THE DANGEROUS GAMBLE

The moment the words left the traitor’s mouth, the world tilted.

They’re not after you because you’re Cassian’s weakness. They’re after you because of what you are.

I couldn’t breathe.

The room shrunk, the walls pressing in, the air turning thick and suffocating.

Cassian didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

But I could feel the fury rolling off him, crackling in the air between us.

“What the hell does that mean?” My voice sounded far away, as if someone else had spoken.

The traitor smirked, leaning against the crumbling stone wall, amused by my panic.

“Ah, so he really didn’t tell you,” he murmured, casting a glance at Cassian. “That’s interesting.”

Cassian’s dagger was in his hand before I could even register the movement.

The traitor laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Easy, wolf. I’m just making an observation.”

Cassian’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t strike.

Not yet.

My pulse pounded as I turned to Cassian. “Tell me.”

His grip on the dagger tightened.

He didn’t speak.

Didn’t even look at me.

And that was all the answer I needed.

He knew.

He had known this whole time.

Something sharp twisted in my chest, something dangerously close to betrayal.

The traitor hummed. “Oh, this is good. I was wondering when she’d figure it out.”

I whirled back to him, furious. “Then why don’t you tell me?”

His smirk widened. “Because I enjoy watching you suffer.”

Cassian moved.

Faster than breath, faster than thought.

His dagger was at the man’s throat in an instant.

The traitor didn’t flinch.

His grin only grew.

“That’s the Cassian I remember,” he murmured. “Violent. Unstable.”

Cassian pressed the blade harder, enough to draw a thin line of blood.

“Talk,” Cassian growled, his voice a low, deadly snarl. “Now.”

The traitor’s gaze flicked to me, ignoring the blade at his throat.

“You’re not just any Luna, girl,” he said smoothly. “You’re the last heir to the First Line.”

My stomach dropped.

The original wolves, the ones who had ruled before the Council even existed.

The ones who had been wiped out centuries ago.

That wasn’t possible.

I was nobody.

I shook my head. “You’re lying.”

The traitor chuckled. “Am I?”

I turned to Cassian, begging him to deny it.

To tell me this was a mistake, a trick, anything.

But Cassian’s silence was the loudest answer of all.

I staggered back.

“No,” I whispered.

Cassian finally looked at me, his red eyes haunted. “Sienna.”

I shoved him away.

“Don’t.” My voice shook. “You knew. This whole time. You knew.”

Cassian’s expression twisted, his lips pressing together.

And I realized.

He wasn’t denying it.

He wasn’t even trying.

I laughed, but it was a sharp, broken sound. “You let me believe I was nothing. That I was just some girl caught in this mess.”

His red eyes burned into mine. “I was trying to protect you.”

I scoffed. “By keeping me in the dark? By lying to me?”

Cassian’s nostrils flared. “You think this is easy for me?”

I took a step closer, anger boiling over. “You don’t get to make that choice for me.”

Silence crashed between us.

I could feel the traitor watching, enjoying the fracture forming between us.

He leaned against the wall, grinning. “You two are fun.”

Cassian turned to him, his patience snapping.

“Why does the Council want her?”

The traitor sighed. “Because she’s the only one who can end them.”

The room tilted again.

Cassian went deadly still.

And I.

I felt like I was falling.

The traitor’s smirk was lazy. “The First Line wasn’t just powerful. It was the only bloodline capable of undoing everything the Council built.”

Cassian muttered a curse under his breath.

The traitor continued. “You are the last of your kind, little wolf. And that makes you either the most powerful weapon—”

His grin widened.

“Or the greatest threat.”

My breath caught.

I wasn’t just being hunted.

They didn’t just want me dead.

They wanted to erase me.

Cassian’s fist slammed into the wall next to the traitor’s head. “Why the hell are you telling us this?”

The man’s eyes gleamed. “Because I like seeing people squirm.”

Cassian’s dagger was at his throat again.

The traitor chuckled. “And because I have something you want.”

Cassian’s entire body tensed. “What?”

The traitor leaned in, his smirk widening.

“A way to keep her alive.”

My heart stopped.

Cassian’s grip on his weapon tightened.

“Go on.”

The traitor grinned, savoring the moment. “There’s an old pact. A way to override the Council’s power. But it requires something… extreme.”

I swallowed. “What is it?”

His gaze flicked between us.

Then, he said the one thing that shattered everything.

“You have to bind her to an Alpha.”

The room spun.

Cassian’s entire body locked up, his expression dark and unreadable.

The traitor’s smirk grew. “Not just any Alpha. One strong enough to shield her from the Council’s reach. One they wouldn’t dare move against.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Because I knew what he was going to say.

And I knew who he was looking at.

Cassian’s voice was a low snarl. “That’s not an option.”

The traitor shrugged. “Then she dies.”

Cassian’s jaw clenched, his body rigid.

And I.

I didn’t know what to say.

What to think.

The weight of it crushed me.

Because this was real.

I was the last heir to the First Line.

The Council wanted me dead.

And the only way to survive.

Was to bind myself to Cassian.

The man who had spent his entire life running from attachment.

The man who refused to claim me.

The man who had just kissed me like I was his entire world.

And then walked away.