Chapter 20 Silence of a Spy

Chapter 20 Silence of a Spy
Lena

I learned early that survival is about balance. Not loyalty, or honesty, or even strength—those are luxuries. Balance is knowing how much truth to carry and how much to hide. How close to stand to the fire without letting it burn your skin.

That’s why I’m here.

The Draven estate wakes slowly, like a great beast stretching its limbs. Stone corridors echo with soft footfalls. Servants murmur. Wolves shift behind human masks. I move through it all with practiced ease, a tray balanced on one arm, my head lowered just enough to look unremarkable.

Lena Voss. Servant. Nobody.

Spy.

The Voss Pack doesn’t waste people. We specialize in watching, in waiting, in collecting pieces until a picture forms sharp enough to cut someone open. My assignment is simple on paper: observe the Dravens. Track their movements. Learn their plans. Determine whether Kaelen Draven has taken—or is close to taking—a spouse.

Because a married heir is a dangerous thing.

Marrying cements power. It stabilizes succession. It gives the pack something to rally around, something sacred to protect. And if that spouse is a mate, that makes an Alpha harder to unseat.

But it also creates a weakness. A pressure point. Which is where I come in. I was supposed to be here for three months, maybe four. Long enough to gather information, seed small disruptions, and disappear before anyone noticed the pattern. I wasn’t supposed to care. Wasn’t supposed to form attachments. And I definitely wasn’t supposed to meet Sierra Lark.

Sierra exists like someone who expects the world to strike without warning. Always alert. Always braced. Even when she’s relaxed, there’s tension coiled beneath her skin.

I recognize it instantly. That’s how hunted wolves survive.

I didn’t plan on befriending her; I didn’t plan on listening when she talked about her pack in half-finished sentences, or noticing the way her shoulders ease when she laughs. I didn’t plan on liking her. And yet….

“Did you sleep?” I ask as I come up behind her in the kitchen. I drop the tray of discarded dishes onto the counter near the sink.

She acknowledges me with a slight smile. “Some.” A lie, but not a defensive one. “You?”

“Oh, you know, always.” I give her a smirk. “What are your assignments for the rest of the day?”

“I’m just finishing up down here, and then I’m to go to the eastern gardens again before finishing in the laundry.” She has a slight air of hopefulness that perks my ears.

I raise an eyebrow at her. “Ah, the gardens. I’m in the east wing this afternoon, dusting and vacuuming.” I make a face like I’d prefer any other job. “Sunshine would be a great way to spend the afternoon, though.”

Sierra chuckles lightly, and we say our goodbyes, off to our respective duties.

My path carries me down the corridor of the east wing, taking me to where Darian Draven’s office is tucked.

As I near it, I slow, my instincts prickling. The door is ajar—not wide enough to be obvious, but not closed enough to keep sound contained. Voices spill through the narrow gap.

Male, sharp, controlled—Darian.

Another voice—lower, tighter–Jared.

I don’t mean to listen. I stop anyway.

“He’s distracted,” Jared is saying. “You see it, too.”

“I see weakness,” Darian replies coolly. “Which is worse.”

My breath stills, and I start dusting the trim and fixtures on the walls of the hall.

“Do you think he’s found her?” Jared asks. A pause.

“I think he’s circling something,” Darian says. “And that makes him sloppy.”

There’s a faint sound—glass against wood. Darian pouring a drink.

“Have you identified the cause?” he continues.

Jared hesitates. “Not exactly. He hasn’t been forthcoming with me. I’m aware there’s the new servant though; the Lark girl, I believe.”

I’ve been watching Kaelen longer than Sierra realizes. Watching the way his attention snags on her, even when he pretends indifference. Watching the way his wolf reacts to her presence—alert, keyed in, restless. What Jared and Darian are saying confirms exactly what I’ve been hesitant to identify.

I’ve seen mates before. I’ve never seen one this dangerous.

My stomach drops. Silence stretches, heavy as snowfall. If Sierra is Kaelen’s mate, the entire board just changed. The Voss Pack will want to know. They’ll want leverage, and it’s my job to give them that. They’ll want options, diabolical and devastating.

But Sierra isn’t an option. She’s a person. And I like her. That alone makes me dangerous. Especially to my pack.

“A servant,” Darian says at last. “From a fallen pack.”

“Yes.”

“Convenient,” Darian murmurs. “And unacceptable.”

“He hasn’t claimed her,” Jared adds quickly. “Not openly.”

“Openly is irrelevant,” Darian snaps. “If he’s bonded, even partially—”

“He isn’t the Alpha yet,” Jared says. “You still have control.”

“I always have control,” Darian replies.

The words chill me.

“We need to know if she’s his mate,” Jared says. “And if she is—”

“She will be removed,” Darian says flatly. “Or repurposed.”

“And Kaelen?” Jared asks.

Darian exhales, slow and deliberate. “Will remember what duty costs.”

Footsteps shift inside the office. Chairs scrape.

I move quietly, smoothly down the corridor and out of earshot before the door opens. My heart pounds, but my face stays calm. That’s the job. Panic gets you killed. But inside, everything fractures.

If the Dravens confirm the bond, Sierra is in danger. Not abstract danger. Immediate, targeted, efficient danger. Darian Draven doesn’t tolerate complications. And Kaelen? He’ll be forced to choose.

I return to my duties like nothing’s changed, but the estate feels different now. Sharper. Hungrier. Every shadow seems to watch me back.

I hate that I’m part of this. I was sent here to destabilize the Dravens. To weaken them from within, and now fate has handed me something far more volatile than intelligence.

A mate bond. A girl who doesn’t know how close she is to being destroyed. A future Alpha who might burn his own world down for her.

I finish my work with hands that don’t quite stop shaking. Tonight, I have to decide what kind of spy I’m going to be. And whether protecting Sierra Lark means betraying everyone else.

Because balance, I’ve learned, is hardest to keep when your heart starts choosing sides.