Chapter 3

Alvina POV:

The shrill whistle had barely faded when the hurried voice of Wyatt, Deacon's Beta guard, sounded from the ruined doorway.

"My Lord! The royal messenger has arrived at the courtyard with the Alpha King's Command!"

Deacon did not waste a second. He let go of the tension in his shoulders, turned to the wooden stand by the wall, and grabbed his heavy black commander's cloak, swinging it around his broad shoulders with cold finality.

The Alpha King's Command was no ordinary summons. Deacon's mother had taken the silver-laced cup from my hands and passed it to the king; before he could drink, she collapsed, and the healers found the poison in the goblet. The king had her locked in the Tower of the Deposed, and when Deacon pleaded for both her and me, his defense only fed the royal fury. Now the king had ordered Deacon to answer for us in the royal court and submit to punishment in my stead.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. In the memories of my past life, Deacon had obeyed that exact decree and walked into the royal court, where Jens Wolfe had arranged for him to be punished with a whip secretly laced with silver needles. The torture had permanently destroyed Deacon's energy channels, robbing the empire's greatest warrior of the power that had once made him invincible.

I remembered what happened afterward, too. When the accusations against me had finally become impossible to deny, Deacon had been the first to act. Despite everything I had done to hurt him, he had secretly brought me to this very chamber and hidden me inside a passage he had built with his own hands when he was fourteen. He had risked his reputation and his safety to give me a chance to escape the people who wanted me ruined.

Now I had another chance. I couldn't erase the pain I'd caused Deacon, but I could at least return the protection he had once given me. I would not stand by and watch him walk into the same trap while I still had the power to warn him.

"You cannot go!" I shouted, sprinting across the room and throwing my back hard against the heavy oak door frame, spreading my arms wide to block the exit.

Deacon stopped two feet in front of me, staring down with dark, furrowed brows.

"Step aside, Alvina. Defying the Alpha King's Command is an immediate death sentence."

Jaelyn's voice lashed out from behind him, sharp with grief and fury.

"Are you out of your mind? You poisoned our mother, and now your madness is dragging my brother to the executioner's block! Step aside before you destroy him too!"

Her accusation struck a raw nerve. I had spent too long blaming myself for a crime that Jens and Haven had manipulated me into, but I knew better than to waste precious time defending myself to Jaelyn now. The only thing that mattered was keeping Deacon alive long enough for me to expose the truth.

I ignored Jaelyn entirely, fixing my eyes onto Deacon's harsh golden stare.

"It is a trap designed specifically to cripple you. The moment you step into the royal court, you will never walk out on your own two feet again!"

Deacon's jaw tightened, a flicker of dark frustration crossing his eyes. He reached out with one massive hand, grabbing my shoulder to drag me out of his path.

His grip was like an iron vise. The bones in my shoulder groaned under the pressure, but I bit down hard on my lip and dug my bare heels into the cold floorboards, refusing to budge an inch.

"Deacon Christensen!" I yelled his full name, my voice cracking from the strain. "Do you care so little about your own life?"

His hand paused. The sheer, desperate madness in my eyes seemed to stun him for a fraction of a second, and the brutal grip on my shoulder loosened slightly.

Taking advantage of his hesitation, I grabbed his thick wrist with both hands and pulled with all the weight in my body, yanking him back toward the center of the bedchamber.

"Have you lost your mind?" Jaelyn gasped, rushing forward to pry my hands away, but I threw her a glare so fierce that her steps faltered.

I had no idea whether I could change what was coming. I wasn't omniscient, and the memories I carried were far from a guarantee that events would unfold exactly as they had before. But I remembered how, in my previous life, Deacon had chosen to protect me even after I was accused, telling me about the hidden passage he had built for himself at fourteen. I knew I had to act before the royal messenger could force him out of this room.

I did not know where my strength came from, but I managed to drag Deacon all the way to the stone fireplace. Reaching behind the heavy mantelpiece, I slammed my palm against the hidden stone groove three times in rapid succession.

With a dull, grinding click, the stone wall beside the hearth slid open, revealing a narrow, pitch-black secret passage wide enough for only two people.

Deacon's eyes widened in shock. I knew what had stunned him, but I could not explain it with memories from my previous life—not now. According to what he had told me back then, not even Jaelyn knew this passage existed.

"Get in," I commanded, shoving his heavy frame into the dark opening before turning to the stunned princess. "You too, Jaelyn, unless you want your brother dead before dawn."

Jaelyn gritted her teeth, her pride warring with her concern, but she ducked her head and followed us into the narrow stone corridor. The hidden door ground shut behind us, cutting off all light except for a single, flickering oil lamp mounted on the damp wall.

The air was thick and cold, our mingled breaths loud in the confined space.

"What kind of game are you playing, Alvina?" Deacon broke the silence, leaning his back against the wet stone, his golden eyes gleaming like polished daggers in the dark.

I skipped all pleasantries and drove straight to the point.

"The thorn whip they prepared for your punishment in the royal court has been secretly replaced by Jens Wolfe. The tips are lined with fine silver needles."

The temperature in the small tunnel seemed to drop below freezing in an instant. Silver was the absolute, lethal weakness of our kind.

"That is impossible!" Jaelyn hissed immediately. "The disciplinary weapons are guarded exclusively by the Council of Elders. A territorial lord like Jens Wolfe cannot touch them."

"He can when the Chief Elder has been bought with embezzled military funds," I replied coldly, repeating what I had learned in my previous life after the truth finally began to surface.

Deacon's face shifted, the muscles along his neck corded with tension. He knew the rot inside the Council of Elders better than anyone, and my words struck directly at his oldest suspicions.

"What proof do you have?" he asked, his voice low and dangerously quiet.

I looked him dead in the eye, delivering the final blow.

"The proof is that Haven Bates is not guarding the southern border right now. He has already slipped into the capital secretly, escorting a pregnant female wolf from the enemy kingdom."

I had not known the full extent of Haven's involvement until my previous life was already beyond saving. The revelation had come in pieces, each one exposing another lie Jens had fed me and another part of the conspiracy I had been too blind to recognize. I couldn't explain every detail now, but I could use what I remembered to stop them before they destroyed Deacon, too.

Jaelyn looked as if she had been struck by lightning. The color drained from her face, leaving her ghost-white as she staggered back, her spine hitting the rough stone wall.

Deacon straightened up, his towering frame filling the narrow passage as his Lycan aura flared violently, making the flame inside the oil lamp flicker and pop.

"Alvina," he growled, reaching out and clamping his large hand around my jaw, lifting my face toward his blazing golden eyes. "If you are lying about this to save your own skin..."