Chapter 33 Simple
Alicia
Rage, pure and unfiltered, surged through me as I stormed out of Rowan’s room, making a beeline for my father’s study. Each step felt like a drumbeat from a nightmare, a harsh reminder of how foolish I had been to think that girl could ever know her place. That little wench had the nerve to even look at Rowan, strutting around the house like she owned the place.
I kicked the door open, slamming it with such force that the shelves rattled in protest. My father glanced up from his desk, his calm gaze landing on my trembling figure.
“Alicia?” he asked, his brow slightly furrowed, as if I were just another child throwing a tantrum.
But this wasn’t a tantrum. This was pure fury.
“How could you let this happen?” I shot back, my voice shaking with the tears I was fighting to hold back. “You promised you’d handle it! You said you’d keep her out of the way, but look at us now! Rowan—he—” My voice faltered, and I turned away, fists clenched tight. “He’s actually defending her, Father. Defending her!”
For a moment, he was silent. That silence only stoked my anger. It felt like the whole room was laughing at me, filled with his irritating calmness and my boiling rage. I couldn’t help it; I spun around and glared at him through my watery eyes.
“You’ve let me down,” I spat. “You’ve let us both down! She’s getting closer to him every single day, and now I’ll never be able to pull her away from Rowan.”
That’s when the tears finally broke free. Not the weak, pitiful kind, but the hot, furious ones that stung my eyes. I hated that I was crying in front of him, but I couldn’t hold it back any longer. The image of Rowan moaning her name was stuck in my head, no matter how hard I tried to erase it.
My father rose from his chair with that familiar, deliberate slowness, a clear reminder that he was still the one in charge. He approached me, his voice calm, yet just a bit too collected for my liking.
“Nothing worthwhile comes easy, Alicia,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. As if that wasn’t obvious already. “You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment. I’ve told you before, patience wins battles, not anger.”
I shook my head and took a step back. “Patience? I’ve been more than patient! I’ve watched her destroy everything. She’s already got Alpha Kael wrapped around her finger. He sees no wrong in what she does. Everyone thinks she’s this sweet, innocent girl, but she’s not. She’s dangerous. She’s…she’s poison.”
He studied me for a long moment, then nodded slightly, as if he’d been anticipating this level of desperation. “Then maybe it’s time,” he said. “Time to move to the next phase.”
I gasped, startled by the edge in my father’s voice. “Next phase?”
A thin, knowing smile crept across his lips. “You didn’t think I’d rely solely on charm and whispers, did you? We strategize in layers, my dear. Lira may have slipped away for now, but she won’t be safe for long. The plan is still in motion; she’ll be out of our lives soon enough.”
A shaky laugh escaped me, sounding almost unhinged. “You have a plan to get rid of her?”
He didn’t respond right away, just turned to pour himself a drink. The rich aroma of aged whiskey filled the room. “Not gone,” he finally said. “Removed. Separated from this pack, from Rowan… from you. For good.”
My tears dried up instantly, and I could feel my heart racing. “How?”
He turned to face me again. “We set her up. We make her a target.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it,” he said, stepping a little closer. “If her life was truly at stake, what do you think her mother would do?”
The realization hit me like a lightning bolt. “She’d protect her. She’d send her away.”
“Exactly.” He flashed a grin. “And we’ll be the ones to give her a reason to act. We’ll set it up to look like rogues tried to attack her. A staged ambush. Nothing too serious, just enough to convince the family that Lira isn’t safe here.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. The plan was brilliant, dark, sure, but just right. “And then,” I said, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “You’d be the one to suggest to the Alpha that Lira needs to go somewhere safer. Somewhere far from here.”
He nodded, clearly impressed. “As a gesture of kindness.”
I smirked. “A kindness that takes her away from Rowan and from me.”
He chuckled, and for the first time in weeks, the tightness in my chest began to ease. The thought of Lira trembling, scared, having to leave the pack filled me with a strange, intoxicating thrill.
“When do we make our move?” I asked.
“Soon,” he replied. “We’ll need the right people, those who know how to make it convincing. The rogues near the border should work perfectly; they’ll do anything for the right price.”
A few hours later, we were on our way to meet the rogues. We took the woods to avoid detection by the pack’s soldiers. We needed to execute our plan swiftly and carefully, without leaving any evidence that could trace back to us.
The deeper we went, the rougher the path became, and I could catch the faint scent of rogue territory.
I glanced at my father. “You’ve worked with them before, haven’t you?”
He let out a dry chuckle. “I’ve dealt with worse.”
When we arrived, a group of rogues was huddled around a fire. Their leader, a tall guy with scars and striking silver eyes, gave us a curious once-over. “Fancy wolves from the high pack, huh?” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “What brings you to our little corner?”
My father stepped forward with confidence. “We’re here for a job. A simple one.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Simple? You don’t look like the type who takes on easy tasks.”
My father held his ground. “We need a small… accident,” he clarified. “A staged attack. You’ll need to make it look convincing enough to scare a young woman and show her she’s not safe here anymore. But no killing. Just a failed attempt.”
The rogue smirked. “And what’s in it for us?”
My father opened a small pouch and let a handful of gold coins spill into his palm, glinting in the firelight. “Half now, half when the job’s done.”
The rogue’s grin widened. “Deal.”
We laid out the plan. They would strike near the woods at dusk in two days, right when Lira usually took her evening stroll. They’d create a ruckus, leave some marks, just enough chaos to send the pack into a frenzy.
As we turned to leave, the rogue leader called out, “You’re playing a dangerous game, pretty girl.”
I spun around, a dark smile creeping onto my lips. “Dangerous games are the only ones worth playing.”
On the way back, I felt an unexpected calm wash over me. The rage that had once burned inside was now a cold, steady edge. I could already picture it, Lira’s exit from the pack.
By the time we reached the pack house, dawn was breaking. I paused outside, gazing toward Rowan’s wing of the house.
“Soon,” I murmured. “Soon you’ll be mine again.”
My father placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You did well tonight,” he said. “Now we wait.”
And for once, waiting didn’t feel like a sign of weakness. It felt like a victory already in the making.