The elevator smelled like fear and expensive cologne.
I kept my eyes on the descending numbers, watching them tick down like a countdown to my own execution. Twelve. Eleven. Ten. Kael stood beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched, far enough that it looked professional. Naima was on my other side, humming something under her breath that might have been a prayer or a song. I couldn't tell.
My heel was too tight. I'd noticed it the second I put the shoes on but there hadn't been time to find different ones, and now with every step I could feel the leather biting into my ankle. Stupid thing to focus on. I was about to face a council of Alphas who wanted to decide my fate like I was livestock, and I was worried about a blister.
"Stop fidgeting," Kael said quietly.
I looked down. My hand had been worrying the fabric of my dress, twisting it into wrinkles. I forced myself to let go, smooth it flat.
"I'm not fidgeting."
"You're terrified."
"I'm strategically anxious. There's a difference."
Naima made a sound that might have been a laugh. "I like her."
"Everyone likes her until she opens her mouth in front of the council," Kael muttered. "Then they're going to want her locked up for insubordination."
I turned to look at him. "Are you suggesting I should just sit there and take whatever they throw at me? Nod and smile and act grateful they're even letting me breathe?"
"I'm suggesting you don't give them a reason to see you as a threat."
"I am a threat. We established that this morning when I made three grown Alphas run away crying."
"You made them feel your fear," he corrected. "That's not the same as being dangerous."
"Isn't it?"
The elevator dinged. Fifth floor. We had two more to go.
Kael's hand found the small of my back. Just resting there, not pushing, not guiding. Just there. I could feel the heat of it through the thin fabric of the dress.
"When we get in there," he said, voice low enough that only I could hear, "don't look at Marcus Kane. He's going to try to bait you, get you emotional. That's when your projection is most likely to leak out."
"How do you know he'll bait me?"
"Because that's what I would do if I wanted to prove an Omega was unstable."
Great. Fantastic. I was walking into a room full of people who wanted me to fail, guided by a man who thought like them.
"What else?" I asked.
"Ronan Crowe is old guard. Traditional. He's going to say something offensive about Omegas being property or needing to be controlled. Don't react."
"Don't react to being called property."
"Exactly."
"You're asking me to be a doormat."
"I'm asking you to be smart." His hand pressed slightly harder. "Just for an hour. Then you can tell me exactly what you think of every single one of them and I'll agree with all of it."
"Even if I say you're an asshole for making me do this?"
"Especially then."
Third floor.
My stomach was doing something complicated. Twisting and dropping and rising all at once. I'd faced angry wolves before. Faced Alphas who looked at me like I was meat. But this was different. This was organized. Official. A room full of men who'd made careers out of controlling people like me, and I was supposed to walk in there and convince them I wasn't worth controlling.
The elevator stopped.
Second floor. The doors didn't open. We just stood there in the fluorescent silence while the elevator hummed around us.
"Why did we stop?" I asked.
Kael pressed the button again. Nothing happened. He pressed it three more times, harder, like that would make a difference.
"Something's wrong," Naima said.
"No shit." I was already looking for an emergency button, a phone, anything. "Are we stuck?"
"We're not stuck." Kael's voice had gone cold. "Someone stopped us."
"Who would—"
The lights cut out.
Complete darkness. The kind that pressed against your eyeballs and made you question whether you still had them. I felt Naima shift beside me, heard Kael's breathing change, faster, sharper.
"Don't move," he said.
"Wasn't planning on it."
Something scraped against the elevator roof. Metal on metal, deliberate. Someone was up there.
"Kael." Naima's voice was steady but I could hear the edge underneath. "We need to get her out of here."
"Working on it."
The scraping got louder. I could hear voices now, muffled through the ceiling. Male voices. More than one.
My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat. This was a trap. Had to be. Someone had stopped the elevator, cut the power, and now they were going to—what? Drop in from above? Gas us? I didn't know but every instinct was screaming danger.
"Aria." Kael's hand found mine in the dark. "When I tell you to run, you run. Don't look back. Don't wait for me. Just run."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You'll do what I tell you."
"Fuck that."
The ceiling panel shifted. Light spilled in from above, blinding after the darkness. I threw my hand up to shield my eyes and saw a shape dropping through the opening, landing in a crouch that was too graceful, too controlled.
The emergency lights kicked on. Dim red glow that made everything look like we were underwater.
The man straightened. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a face that might have been handsome if it wasn't currently arranged into an expression of cold amusement. He looked at Kael first, then Naima, then me.
His eyes lingered.
"Alpha King." His voice was smooth, cultured. "We meet at last."
Kael moved between us so fast I barely saw it. One second he was beside me, the next he was a wall of muscle and rage blocking the stranger's view.
"Darius Hunt." The name came out like a curse. "You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't rip your throat out."
Darius smiled. "Because we're in an enclosed space and your Omega would get caught in the crossfire. Also because I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk."
"Talk. In a stopped elevator. After cutting the power."
"Theatrics. You understand theatrics, don't you? Given that you're currently harboring an unmated Omega in your quarters and parading her in front of the council like she's your personal—"
Kael lunged.
Naima caught him, both hands on his chest, and it took everything she had to hold him back. I could see his muscles straining, his wolf right there under his skin, ready to tear this man apart.
"Not here," Naima hissed. "Kael. Not here."
Darius hadn't moved. Hadn't even flinched. "See? This is why I wanted to talk privately. You're not exactly rational when it comes to her."
"Get to the point before I forget why killing you is a bad idea."
"The point is that you're about to walk into a council meeting where twelve Alphas are going to decide what to do with an unmated Omega. And I'm here to offer you a deal."
I stepped around Kael before he could stop me. "I don't make deals with people who trap me in elevators."
Darius's attention shifted to me and something in his expression changed. Sharpened. "Aria Morgan. Twenty-two years old. Parents died when you were sixteen in a rogue attack. Been hiding as a Beta ever since. Suppressants purchased illegally from a dealer in the southern territories. You've been very careful. Until three days ago."
Ice slid down my spine. "How do you know all that?"
"I make it my business to know things." He took a step closer. Kael growled but I held up a hand.
"What deal?" I asked.
"Aria—" Kael started.
"Let him talk."
Darius's smile widened. "Smart girl. Here's what I know. The council wants you under control. They don't care whose control, as long as you're not running around free with abilities they don't understand. Kael here wants to keep you but can't mark you without starting a war with the Kane pack. And you want your freedom."
"Still waiting for the deal part."
"I can give you freedom. Real freedom. Not locked in a tower, not bound to an Alpha who's choosing you out of obligation. You come with me, I'll take you somewhere the council can't reach you. Somewhere you can learn to control your abilities. Use them. Be what you're supposed to be."
"And what's that?"
"Powerful."
The word hung in the air like smoke.
Kael's hand found my wrist. "Don't listen to him."
"Why not? He's offering me what you won't."
"He's offering you a cage with a different lock."
"At least he's honest about it." I pulled my wrist free, kept my eyes on Darius. "What do you want in return?"
"Your loyalty. Your abilities. An alliance between my pack and whatever you become."
"I'm not joining your pack."
"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to be my partner. My equal. Build something new together."
Naima made a disgusted sound. "He's lying. Aria, he's a known trafficker. He doesn't want you as a partner, he wants you as a weapon."
"Everyone wants me as a weapon," I shot back. "At least he's admitting it."
"This is insane." Kael's voice had gone deadly quiet. "You're not actually considering this."
Was I? I didn't know. Didn't know anything except that I was tired of being everyone's problem to solve, everyone's asset to control. Tired of men deciding my fate while I stood there and took it.
"Tell me something," I said to Darius. "Why did my suppressants fail?"
The question seemed to surprise him. His smile faltered, just for a second. "What makes you think I would know?"
"Because nothing you've said has been a guess. You knew where I got them. Knew exactly when they failed. So either you're very good at gathering information or you had something to do with it."
"Clever."
"Answer the question."
He glanced at Kael, then back to me. "Your suppressants didn't fail. They were neutralized. Someone slipped a compound into your drink at the Summit. Something specifically designed to burn through synthetic hormones."
The elevator seemed to tilt. "Who?"
"Does it matter? The point is someone wanted you exposed. Wanted you vulnerable. And here you are."
"Who?" I repeated, harder.
"I don't know. But I have suspicions."
Kael moved so fast I didn't see it coming. His hand was around Darius's throat, slamming him back against the elevator wall hard enough to dent the metal.
"Names," he snarled. "Now."
Darius didn't struggle. Just smiled that cold smile with Kael's hand crushing his windpipe. "Can't breathe. Can't talk."
Kael loosened his grip fractionally. "Talk."
"Someone on the council. Someone who benefits from chaos. Someone who wanted to force your hand." Darius's eyes slid to me. "You should ask yourself who gains the most from you being unmated and unprotected."
Marcus Kane. Had to be. He wanted the alliance with Kael, wanted his daughter as Queen. An unmated Omega showing up would be the perfect disruption.
But something about it didn't fit. If Marcus wanted to disrupt things, why call a council meeting? Why give Kael a chance to mark me and secure his claim?
Unless he knew Kael wouldn't. Unless he was counting on Kael's sense of duty to keep him from doing the one thing that would solve everything.
"This is a waste of time." Naima pulled out her phone. "I'm calling security."
"They won't come," Darius said. "I've made arrangements."
"Of course you have."
The elevator lurched. Started moving again. Down, not up. We were going down.
"What did you do?" Kael's grip tightened.
"Nothing. That's the timer running out. You have about thirty seconds before we reach the basement and my people extract me. So here's my final offer, Aria Morgan. Come with me now, or go upstairs and let twelve Alphas decide your fate. Your choice."
The elevator was picking up speed. Faster than it should, faster than was safe. Naima grabbed the railing, cursing. Kael still had Darius by the throat but his attention was split now, divided between the threat in front of him and the one beneath us.
Twenty seconds.
"How do I know you won't just lock me up the second I agree?" I asked.
"You don't. But you don't know Kael won't either. At least with me, you'll have a choice in what you become."
Fifteen seconds.
My mind was racing. This was insane. I didn't trust Darius Hunt any farther than I could throw him. But he was right about one thing. I was tired of being everyone's problem.
Ten seconds.
"Aria." Kael's voice cut through my thoughts. "Don't do this. Please."
The please almost broke me. I'd never heard him say it like that. Like he was begging.
Five seconds.
"I'm not going with you," I said to Darius.
His expression didn't change. "Shame. The offer expires in three, two—"
The elevator slammed to a stop. The doors didn't open. We were between floors, suspended in red emergency lighting with Darius Hunt smiling like he'd already won.
"What now?" I asked.
"Now we wait for my people to cut through the doors. Should take about two minutes. You can still change your mind."
"Not happening."
"We'll see."
Grinding metal above us. The ceiling panel shifted again and two more shapes dropped through. Bigger than Darius, armed, moving with military precision. They flanked him like guards.
Kael released Darius's throat and stepped back, putting himself between me and all three of them. Naima moved to his right, forming a barrier.
"Last chance," Darius said, rubbing his throat. "Come with me or face the council. Choose."
"I already chose."
"Then you're a fool." He nodded to his guards. "Extract me. Leave them."
The guards moved to the doors, producing some kind of tool. Started cutting. Sparks flew, the smell of burning metal filling the small space.
Two minutes, he'd said. Two minutes and he'd be gone and I'd never know if I'd made the right choice.
"Wait," I heard myself say.
Everyone froze.
"I want to know who did it. Who drugged me." I looked at Darius. "You said you had suspicions. Tell me."
"Why should I?"
"Because if you're telling the truth about wanting me as a partner, you'll prove it. Give me something I can use."
He studied me for a long moment. Then smiled. "It wasn't Marcus Kane."
The words hit like a slap. "What?"
"Everyone's going to assume it was him. Political motivation, opportunity, all of it points to Kane. But he's too obvious. Too clean." Darius's eyes glinted in the red light. "The person who drugged you is someone you trust. Someone close enough to slip something into your drink without you noticing. Someone who wanted you exposed but not claimed."
My mind went blank. Someone I trust. Someone close.
"You're lying," Kael said.
"Am I? Think about it. Who benefits most from an unmated Omega causing chaos in your territory? Who gets to play savior while simultaneously proving you're not fit to lead?"
The cutting stopped. One guard pulled the doors open just enough to slip through. The other gestured for Darius to follow.
"Figure it out," Darius said, backing toward the opening. "And when you do, when you realize you can't trust anyone in that council room, you know where to find me."
He was gone. Disappeared through the gap in the doors like smoke.
Kael lunged for the opening but Naima caught him. "Let him go. We have bigger problems."
"He just confessed to kidnapping—"
"He didn't kidnap anyone. We're fine. He talked, we listened, he left." Naima's voice was sharp. "What we need to do is get upstairs before the council thinks we're not coming."
"He said someone close to her drugged her," Kael said. "Someone she trusts."
"He could be lying. Trying to create division."
"Or he could be telling the truth."
I was still standing there, frozen, trying to make my brain work. Someone close to me. Someone I trust.
I didn't trust anyone.
Except Iris.
No. No, that was insane. Iris was my best friend. She'd been helping me hide for years. She had no reason to expose me, no reason to—
She'd been standing right next to me at the Summit. Had handed me a champagne flute. Said I looked flushed, asked if I was okay.
My stomach turned over.
"Aria." Kael's hand on my shoulder. "We need to move."
"It was Iris," I whispered.
"What?"
"My friend. Iris. She gave me a drink right before—" I couldn't finish. Couldn't say it out loud because saying it would make it real.
"You don't know that."
"She's the only one who could have. The only one close enough." I looked up at him. "We need to find her. Before the council meeting. I need to know."
"We don't have time."
"Make time."
Naima was already on her phone. "I'll have security locate her. Bring her to the council chambers."
"No. Not the chambers. Somewhere private." My mind was racing now, pieces clicking into place. "If she did this, if she drugged me, she had a reason. And I need to know what it is before I walk into that room."
Kael was studying my face. "You're sure about this?"
"No. But I need to find out."
He nodded once. Looked at Naima. "Bring her to the king's study. Ten minutes."
"The council—"
"Can wait."
Naima hesitated, then nodded and disappeared through the gap in the doors.
It was just us. Me and Kael in a broken elevator, red lights flickering, the smell of burned metal thick in the air.
"If she did this," he said quietly, "if she's the one who exposed you, do you know what that means?"
"It means I can't trust anyone."
"It means someone wanted you vulnerable. Wanted you in heat. Wanted you in my bed." His hand came up to cup my face. "Which means this was planned. All of it."
The implication settled like lead in my stomach. If Iris drugged me, if she'd deliberately triggered my heat at the Summit, then someone had told her to do it. Someone had orchestrated this whole thing.
But why?
"We need to go," I said.
He pulled me through the gap in the doors. We were in some kind of maintenance corridor, dimly lit, smelling of dust and oil. Kael took my hand and we ran.
My heel broke on the third step.
I stumbled, caught myself against the wall, cursing. Kael stopped, looked back.
"I'm fine," I said, kicking off both shoes. "Keep moving."
We ran barefoot through corridors I didn't recognize, up stairs that seemed to go on forever, through doors that Kael opened with keys I didn't know he had. My dress was hiked up around my thighs, my hair coming loose from whatever style it had been in.
When we finally stopped, we were in a small study. Dark wood, leather chairs, books lining the walls. A desk covered in papers. Windows overlooking the forest.
Kael locked the door behind us and pulled out his phone. "Owen. I need you to delay the council. I don't care how. Thirty minutes."
I couldn't hear Owen's response but I could imagine it.
"Just do it," Kael snapped and hung up.
He turned to me. "You're bleeding."
I looked down. My feet were cut up from running barefoot, small cuts already healing but still seeping blood. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine. None of this is fine." He crossed to me, grabbed my shoulders. "If Darius is right, if someone close to you set this up, then we can't trust anyone in that council room. Which means walking in there is suicide."
"I don't have a choice."
"Yes, you do. We leave. Right now. Get in a car and drive until we're out of council jurisdiction. Figure the rest out later."
"And start a war?"
"I don't care about the war."
"Yes, you do." I pulled away from him. "You care about your kingdom and your people and your responsibilities. That's why we're in this mess."
"We're in this mess because someone drugged you and I was too busy playing politics to protect you."
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
The door rattled. Someone trying the handle.
"It's me," Naima's voice came through. "I have her."
Kael unlocked the door. Naima entered first, then Iris.
My best friend looked terrified. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying. When she saw me, her face crumpled.
"Aria, thank god. I heard you were attacked. Are you okay?"
I just looked at her. Trying to see past the concern, past the tears, to whatever truth was underneath.
"Did you drug me?" I asked.
The question landed like a bomb. Iris went white. "What? No. Aria, what are you—"
"At the Summit. You gave me champagne. Right before my heat started."
"I gave you a drink, yes, but I didn't—" She looked around wildly, at Kael, at Naima, back to me. "You think I poisoned you?"
"Did you?"
"No! How could you even ask me that?"
She sounded genuine. Looked genuine. But Darius's words kept echoing in my head. Someone you trust. Someone close.
"Where did you get the champagne?" Kael asked.
"From a server. I don't know. There were dozens of them." Iris's voice was rising. "Aria, please. You know me. I would never hurt you."
"Then tell me why my suppressants failed right after drinking what you gave me."
"I don't know! Maybe they just failed. Maybe it was bad timing. Maybe—" She stopped. Something changed in her expression. "There was a woman. At the Summit. She asked me to give you a drink. Said she was from your pack's delegation."
My heart stopped. "What woman?"
"I don't know. I'd never seen her before. She said she had a message from Elder Thomas. That he wanted you to stay hydrated because the heat in the hall was intense." Iris's hands were shaking. "I didn't think anything of it. She seemed legitimate. Had pack credentials and everything."
"Describe her," Naima said sharply.
"Tall. Dark hair. Maybe forty? She had this scar on her hand, right here." Iris touched her left palm. "Shaped like a crescent moon."
Kael and Naima exchanged a look I couldn't read.
"What?" I demanded. "Who is that?"
"Vivian Kane," Kael said slowly. "Celeste's mother."
The room tilted. Celeste's mother had drugged me. Had deliberately triggered my heat. Had set all of this in motion.
But why?
"This doesn't make sense," I said. "If she wanted to disrupt your engagement to Celeste, why would she drug me? Why create an unmated Omega situation?"
"Unless she didn't want to disrupt it," Naima said. "Unless she wanted exactly what happened. You in heat, Kael forced to help you, the council demanding answers."
"Why?" I asked again.
Kael's jaw was tight. "Because if I'm forced to choose between you and Celeste in front of the council, and I choose Celeste, then Vivian gets exactly what she wants. The alliance secured, me proven to be a king who puts duty first, and you discredited as a distraction I rejected."
"And if you choose me?"
"Then Vivian can claim I'm unfit to lead. Too emotional. Too compromised by an Omega. She pushes for a vote of no confidence, gets me removed, and puts someone more controllable in my place."
"Either way she wins," Naima finished.
Iris was crying for real now. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know."
I wanted to comfort her. Wanted to say it wasn't her fault. But I couldn't make myself move, couldn't make the words come out.
Someone had played us all. Had orchestrated every step of this from the moment my suppressants burned out to right now, standing in this study trying to figure out how we'd been manipulated.
"The council," I said. "We're late."
"Fuck the council," Kael said.
"No. We go. Right now." I looked at him. "Because if Vivian Kane thinks she's going to use me to control you, she's about to learn exactly how wrong she is."
Something flashed in his eyes. Pride maybe. Or fear. "What are you planning?"
"I'm going to walk into that council room and tell them everything. About being drugged. About Vivian Kane. About all of it."
"That's suicide."
"Maybe. But I'm tired of being everyone's pawn." I held out my hand. "Are you coming or not?"
He took it.
We left Iris in the study with Naima, who promised to keep her safe and get a full statement. Then Kael and I were moving again, through corridors that seemed designed to confuse, down stairs that led to more stairs.
My feet hurt. My dress was ruined. I'd lost my shoes somewhere between the elevator and the study.
I'd never felt more ready for a fight in my life.
The council chambers were behind a massive set of double doors. Two guards stood outside, their eyes widening when they saw us.
"They're waiting," one said.
"Good," I replied. "Let them wait a little longer."
I turned to Kael. "Whatever happens in there, whatever they say or do, I need you to let me handle it."
"Aria—"
"Promise me."
His jaw clenched. But he nodded. "I promise."
"Liar."
His mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "Yeah."
The guards opened the doors.
We walked in together.
And twelve Alphas turned to look at the barefoot, bleeding, furious Omega who'd just crashed their meeting.
This was going to be fun.