CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 275: LET THEM BEG

Trevor’s gaze lingered, violet and unflinching, the way he sometimes studied ledgers when the numbers told a story only he could read. "You’re projecting," he said at last, the words quiet, almost gentle in how certain they were.

Lucas didn’t flinch. His smirk stayed in place, but the silence after was answer enough.

Trevor’s fingers tapped once against the armrest, thoughtful, precise. "You survived, Christian. Chris won’t have to. Dax may be violent and may already walk the knife’s edge, but his desperation is human. He wants a mate. And he never treated his partners bad... more like..."

"...like?"

Trevor exhaled, his mouth curving the faintest degree. "The only comparison I can give is... Dax is like a husky."

Lucas blinked, then snorted before he could stop himself. "A husky. You just compared the most terrifying alpha in Saha to a sled dog."

Trevor’s lips twitched, but his tone stayed perfectly even. "Loud. Stubborn. Born to run until they break themselves, but desperate for a lead rope. Give them a path, and they’ll pull it until the world splits in half. Deny them one, and they’ll chew through the walls just to prove they can."

Lucas stared at him for a beat, then let out a laugh that scraped a little too close to disbelief. "Gods, Trevor. That might be the most terrifyingly accurate thing I’ve ever heard."

Trevor leaned back again, his violet gaze steady, calm as the eye of a storm. "It’s not kindness. It’s instinct. He won’t cage Chris for cruelty’s sake. He’ll cage him because it’s the only way he knows how to keep what he’s afraid to lose."

Lucas straightened on the couch and looked at his husband with faint amusement. "Then what is Chris? If we are cataloging our friends as dog breeds."

Trevor’s mouth curved just slightly, the kind of smile that was more thought than expression. "Chris?" He considered it, violet gaze distant for a beat before returning to Lucas. "Chris is a wolf. Not because he wants to be, but because the world forced him to learn how to bare his teeth to survive."

Lucas tilted his head, green eyes glinting with quiet mischief. "A wolf in Dax’s glass cage. That’ll go well."

Trevor’s tone stayed level, though the weight beneath it was deliberate. "A husky and a wolf are both creatures meant for the wild. The difference is... one will run itself ragged for the one holding the leash. The other has to choose whether it even wants one."

Lucas arched a brow, smirking faintly. "That’s poetic for a man who claims he doesn’t meddle."

Trevor’s gaze lingered on him, steady and unblinking. "I don’t meddle. I observe. And I know this, if Chris decides to stay, Dax will tear the world apart to make it livable for him. If he decides to run..." His fingers tapped once against the armrest, deliberate as a gavel strike. "...then the king of Saha will stop at nothing to get him back."

"Understandable. Now, would you tell me what you found out downstairs?" Lucas asked simply.

Trevor hummed while reaching for his waist. "Do you want the full report or just a summary?"

"The summary is enough."

Trevor’s gaze lingered on him, steady and unblinking. "I don’t meddle. I observe. And I know this, if Chris decides to stay, Dax will tear the world apart to make it livable for him. If he decides to run..." His fingers tapped once against the armrest, deliberate as a gavel strike. "...then the king of Saha will stop at nothing to get him back."

"Understandable." Lucas leaned back into the cushions, his smirk faint but expectant. "Now, would you tell me what you found out downstairs?"

Trevor hummed low in his throat, reaching for the folder at his waist. "Do you want the full report or just a summary?"

"The summary is enough."

Trevor flipped the cover open, his tone clipped but calm. "Alan broke. He gave us names, priests, partners, handlers. Most of them burned under questioning. The rest were released, useless cowards with nothing but fear to offer." His eyes sharpened faintly. "But buried in the accounts, there was money. A trail that leads west. Odin’s hand."

Lucas stilled, the humor sliding off his face like water. "Odin."

Trevor nodded once, precise. "He wants proximity. He’s moving to use your sister. Ophelia. The pattern is familiar enough. He thinks dangling her in reach will drag you into the open."

Lucas’s jaw tightened, green eyes narrowing into a sharp, cold glint. "Good thing I never considered her as my sister."

A faint hum left Trevor, something between approval and inevitability. "That will make this easier." He set the folder down, fingers folding neatly over it. "If we move quickly, she never becomes a threat. If we wait, she might lead Odin closer, give us a clean line to cut."

Lucas huffed a laugh, humorless, sharp. "She’s more likely to stumble straight into his arms out of vanity than strategy." His smile didn’t reach his eyes. "Dispose of her if she gets in range. I don’t need to see her. She stopped being mine the moment she chose to sell me out."

Trevor’s violet eyes lingered on him, calm and steady, but the faintest curve touched his mouth. "Then it’s decided. Odin can choke on his own trap. We’ll let him lean close, and when he does..." His hand pressed once against the folder, decisive. "...we break them both."

Trevor closed the folder, the motion neat, final, as though the subject itself had been put to rest. "I’ll keep you updated," he said evenly. "The movements, the shifts, what matters. But not the details. You don’t need to carry them."

Lucas tilted his head, lips quirking, though the green of his eyes stayed sharp. "Protecting me from the paperwork of war now, Duke Fitzgeralt?"

Trevor’s mouth curved, faint and dry. "From the rot. Not the war."

For a moment, the room softened into its usual quiet, the faint city sounds drifting through the curtains. Then Lucas leaned forward, elbows on his knees, voice deceptively casual. "And what about Christian Velloran?"

Trevor didn’t blink. He rested an arm along the back of the couch, watching Lucas with the same calm focus he gave to ledgers when numbers told a story only he could read. "Scraping by. The last of his estates have been liquidated through proxies. His retainers are scattered; those worth keeping are already bought out. The rest..." His lips twitched into something dismissive. "...are clinging to scraps."

Lucas’s mouth curved sharper. "So he’s a ghost wrapped in debts."

Trevor inclined his head, violet eyes glinting faintly. "A ghost who still knows how to haunt if left unchecked. My network has already stripped him of his reach, his contacts, and his safe houses. What’s left is hollow. He’s useful only as a reminder of what happens to men who think desperation is a strategy."

Lucas leaned back, arms folding across his chest, satisfaction tugging at the edges of his grin. "Good. Let him beg."