Chapter 4 4

"Thank you, Nathan. Very useful."

"Mrs. Vivian's on your side."

"Isaac too," he added. "Even if he won't admit it."

I dragged both hands through my hair. Isaac was seventeen, nearly eighteen, and I'd killed his father. Pack law justified it. That didn't make it clean. I held no grudge against him for hating me. I'd have burned the whole world down in his position.

The others were a different problem.

Ivan wanted my seat. Claire backed whatever Ivan decided. Cador was Ivan's shadow, no independent thought yet visible. Wyatt radiated hostility but couldn't commit to it fully  indifferent enemies I could manage.

Seren was theatrical about it. Full goth aesthetic, heavy liner, eyes that tracked me across every room like I'd personally wronged her ancestors. She and Ivan had been getting close lately. Something romantic is forming there despite the age gap. I filed that away.

Grace was the dangerous one. Sweet face, soft apologies, and a talent for burned toast and curdled tea that was too consistent to be accidental. Passive aggression delivered with wide eyes and breathless innocence. I'd survived that particular brand of warfare before. I'd survive it again.

"How do I turn them?" I asked Reynolds.

He took his time. "Brethren work in family units. Small, tight, built over generations. A pack is one mass faction pulling in every direction simultaneously. Ivan and Claire are loudest against you. Word I caught before they spotted me" He paused. "They're pushing Isaac toward an alpha challenge."

My stomach went cold.

Isaac ranked twelfth across the entire pack. Twelfth meant he belonged to the thirteen  the pack's strongest fighters. He was barely legal and already that dangerous.

Raven and I had fought a rival pack alongside Adrian. Outnumbered badly. We'd moved through it faster than we should have, hit harder than made sense, came out the other side while others didn't. I didn't know exactly where we'd land in a formal ranking. I knew we wouldn't fall easily.

I didn't want Isaac's blood. I'd take it if survival required it.

Reynolds caught my expression. "Prepare for it."

"I know." I stood. "We're going to Nora's tonight. Full recharge before the council lands."

I pulled out my phone and called Blake  portal guardian, Common realm gatekeeper, one of maybe four people in my current life who was genuinely glad I existed.

He picked up fast. "Raven! What do you need?"

"Overnight. Just me and Reynolds."

A beat. "Emma's away. I'll pull in two elementals for cover. Give me thirty minutes."

"Done."

I ended the call and looked at Reynolds. "Grab a bag."

He was already moving.

Taking only Reynolds was a calculated decision. A more established alpha might have brought wolves for the image of it. I wasn't bringing anyone who might decide my sleeping body was an opportunity.

The drive was quiet.

Reynolds kept his eyes on the road. I kept mine on the problem.

Stop turning it over. Raven's voice was unbothered, certain. They'll come around.

I wished I had her confidence.

The council rep was coming.

Half my pack was actively working against me.

And somewhere in the gap between those two facts, I had one night to get my head straight.

Just exist. They'll feel it.

Easy for her to say. Raven operated on instinct and dominance. Pack politics were messier than that. I'd actually considered baking my way into their good graces  not a joke, I'd genuinely drafted a mental menu. I bake well and wolves eat constantly. But every time I entered that kitchen the whole room went silent like I'd cut the power. Cookies weren't solving that.

Blake's place came into view.

Nora's café sat quiet against the dark street, fairy lights strung across the front, candles burning inside. Warm. Lived-in. Nothing like the mansion, which ran on tension and cold stares.

We pushed through the door.

Three men occupied a corner table, drinks in hand, completely unremarkable to anyone walking past on the street outside. Here in the Other, their heads burned. Actual fire, steady and natural as breathing, crowning each of them like it belonged there. I'd been living in this world long enough that I should've stopped noticing. I hadn't. Magic still hits me fresh every single time.

They clocked us and nodded once. Blake's backup.