Chapter 108 Seed of treason
ADIRA
The halls of the Lycan Haven are too quiet tonight. The kind of silence that wraps itself around your throat and squeezes slowly. Every step I take echoes like a drumbeat, but I keep walking, clutching the hem of my sleeve so I don’t scream.
Darian shoved me.
That image keeps playing in my head on a violent loop. The way his face twisted in disgust. The way he turned his back like I was nothing. Like I never mattered.
I knock once before pushing open my father’s door.
He looks up from the desk, eyes shadowed with age and wariness pinning against mine. He doesn’t greet me, never does. My father isn’t the affectionate type. But there’s something in the way he looks at me tonight… a flicker of unease.
“Adira,” he says slowly. “What’s wrong?”
I don’t answer right away. I walk to the fireplace, staring into the low-burning embers. My throat feels tight, but I refuse to show weakness. Not now. Not to him.
“He pushed me,” I finally say, voice like cracked glass.
“Who?”
“Darian.”
A long silence stretches between us. I don’t turn around. I wait.
Then his chair creaks as he stands. “Why?”
“Because I touched him.” I grit my teeth. “Because I dared to remind him I’m still here. Still his fiancée.”
Father exhales slowly. “He was never yours, Adira. I’m starting to accept it and you should too. He doesn’t have to be affectionate towards you. We came here for the crown and we’ll get it. Whether he loves you or not.”
“Don’t,” I snap, whirling around. “Don’t say that. Don’t act like I’ve imagined everything. You’re the one who brought me here. You’re the one who told me to attach myself to the future king.”
“I told you to position yourself wisely,” he replies, walking toward me. “I never told you to lose your dignity chasing a man who clearly-”
“Doesn’t want me?” I finish for him, biting the words out. “I know that, Father. I’ve known it for months. You think I don’t see how he looks at that girl? Like she fell from the damn stars?”
He flinches a little, but says nothing.
I laugh bitterly. “So I’m done. I’m done chasing a crown that won’t come from him. I’ve accepted another offer.”
He goes still. “Another offer?”
“Zeus.”
Now he blinks. “Zeus?”
I nod once. “He’s willing to make me Lycan Queen.”
A beat passes.
Then, he says, “He’s not the crown prince.”
“No,” I say, walking closer to him, “but he’s willing to take the crown. And he needs our help.”
His jaw tightens. “What kind of help?”
I meet his eyes without flinching. “He wants to kill the Lycan King.”
The silence that falls is deafening. Not the quiet of a peaceful night. No, this is the stillness of a battlefield before the first arrow flies.
My father stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No.”
“Adira!”
“This is my path. The only one left.” I raise my voice, my anger bleeding through. “I tried to do it your way. I played the sweet, poised daughter. I waited for Darian. I smiled in silence. I let him humiliate me. But no more.”
His voice is sharp now. “You’re talking treason.”
“I’m talking survival.”
He runs a hand over his face, suddenly looking older. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
“You think Zeus will win this? You think his rebellion-”
“It’s not a rebellion yet,” I cut in, stepping closer. “It’s a whisper. A flicker. But if we strike the right match, it becomes a wildfire. And you and I both know this kingdom is dry wood, Father. It’s ready to burn.”
He stares at me for a long, trembling moment. “He’ll kill us all.”
“Not if we move carefully. Not if we help him win.”
He paces away from me, muttering under his breath. I hear the word madness in there somewhere. I don’t care. Let him say it. Let him scream it. I’m past caring what anyone thinks of me.
He finally turns, fury in his eyes. “You would risk everything? Our pack’s safety? Your life? for what? A crown soaked in blood?”
I don’t hesitate. “Yes.”
The truth is out now. No more masks. No more pretense. I stare him down, daring him to tell me I’m wrong.
His hands ball into fists. “This isn’t why we came here.”
“Oh, isn’t it?” I say, voice rising. “You brought me here to marry a king. That was the plan. That was always the plan. You just didn’t think the king would change.”
“I didn’t think you’d lose yourself,” he says, voice low.
I take a slow step toward him. “I haven’t. I found myself. Do you know what it’s like, Father? Watching your future crumble in front of you? Watching the man you were promised fall for someone beneath you?”
He doesn’t answer.
“I won’t be forgotten,” I whisper. “I won’t be cast aside. I was born to rule, and if Darian won’t give me the crown, I’ll take it with Zeus.”
He breathes out like someone just hit him in the chest.
“And you,” I continue, “you can help me. You can help us. Or you can stay loyal to a dying king and let me burn with him.”
“I need to think,” he says finally, his voice hoarse.
“You don’t have time,” I reply. “Zeus will move. With or without us.”
He turns away, but not before I see the war in his eyes. Loyalty. Fear. And something else. Doubt.
Good.
I’ve planted the seed.
And Zeus was right, fear is a powerful weapon.