Chapter 22 BINDING OPTIONS
Chapter 22:
Sera's POV
The letter crumpled in my grip. Rage and terror warring inside me.
"Majesty?" Lyssa's voice seemed to come from very far away. "What does it say?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't process what I'd just read.
Three choices. All of them impossible.
Surrender myself. leave both territories leaderless, vulnerable to Council takeover. Orphan Asher by choice.
Let Dante die. murder my mate to save my son. Live with that guilt forever.
Or continue as I was. keep Dante alive but never wake, lose Asher forever, watch everything crumble slowly.
"There has to be another option," I said finally. "A fourth choice."
"What does the letter say?" Lyssa asked again.
I handed it to her. Watched her face go white as she read.
"This is....Sera, you can't....there's no good choice here."
"I know."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know." The admission hurt. "I need....I need time to think."
"You have three days."
"I know!" The words came out sharper than intended. "I know, Lyssa. Three days to choose which person I love more. Three days to decide who lives and who dies. Three days to-"
I stopped. Couldn't continue. Couldn't voice the impossible weight of this choice.
"Get Marcus," I said finally. "And Rhett. And Chen. Tell no one else what that letter says. We need to strategize."
She left quickly. I turned back to Dante, still unconscious, still trapped.
"Your curse or our son," I whispered. "How am I supposed to choose?"
No answer. Never an answer.
I sank to the floor beside his bed, the letter crumpled in my fist, and for the first time in three weeks, I let myself seriously consider surrender.
Not because I was weak. But because I'd run out of strength.
\---
Four hours later, my inner circle gathered in Dante's room. Better to keep the discussion close, where the bond could keep him stable while we talked.
"We find the witch," Rhett said immediately after reading the letter. "We have three days. We tear this territory apart until we find them."
"We've been searching for three weeks," Marcus countered. "Whatever magic they're using to hide themselves is beyond our capability to break."
"Then we get better mages-"
"There are no better mages!" Marcus's composure finally cracked. "I've called in every expert within five hundred miles. No one can track this signature. It's like they don't exist."
"Everyone exists somewhere," Alpha Chen said. "They're watching us. That means they're close. We flood the area with patrols, search every building, every cave, every-"
"And leave our borders completely undefended while Council loyalists are massing for attack?" I shook my head. "That's what they want. Us running around panicked while our territories fall."
"So what do you suggest?" Rhett demanded. "Because from where I'm sitting, we have no good options."
"We create a fourth option," I said. "We make the witch think I'm choosing one path while actually pursuing another."
"Explain."
I stood, started pacing. Thinking out loud. "The witch wants me broken. Wants me to choose between Dante and Asher, to live with that guilt. What if I publicly choose one option while privately pursuing another?"
"You want to lie to a witch who's been three steps ahead this entire time?" Marcus looked skeptical. "That's incredibly risky."
"Everything's risky at this point." I stopped pacing. "Here's what we do. Tomorrow, at the territorial assembly, I announce I'm stepping down from Crimson Fang leadership. Accepting a regent. Focusing all my energy on finding Asher."
"The Continental Council gets what they want," Chen said slowly. "You look weak but rational. Not someone making desperate plays."
"Exactly. And while they're focused on the political transition, we quietly move on the witch."
"How?" Rhett asked. "We still don't know where they are."
"The letter said they're watching." I picked up the crumpled page. "Which means they have eyes on us. On this compound. We use that. We feed them information. Make them think I'm cooperating."
"A trap." Marcus's eyes lit with understanding. "You pretend to surrender...draw them out into the open then we strike."
"It's dangerous," Lyssa warned. "If they suspect you're playing them...."
"They'll kill Asher." I finished the thought she couldn't. "I know. But it's the only play we have. The only way to get all three. save Dante, rescue Asher, and keep the territories from falling."
"And if it fails?" Chen asked quietly.
"If it fails, we're no worse off than we are now." Lie. We'd be much worse off. But admitting that helped no one.
"I don't like it," Rhett said. "Too many variables. Too many ways it goes wrong."
"You have a better idea?"
Silence. No one did.
"Then we go with this." I looked around at my trusted circle. "Tomorrow's assembly, I play the broken Queen accepting defeat. We install Elder Moira as Crimson Fang regent. I publicly reduce my focus to finding Asher."
"And privately?" Lyssa asked.
"Privately, we prepare for war." I moved to the window, looking out over the compound. "Because that witch is going to come for me. And when they do, we'll be ready."
"What about the mate bond?" Marcus asked. "You can't maintain it if you're pretending to let Dante die."
"I maintain it." Non-negotiable. "We just don't advertise that fact. As far as anyone knows, I'm so devastated about Asher that I'm neglecting Dante. Let the witch think I'm choosing my son over my mate."
"While actually trying to save both," Chen finished. "It could work. If we're very, very lucky."
"Luck is all we have left." I turned back to them. "We have three days. Three days to set this trap, bait it properly, and pray the witch takes it. Any questions?"
"Just one." Rhett stood. "When the witch comes for you....because they will come...do we let them take you?"
"No." I said it firmly. "The goal isn't surrender. It's getting them close enough to capture. We extract Asher's location, break the curse, and end this permanently."
"And if we can't extract the location?"
Then I'd have to make the choice the witch demanded. But I didn't say that out loud.
"We will." I had to believe it. "We have to."
They filed out, leaving me alone with Dante again. I returned to my chair, took his hand, let the bond flow between us.
"Tomorrow I'm going to lie to everyone," I told him quietly. "Pretend I'm giving up Crimson Fang. That I'm broken and defeated. And you can't wake up and ruin the performance by proving I'm still fighting."
The bond pulsed. Warm. Almost like he understood.
"I'm going to get him back," I promised. "Our son. I'm going to bring him home. And then you're going to wake up, break this curse, and help me put our family back together."
No response. But I felt something through the bond. Hope? Determination? Or just my own emotions reflecting back.
Didn't matter. I chose to interpret it as encouragement.
"Three days," I whispered. "Three days to save everything."
I closed my eyes, finally letting exhaustion pull me under. Tomorrow would bring performance and politics. Tonight, I could rest beside my mate and pretend, just for a few hours, that everything would be okay.
Even if I didn't believe it.
Even if the weight of tomorrow's choices pressed down like a physical thing.
I held Dante's hand and drifted into uneasy sleep, dreaming of silver eyes and small hands reaching for me through darkness I couldn't penetrate.
'Hold on, Asher' I thought desperately. 'Just a little longer.'
Mama's coming.
Please don't give up.
Please.