Let The War Begin

Let The War Begin
Dina’s POV

Two weeks. Fourteen days and they’re breathing easy again, convinced I vanished. Good. Let them relax. Let the king and my sister sleep with their guards and their false calm. They think I’m done. They think I gave up. 

They think wrong.

Where have I been? Everywhere they didn’t look. Cooking this. Building it. Waiting. I’ve been laying traps, stitching forces, sharpening everything until it gleams. In the dark, plans grow teeth.

This is our week. The plan is set to go live tonight. Maps folded beside me, signals memorized, men ready. The king and his people will fall asleep in velvet and wake with blood on their hands.

I’ll make sure of it this time.

“This is just a temporary truce,” Raul said for the hundredth time and I hissed, every syllable a promise of teeth.

Alpha Raul of Black Rose…useful because he hates what I hate. An enemy turned ally for now. Unlike Malrik…weak, slippery Malrik who would sell his own shadow for safety. Raul’s reasons to hate Leo Ashton run deep. 

First…Nyxara’s reincarnation is mated to Leo. Second…Leo gutted half his pack months ago while Raul hunted Ivy who escaped him. Those wounds make him dangerous and obedient.

Dangerous…and irreplaceable. For now. Not like I have another option.

“Remember our agreement,” he growled and I let my eyes roll slowly.

“You will not harm Nyxara. She’s mine. If a hair on her head is harmed…I will kill you myself,” he threatened.

I scoffed. “Watch your mouth, dear Alpha. No one threatens me and lives long,” I said, soft enough to cut.

He bared his teeth. 

“But…because of the sake of this truce, I won’t touch the one you seek,” I added, trying to sound reassuring.

But that was a lie. A tool. Nyxara is the first blade I’ll pull when the palace barrier cracks open. She is the only one who might slow me…Nyxara, reborn, the warrior everyone whispers about. She will be my opening strike. Her fall will tear the King’s world open.

Raul’s right-hand shifted uncomfortably, scanning the room like a man who just noticed the noose. 

Stupid. He tried to stop Raul. He tried to argue for caution. I almost took his tongue for it…almost. I let him live because this truce is everything I have left. I need Raul’s soldiers and his fury more than I need one less coward on my side.

I stared out the window while his men bristled and prepared. They tightened armor, checked blades, and spit on palms. They think they’re ready to die for glory. They don’t know how hollow their glory will be when the palace fills with smoke and screams.

I might even kill them too when my mission is complete.

My sister must be over the moon by now, all straight shoulders and smug certainty. She thinks the barrier will hold forever. She thinks the King is untouchable. Let her sleep on that lie. Let her dress in that arrogance and walk the halls proud tonight. I will love the moment that pride shatters.

I breathed in. The formation outside snapping into place…tight, disciplined, ready. I smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time, satisfaction cutting my face. 

This is finally happening. Everything I’ve waited for is lined up like dominos.

“We leave any moment from now,” Raul said firmly and I accepted it like a countdown.

They will attack when no one suspects…surrounding the palace, striking from inside and out. Once they weaken them from within and my sister falls, the barrier keeping me out will break. Then I walk in. Then I finish the King and his mate.

I’ve fortified myself. I’ve poured over the plan until every angle stinks of inevitability. I might even kill Raul when the last light dies…useful now, disposable later.

I watched their warriors take their places through the window. The time has finally come. For me to get my age long revenge and destroy the Ashton legacy for good.

But the night dragged on. It took too long. The sky wrinkled into deeper black and the moon crawled up like a slug. My patience thinned to a wire.

“It’s time,” Raul finally said, flexing the hard rope of his muscles. 

“Are you ready to reclaim your honor and the mate Leo Ashton stole from you?” I taunted the challenge at him, watching his jaw tighten.

I leaned in close, my breath ghosting against his ear as I taunted him further.

“Are you ready to have his head on a stick and parade it around the kingdom of his fathers?” I asked, watching his jaw work again. He grunted, approval rattling through him like a drum.

“We leave with the night. By sunrise, we will rise out of their ground with victory. Remember the plan,” he growled. “Don’t hurt Nyxara.”

I stepped away and towards the door. “As long as my sister dies first, we don’t have a problem. Only then can I come in and help you in the fight with my magic.”

He answered with a grunt as we began moving. One of his men helped him into a war cloak, heavy and smelling of iron and leather, and we left the room.

Outside, the warriors lined up…shadows sharpening into ranks. The formation breathed like a single beast waiting to spring. Tonight was the full moon festival…the sweetest advantage. They were drunk, laughing in the palace, thinking the moon protected them. Losers. I couldn’t wait to watch their goddess fail them.

The plan beat under my skin like a pulse, as excitement surged through me.

It’s finally happening!

We stepped toward the waiting men, and the night swallowed our boots. The world narrowed to one bright, cold purpose…blow the barrier, take the halls, tear the throne down.

Let the war begin.