutes. Why?"
Her smile is fierce and slightly terrifying. "Because we're going to start the war in their territory. Let the tigers fight bears instead of us."
"That's insane," I breathe.
"That's strategy." She grabs her cloak. "Are you with me?"
Through the bond, I feel her certainty. Her brilliant, dangerous mind already planning every move.
I should say no. Should lock her in the den and fight alone.
Instead, I bare my teeth in a grin. "Let's go start a war."
We're halfway to bear territory when the howl echoes behind us.
They've found our trail.
And they're closing fast.