The performance works.
Over the next week, Rhys loosens my restrictions. Slowly at first—supervised walks through the gardens, meals in the great hall instead of my chambers. Then more. He allows me to walk the grounds without guards trailing my every step. The pack sees it as trust restored. His Luna, healed from her ordeal, returning to her duties.
Only I know it's a cage with invisible bars.
But invisible bars are easier to slip through than iron ones.
I spend my newfound freedom gathering more intelligence. I walk battlements at dawn, noting which guards change shifts sluggishly. I visit the kitchens during meal preparations, learning which servants gossip and which stay silent. I attend weapons training, watching warriors and memorizing their patterns.
Every piece of information flows to Sera. Every weakness catalogued. Every routine documented.
One afternoon, I'm walking back from the gardens when voices drift from the war room. The door stands slightly ajar. I recognize Rhys's voice immediately. And another—Beta Ashrock.
I slow my steps, moving closer to the wall. Casual. Just a Luna passing by.
"The contact is reliable?" Rhys asks.
"Completely." Ashrock's voice is confident. "He's been feeding us information about Nightshade movements for three weeks now."
My blood runs cold. A traitor inside Nightshade.
"And the trap?" Rhys continues.
"Set for tonight. The old grain mill, two miles north of our border. The contact meets there every third night to pass intelligence."
"Tonight is the third night," a third voice says. Rough, unfamiliar. Hired muscle. "We take him there, use him to draw out the Nightshade Alpha. Once they come for their spy, we have them."
"How many warriors?" Rhys asks.
"Twenty. Hidden in the woods surrounding the mill. They won't see us coming."
"And if the rogue is there?"
Silence stretches. Then Ashrock speaks. "If he shows, we kill him. Quietly. Before anyone knows we've moved."
Kieran. They're talking about Kieran.
I force myself to keep walking, to move past the war room like I heard nothing. My heart hammers against my ribs. My hands shake. I clench them into fists, hiding the tremor.
Tonight. The old grain mill. A trap designed to capture Nightshade's leadership and kill Kieran if he appears.
I need to warn him. Need to get word to Sera so she can pass it through the wine merchant.
But the sun is already setting. Orange light spills across the courtyard. Guards are moving into evening positions. Soon the gates will close, the doors will lock, and I'll be trapped inside until morning.
Too late. By morning, it will be over.
I walk faster, my mind racing. There has to be a way. Some method to get a message out tonight.
Then I see her.
Isla stands in the training yard, drilling young warriors through defensive formations. Her voice carries across the space, sharp and commanding. "Again! Your stance is weak. An enemy will cut through you like paper."
The warriors reset, practicing the sequence again.
I approach slowly, waiting until she calls for a water break. The young wolves scatter to the barrels set along the fence. Isla drives her practice blade into the ground and wipes sweat from her face.
"Luna," she says when she sees me.
"I need a moment of your time."
She glances at the warriors, then nods. "Walk with me."
We move toward the edge of the training yard where the noise fades. She doesn't look at me directly, but her posture is tense.
"What do you need?" she asks quietly.
"Help." The word comes out raw. "I need your help."
"I don't know what you think I can—"
"Don't." I cut her off. "I know you've been protecting me my whole life. You knew my real parents. You made my mom a promise."
Isla's face goes completely still. "What do you want?"
I step closer, lowering my voice. "Help me save him. Please."
"Save who?" But she knows. I can see it in her eyes.
"Kieran. They're setting a trap tonight. The old grain mill. Twenty warriors. If he's there, they'll kill him."
Isla's jaw tightens. She looks away, toward the setting sun. "If I help you, I'm committing treason. They'll execute me the same way they executed those guards."
"Isla, please." I grab her arm. "You're the only one who can help. I'm locked in after sunset. I can't get a word out on my own."
She's silent for a long moment, staring at the young warriors who've returned to their formations. Then she exhales slowly.
"At midnight, I'll set fire to the armory." Her voice drops to barely a whisper. "Small. Contained. Enough to pull the guards. You'll have maybe five minutes before they realize it's nothing serious."
Relief floods through me so intensely my knees nearly buckle. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." She pulls away. "If this goes wrong, we're both dead."
She walks back to the training yard, calling out corrections to the warriors. I watch her go, my heart still hammering.
Midnight. Four hours from now.
I walk back to the pack house with measured steps. Calm. Composed. Just a Luna taking evening air before retiring to her chambers.
Inside, servants are lighting candles for the night. I pass through the halls, nodding to warriors on duty. Everything normal. Everything routine.
In my chambers, I find dinner already laid out on a small table. I sit, force myself to eat. Need the energy for what's coming.
Rhys doesn't join me. He's still in the war room, probably finalizing plans for the ambush. Good. The longer he stays away, the better.
As full darkness falls, I hear the locks on my door click into place. The guard outside murmurs something to his replacement. Footsteps fade.
I'm trapped until morning. That's what they think.
I lie on the bed fully dressed, staring at the ceiling. Counting seconds.
Midnight approaches.
When the clock tower chimes twelve times, I move to the wall behind my bed. The servant's passage Sera used. I press the hidden panel. It slides open with a soft scrape.
Outside in the corridor, sudden shouting erupts. "Fire in the armory! Guards, move!"
Isla. Creating the distraction she promised.
Boots thunder past my door. The guard stationed outside runs toward the commotion.
I slip into the passage and pull the panel closed behind me. Darkness swallows me whole.