Chapter One Hundred-Nine – Accelerated Tactics

Chapter One Hundred-Nine – Accelerated Tactics
The sound of bootsteps echoed sharply against the polished stone as Alder’s Beta, Derrick, entered his private war room. Alder didn’t look up from the table he leaned over, maps and scrolls strewn before him, until the door shut behind them.

Derrick’s face was grim. "The king is dead."

Alder stilled.

"You’re certain?"

Derrick nodded once. "Confirmed by three separate sources. He died during the summit. Illness, they say. Caius has assumed the throne. The court has already begun mourning protocol."

Alder’s hands curled into fists, the tension riding up his spine. "That wasn’t supposed to happen yet. Dammit."

Derrick remained silent as Alder turned away, pacing.

"He’ll have the kingdom at his feet now. Sympathy, loyalty, power. I don’t have time to wait anymore. If we’re going to take the throne, we move now."

"What do you need me to do?"

Alder turned back, eyes dark with purpose. "Find her. Cass. I want her found before anyone else gets to her. She’s vulnerable—conflicted. Bring the breathing potion. We’ll use it to knock her out—quietly. No mess. No witnesses."

Derrick’s brows lifted slightly. "You’re going to take her?"

"I have to," Alder said, jaw tight. "If I wait, she’ll be surrounded by guards, by protocol. But if I have her—if I have the queen and the heir—then the alphas who’ve sworn to our cause will stand behind me. With them at my side, the rest of the court won’t matter. They’ll have no choice but to yield."

He crossed to a nearby chest and pulled out a small satchel, the pale vial of misty blue liquid clinking inside.

"Make the preparations. Have a room ready to receive her. Make sure the escape route is clear. No mistakes."

Derrick gave a stiff nod. "It’ll be done."

Alder stared at the maps again, but his thoughts were no longer on kingdoms or bloodlines. They were on her.

Cass.

The one thing he never wanted to lose.

And the one thing he refused to let anyone else claim.

It didn’t take him long to track her.

Even with the bond fraying, fractured and fading, there were still enough pieces of it pulsing in his blood to point the way. He followed it out past the edge of the palace woods, to the river where the reeds swayed and the water glistened under fading light.

Cass stood at the bank, arms wrapped around herself, gaze distant. She didn’t hear him approach.

"You shouldn’t be out here alone," Alder said softly.

She turned, startled at first—but when she saw him, her eyes welled.

"I don’t know if I can do this," she whispered. "I don’t know how to be what everyone expects of me."

He stepped closer, voice calm. "You don’t have to know right now."

Her shoulders shook. She looked so small there—so unlike the fire he remembered. Cass took a step forward and folded into him, burying her face in his chest. "I just wanted to be free. Not a crown. Not a title. Just... me."

His hand cradled the back of her head. The other dipped into his coat.

"I know," he murmured.

And as she exhaled into him, as her breath hitched and her body relaxed in his arms—he brought the vial subtly beneath her nose.

A sharp inhale.

A soft gasp.

Her knees buckled.

He caught her before she hit the ground.

"Sleep, Cass," he whispered, lifting her effortlessly into his arms. "You’re mine now. Just like you were always meant to be."

Cradling her close, Alder moved quickly through the trees, every step calculated and silent. The hidden path Derrick had cleared led to a break in the woods just outside the city walls, where a simple, unmarked carriage waited—its interior dark, padded, and secure.

He opened the door and laid her gently inside, arranging her carefully on the cushions, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

Then he climbed in, rapped once on the wall, and the driver stirred the horses into motion.

As the wheels turned and the city slowly disappeared behind them, Alder leaned back beside her sleeping form, his eyes fixed ahead.

She was his now.

And no one would take her from him again.

Back at the palace, Caius sat alone in his office, papers untouched, the fire burned low. He stared at nothing, his mind a haze of grief and duty. And then—

It vanished.

The bond.

The flicker of Cass he always felt in the back of his chest—like a thread humming softly, tethering them together—snapped in an instant. Gone. Not faded, not dimmed. Just gone. As if someone had severed it clean through with a blade. One moment it pulsed quietly in the background of his being... and the next, there was only silence.

His chair scraped sharply as he stood. "Guards!" he shouted.

Two men rushed in. Kalen followed only a breath behind them.

"She’s gone," Caius said, his voice cold with panic. "I can’t feel her."

Kalen’s eyes narrowed, his entire body tensing. "What do you mean gone? The bond doesn’t just vanish—not unless..."

His voice trailed off as realization sank in, and he took a sharp breath. "You think someone severed it?"

"The bond. It’s... it’s just gone," Caius said, his voice barely more than a rasp. He met Kalen’s gaze, eyes stormy with grief and fury. "Find her. Turn this palace inside out if you have to. I want every hallway swept, every corridor searched. Now.""

Within moments, they were combing the palace grounds. Tracking hounds were summoned. The guard tower alerted. Caius himself led the search into the woods. And it was there, at the riverbank, that they found signs—faint footprints, disturbed grass, the scent of her sorrow still lingering.

But nothing more.

No trace. No direction.

Like she had simply vanished into the wind.

Caius stood at the water’s edge, the light of dawn bleeding into the sky behind him.

And for the first time since taking the throne, fear wrapped its claws around his heart.