Chapter 51 Whiskey and lies
Victoria catwalked into Kane's penthouse, her heels clicking against the marble floor. She carried a box in her hands.
"Kane, darling," She set the box on the bar with a soft thud. "I brought you something special."
Kane was surprised. Victoria never brought gifts. In all the years of knowing her, she'd never given him so much as a birthday card.
"What is it?" he asked, not moving from the window.
She opened the box, revealing a bottle of whiskey. "Macallan 1960.” She announced proudly. “Daddy insisted I bring it to you. A peace offering, he called it."
Kane's instincts screamed danger. Alexander Blackstones didn't do peace offerings.
"That's... thoughtful," he said carefully, still not approaching.
"Father told me the wonderful news. You've agreed to move the wedding up. It’s in six days! Can you believe it? There's so much to do."
Kane's jaw tightened, but he kept his face neutral. "Did he now?"
“Oh yes.” She pulled out her phone, already scrolling through what looked like a planning app. “We need to finalize the guest list, the flowers, the venue decorations. The caterers need confirmation by tomorrow. And the dress! Thank goodness I already have my dress, but the alterations need to be done, and then there’s your suit, and the ceremony itself…”
She continued talking. Kane found his attention drifting. Six days. Alexander had given them six days to marry Victoria else he made his move.
"Kane? Kane!" Victoria's sharp voice cut through his thoughts. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Make whatever decisions you need to make," he said, turning back to the window. "I really don’t care about what flowers you choose."
“But it’s our wedding…”
“Is it?” Kane turned back to her. “We both know what this is, Victoria. A business arrangement. So treat it like one. Handle the logistics and send me the bill.”
For a moment, something flickered across Victoria’s face. Hurt, maybe. Or anger. But it was gone so fast Kane might have imagined it.Then her expression smoothed into something unreadable.
“Fine.” Her voice was clipped now. “I’ll handle everything.”
"I have work to do, Victoria. You can see yourself out when you're done."
She barely seemed to register the dismissal, already buried in her phone again. "Oh! Before I forget, the fitting. We need to get you measured for your suit.”
He sighed, already exhausted with the conversation. “When?”
“Tomorrow. Two PM. The tailor will come here.” Victoria got up, her eyes still glued to her phone. “Don’t be late.”
“I won’t.”
"Wonderful." She said with a forced smile as she headed toward the elevator, leaving only the lingering scent of her perfume and the suspicious bottle on his bar.
Kane didn't touch it. Instead, he looked back on his phone and called Marcus.
"Come to my office. We have something to discuss."
Marcus arrived within minutes, taking in Kane's tense expression and the untouched bottle of expensive whiskey.
"Gift from Alexander?" Marcus guessed.
"Through Victoria. Call an emergency council meeting. But not the full council." Kane moved to his desk, pulling out a piece of paper. He pointed to specific names on a list. “Just these five. Our most trusted.”
Marcus studied the list. "You don't trust the others?"
"I don't trust anyone right now. Alexander has had years to plant spies in our pack. We need to know who's really with us."
"What do you have in mind?"
Kane pulled up another document. “We give each council member a different piece of false information tonight. Something specific. Actionable. Then we wait and see which piece makes it back to Alexander.”
“So if Alexander acts on any of the false information…”
“Then we’ll know who the traitor is.” Kane closed the laptop. “We can’t afford to trust the wrong person. Not with everything at risk.”
"And if they're all compromised?"
"Then we know we're truly alone in this fight." Kane looked out at the city.
“What about the territories?” Marcus asked. “You said you wanted to identify which ones might rebel.”
“Northern Ridge.” Kane said immediately. “Alexander killed their Alpha years ago. His son, Derek, is still alive. Still bitter.”
“You think he’d work with us?”
“I think he’d love nothing more than to see Alexander burn.” Kane stood, moving to the window. "I need to know how bad things really are there. If we're going to start a rebellion, we need to know which territories are ready to fight back."
“Six days isn’t enough time to root out a traitor and start a rebellion,” Marcus said quietly.
“Then we’d better work fast.” Kane stood. “Set up the bait for tonight. Ten PM. And keep a close eye on the council.”
As Marcus left to arrange the meeting, Kane went back to the living room and stared at the bottle of whiskey. The Sixty year old whiskey.
Forty thousand dollars worth of poison, most likely. Or worse, something laced with moon fever.
He picked up the bottle, studying it carefully, then locked it in his safe. Evidence, perhaps. Or a weapon to use against Alexander when the time came.
Luna stared at her phone as Devon's call went to voicemail again. The screen showed seven missed calls from him over the past three days. Each one made her chest tighten with guilt.
She couldn't explain that she'd disappeared to the countryside with Kane. Couldn't explain the kiss that still burned on her lips when she thought about it. Couldn't explain that she was preparing for war against a man who wanted to drain her blood and threatened her children.
She thought about the night at the inn. Would they have gone further if the vision hadn't interrupted them? The thought sent heat through her body, followed immediately by shame. Devon deserved better than her silence.
The phone rang again. Devon's name flashed on the screen. Luna watched it ring, her finger hovering over the answer button. But what would she say? How could she explain any of this without putting him in danger?
She let it go to voicemail and stood up, heading for Elder Morgana's room. She needed to focus on learning to weaponize her power, not on complicated feelings about two very different men.
A knock at the door stopped her mid-step.
Luna checked the peephole and her heart sank.
Devon stood on the other side, concern etched into every line of his face.
She opened the door.
"Thank goddess you’re okay,"
"Devon, I…"
"Three days, Luna. Not a word. I was really worried. I thought something had happened."
"I'm sorry. I should have called."
"Yeah, you should have." He studied her face. "Can I come in?"
Luna stepped aside, letting him enter.
“I heard Kane’s wedding has been moved up.” He looked at her with so much concern. “How are you holding up?”
The kindness in his voice broke something in her. She’d ignored him and disappeared and given him every reason to be angry.
Yet this man. This good, decent man still cared about her even when she didn’t deserve it.
“Devon,” she said softly. “We need to talk.”
His face went pale.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “Let’s talk.”