Chapter 61: The Birdcage

Chapter 61: The Birdcage
\- SELENE
The lock clicked with a finality that made the air in the room feel ten degrees colder. I stood there, staring at the heavy oak door, listening to Varick's boots retreating down the hallway.
One. Two. Three.
I counted the seconds until the silence was absolute. I didn't move an inch. I didn't let a single tear fall, and I definitely didn't collapse. I just stood there in the middle of my own bedroom, feeling the weight of the vellum hidden against my ribs. It felt like a hot coal, burning through the torn silk and the layers of lies I’d just told.
I walked to the vanity. My hands were still shaking—not from the "terror" I’d shown Kaelen, but from the sheer adrenaline of surviving him. I looked at the mirror.
"God, I look like a wreck," I whispered to the empty room.
I didn't recognize the woman looking back in the mirror. My face looked like a map of mud and dried tears, my hair a bird’s nest of knots and forest debris. But it was the eyes that were different. They weren't the eyes of the Luna who stayed quiet at dinner. They were sharper and more dangerous.
A sharp rap on the door made me jump, my heart nearly leaping out of my throat.
"Luna? You in there?"
It was Liora. Her voice was muffled, strained through the heavy wood.
"Liora?" I rushed to the door, pressing my ear against the panel. "Are they letting you in?"
"No," she hissed. "Varick’s at the end of the hall, but he’s distracted with a radio call. I’ve only got a second. Are you okay? Did he… did he hurt you?"
"I’m fine," I whispered back. "Just locked in. Kaelen thinks I’m a flight risk."
"You are a flight risk, Luna," she breathed, a hint of her usual spark returning. "The whole pack is in an uproar. Kaelen’s tearing the study apart. He knows something is missing. He’s going to come back for you."
"Let him come," I said, my jaw tightening. "Liora, I need you to find Galen. He’s at the Old Stone Bridge, or he was. Tell him… tell him the bird is back in the cage, but she’s brought the song with her."
"The song? Luna, what are you talking about?"
"Just tell him. He’ll know."
"Luna? Who are you talking to?" Varick’s voice boomed from the hallway.
I heard the scuffle of feet and a sharp "Hey!" from Liora.
"Just checking if she’s still alive, you big oaf!" Liora snapped, her voice fading as she was clearly being led away. "She’s a human being, not a prisoner!"
"She’s an Alpha’s wife," Varick grunted. "Get back to the kitchen before I report you for interfering."
The silence returned, heavier than before.
I paced the room, my mind a frantic loop of Rowan’s face on the bridge. I’ll find a way back to you. He’d better. Because every minute I spent in this room was a minute closer to Kaelen figuring out that my "stroll in the woods" was actually a heist.
I needed to stay busy. I needed to look like I was grieving, or scared, or whatever version of "broken" Kaelen wanted to see.
I started to strip off the ruined dress. The silk was trash now, stained with Rowan’s blood and the mud of the valley. As I pulled it over my head, a small, silver coin fell out of the folds and hit the floor with a soft clink.
I picked it up. It wasn't Bloodhowl currency. It was a coin from the South, etched with a mountain peak. Rowan must have slipped it into my pocket when we were on the horse.
A token. A promise.
I clamped my hand shut, letting the cold metal sting my palm. It was the only thing that felt real in this room.
Hours passed. The moon climbed higher in the darkest night. I’d washed my face and changed into a plain nightgown, but sleep was a joke. Every creak of the floorboards in the hallway made me tense, waiting for the turn of the key.
It happened around 3:00 AM.
The bolt slid back with a slow, deliberate scrape. The door opened, and Kaelen stepped in. He wasn't wearing his jacket anymore, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his eyes dark with a lack of sleep and a surplus of suspicion.
He didn't say anything at first. He just walked to the center of the room, looking at me where I sat on the edge of the bed.
"Still awake?" he asked in a low voice.
"Hard to sleep when you’re waiting for the executioner," I said, not looking at him.
Kaelen let out a short, dry laugh. "Don't be dramatic, Selene. It doesn't suit you."
He walked over to my vanity, his fingers trailing over my brushes, my perfume bottles. He picked up the art journal. My heart stopped. My blood turned to ice.
Don't open it. Please, don't open it.
He flipped through a few pages, his expression bored. "More trees. More mountains. You’ve been obsessed with the Peaks lately."
"I miss the sun," I said, my voice remarkably steady. "This house feels like a tomb."
"It’s a fortress," he corrected, shutting the book with a thud and setting it back down. He turned to me, his gaze sharp. "The map is gone, Selene."
I blinked, forcing a look of confusion. "What map? You’ve mentioned a map three times tonight, Kaelen. I don't know what you're talking about."
"The map to your father’s legacy," he said, stepping closer. "The one thing that could actually make you dangerous. Someone took it from the study tonight. And curiously, they knew exactly where the mechanism was hidden."
"Maybe you should hire better guards," I shot back. "If someone can walk into your study and take your 'legacy' while you’re hosting a party, that’s on you, not me."
Kaelen grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His grip was just shy of painful. "I want to believe you. I really do. Because the alternative is that my wife is a traitor. And you know what I do to traitors, don't you?"
"You lock them in rooms and talk to them at three in the morning?" I asked, my voice dripping with fake innocence.
Kaelen’s eyes flared with a sudden, dark heat. For a second, I thought he was going to hit me. Instead, he let go, a cold, mocking smile touching his lips.
"You’ve grown a spine tonight, Selene. I wonder who gave it to you."
"The woods were very enlightening," I said.
"We'll see how enlightening they are when I catch the thief," Kaelen said, walking toward the door. "He can't have gone far. My scouts will find him by dawn. And when they do, I’ll make sure you’re there to watch the fallout."
He stepped out, the door slamming shut behind him. The bolt slid back into place.
I collapsed back onto the pillows, my breath coming in sharp gasps. He was guessing. He was trying to rattle me.
I looked at the art journal on the vanity.
I’m still in the game, Kaelen, I thought.
I reached under the pillow and pulled out the silver coin. It was cold, but it felt like a match in the dark.
I wasn't the girl who needed air anymore. I was the one who was going to set this whole house on fire.
"Keep your word, Rowan," I whispered into the dark. "Because the bird is ready to sing."
I closed my eyes, the rhythm of the manor—the guards’ footsteps, the distant howls, the ticking clock—finally fading into a light, watchful sleep.
The first battle was over. The war was just beginning.