Chapter 93: fragments

Lia

Kai carried me to his quarters, our quarters, and I tried not to think about how natural it felt to be in his arms again. How right, despite everything.

He laid me on the bed with a gentleness that contradicted the violence still radiating from his every movement. His hands shook as he examined my injuries, the broken ribs, the split lip, the raw, bleeding circles where the silver restraints had burned into my wrists.

"I should have killed them." His voice was hollow. "Every single one who put you through that."

"Then you'd be exactly what they think you are." I winced as he pressed too hard on a bruised rib. "A monster who puts his mate above his pack."

"Maybe I am."

"You're not." I caught his hand, stilling it. "You're just... you're trying to hold too many things together at once. And they're using that against you."

A knock interrupted whatever he'd been about to say. Kai's snarl was immediate, feral. "Get the fuck out."

"It's me." Seraphina's voice, soft and apologetic. "Please, Kai. I have information you need to hear."

Kai looked ready to refuse, but I squeezed his hand. "Let her in."

He shot me a look that clearly questioned my sanity but moved to unlock the door. Seraphina slipped inside, her auburn hair perfect despite everything, her expression worried and sympathetic.

Too sympathetic. Like she'd practiced the exact right amount in a mirror.

"Lia." She rushed to the bedside, her hand reaching for mine before I pulled away. Her eyes flickered, just for a second, with something cold. Then the concern was back, flawless. "I'm so sorry. I tried to stop them, but the Council…"

"You were there?" I asked.

"In the crowd. I couldn't get close enough to intervene." Her voice caught, perfectly timed. "When I heard what they were planning, I tried to find Kai, but they'd locked him in the archives. I had to get Viktor to help me break him out."

Kai's expression softened slightly. "You helped?"

"Of course." Seraphina's smile was gentle, self-deprecating. "You're my friend. Both of you. I couldn't stand by, while they... while they tried to murder her."

She turned to me, and I saw it again, that flicker of something beneath the compassionate mask. Like a snake deciding whether to strike.

"I'm glad you're okay," she continued. "When I saw Viktor fighting you, I thought... I was so afraid we'd be too late."

"Viktor didn't have a choice." I shifted position, pain lancing through my ribs. "They would have branded him a traitor."

"I know. It's despicable what they're doing." Seraphina perched on the edge of the bed, and I noticed how she positioned herself, between Kai and me, just slightly. Subtle. "Which is why I've been investigating. And I found something."

Kai moved closer, his attention fully on her now. "What?"

"The assassinations. The attacks. Even the Council's sudden push for a second Luna, it's all connected." Seraphina pulled a folder from her bag, spreading documents across the bed. "I've been going through old records, cross-referencing dates and patterns. And I found... this."

She pointed to a list of names. Wolves who'd died over the past two years, scattered across different territories.

"They're all dormant bloodlines," Seraphina explained, her voice heavy with manufactured grief. "Every single one. Someone's been systematically eliminating hybrid wolves, making it look like accidents or random violence."

I stared at the names, my blood running cold. "The Circle of Elders."

"Have you heard of them?" Seraphina's surprise looked genuine, but something about her tone felt rehearsed.

"Fragments. Whispers." I looked at Kai. "Theron mentioned them once. An ancient organization of pure-bloods who believe in bloodline supremacy."

"They're more than a belief system." Seraphina's finger traced down the list. "They're an organized network with resources, connections, and a very specific goal: eliminate all dormant bloodlines before they can 'contaminate' pack purity. The Eastern Pack? They're just tools. Hired muscle."

Kai's expression darkened. "You're saying everything, the attacks on Lia, the assassinations, the Council's betrayal, it's all orchestrated?"

"Yes." Seraphina met his eyes, and I watched her calculate exactly how much vulnerability to show. "And I think... I think they killed Lyanna too."

The room went silent.

Lyanna. Seraphina's mate, died three years ago in what everyone assumed was a rogue attack.

"Why would they target her?" I asked carefully. "She wasn't a dormant bloodline."

"No, but she was investigating them." Seraphina's voice cracked, perfectly, precisely. "She'd found evidence of the Circle's operations, was planning to expose them. And then she died in an 'accident' that was so obviously murder, but no one would listen to me."

Kai's hand found Seraphina's shoulder, comfort for an old friend. I watched her lean into the touch, her eyes closing as if the memory pained her.

But beneath her lowered lashes, I caught it. The briefest flash of satisfaction.

She was lying.

Not about everything, the documents looked real enough, and the pattern of deaths was undeniable. But about Lyanna. About her motivations. About something fundamental that I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I should have told you sooner," Seraphina continued, pulling back from Kai's touch with apparent reluctance. "But I was scared. If the Circle realized I was investigating, they'd come for me too. And I thought... I thought maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe it really was just a coincidence."

"Until they came for Lia," Kai said grimly.

"Exactly." Seraphina turned to me, and her smile was so warm, so genuine-looking. "When I heard about the attacks on you, about your Silvermane bloodline, I knew. The Circle wants you dead or captured, Lia. You're too powerful, too visible. You prove everything they fear, that dormant bloodlines aren't weaknesses but strengths."

"So what do we do?" I asked, watching her face carefully.

"We expose them." Seraphina's voice took on a determined edge. "We gather allies, other packs with dormant bloodlines, wolves who've lost family to the Circle's purges. We build a coalition strong enough that they can't touch us."

"That takes time," Kai said. "And we don't have it. The Eastern Pack arrives tomorrow."

"I know." Seraphina's expression fell, worry creasing her perfect features. "Which is why I have a suggestion. You're not going to like it."

Here it comes, I thought. Whatever she's really been building toward.

"The Council is fractured," Seraphina said carefully. "Half of them genuinely believe Lia's danger. The other half are likely Circle plants, manipulating the situation. But they're all terrified of what happens if the Eastern Pack attacks while we're divided."

"Your point?" Kai's tone was wary now, finally picking up on something off in her demeanor.