CHAPTER 106: FAR BIGGER THAN YOU THINK

I froze when I saw who stood at my door.

Shock rippled through me, sharp and sudden, followed quickly by suspicion. What was he doing here at this hour? He should be in his tower! Anywhere else but here.

The dim lantern light from the hall made his features sharper—silver hair catching like steel, the rest of him carved in shadow.

His expression was unreadable, but his eyes... his eyes were darker than usual, shadowed in a way that made my stomach tighten and my wolf stir uneasily under my skin.

Was he here to punish me for what I’d said earlier? To remind me of my place in some subtle way that wouldn’t break our bargain but would still leave its mark?

The thought made my throat dry.

What form of punishment could he choose? A threat? A cruel game of words? Something worse?

My grip on the doorknob loosened as heat prickled across my palms. I instinctively took a step back, the cool air of the room brushing against my bare arms.

A part of me wished I had the courage to slam the door right in his face—to shut him out, to keep his shadows from slipping into the only place in this castle that felt like mine.

"Is there anything you need?" I asked, forcing my voice into a cold, detached tone.

My face was a mask, carefully arranged, though unease crawled like ice beneath my skin.

He didn’t answer. Instead, Rion stepped inside without hesitation, moving as though the threshold was never mine to defend. The heavy thud of the door closing behind him echoed louder than it should have because of his impatient push. His gaze never left mine when he did it.

"We should talk," he said. His voice was smooth, controlled, but there was a weight in it that pressed against the silence of the room.

As his lips moved, I noticed the faint stain of reddish liquid clinging to them. Wine. The sweet, heady trace of it lingered faintly in the air, brushing my senses. Not surprising—he was always drinking. His cellar was infamous, a cavern of bottles collected through years, enough to drown in.

"Talk," I echoed, my voice laced with mockery. I didn’t bother masking my annoyance at all.

I moved a few steps away to keep a good distance from him, and folded my arms tightly over my chest. I needed that distance to create some fragile illusion of control between us.

"And what exactly does the great Alpha want to talk about with me?" My voice dripped with mockery. "I doubt I hold such valuable insights that you’d come barging into my bedroom in the middle of the night."

"You sound so sarcastic," he hissed, his tone sharp enough to cut. Yet there was no smugness in him this time, none of that usual arrogance I had grown used to. His bloodred eyes gleamed with something heavier, a darkness coiling inside them that made him far more intimidating than when he wore his cocky smirk.

A ripple of unease tightened in my stomach, my insides threatening to coil.

My faith in my own courage faltered for a breath, but I clung to it, refusing to let it show. I wouldn’t cower. I shouldn’t.

"What is it, then?" I snapped. I couldn’t tolerate any shit right now.

Silence fell between us, thick and pressing. Rion’s gaze dropped briefly to the floor, his jaw clenching, before he lifted his eyes back to mine.

It was strange—disarming, even—to see him hesitate, as if the words he carried weighed too much to release.

For the first time since I had met him, the great Alpha looked... unsure.

The sight startled me, though I buried the reaction deep beneath a mask of indifference. I couldn’t afford to let him see it.

"I came here to explain," he said at last, the words rougher than I expected, as though dragged out against his will.

My nails dug into my palms, and I welcomed the pain. Otherwise, I might have gaped at him in shock. I hadn’t expected those words.

"Explain... what?" My voice wavered just slightly, the edge of surprise escaping before I could rein it back.

"I don’t want you to misunderstand me."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Misunderstand you? And what part exactly do you think I misunderstood? The part where you made it painfully clear that finding another key is more important to you than finding a way to help Jeron survive?"

The words cut out of me like knives, and I meant every single one.

I hadn’t misunderstood him at all, that’s my stand. His eagerness earlier had been unmistakable—the key mattered more. Much more. It showed in his reaction and words earlier.

"I know now that Keigan is free to use whatever plants he needs from your greenhouse," I said, my voice steady despite the quick beat of my heart. "So you don’t need to answer my question about that anymore. What I want to know is, where’s the misunderstanding part?"

I wasn’t sure where I was drawing the courage to speak like this to Rion.

Maybe it was because this past month had carved changes into me that I could no longer ignore.

Every trial, every wound, every death that had nearly broken me had also reforged me into something harder, sharper.

I wasn’t the same Vivien who once kept her head down, swallowing questions until they choked me, silencing my feelings as if they didn’t matter. That timid version of me, the one who let others dictate the terms of my life, was gone.

Now, there was steel where hesitation used to be. My scars whispered reminders that I had survived, that I had bled and endured, and because of that, I had earned the right to speak.

I no longer wanted to be silent. I wanted to demand answers. To set boundaries. To show people, Rion included, what I would and would not accept.

And for the first time, I wasn’t afraid of the consequences.

Rion’s gaze darkened, unreadable.

"You think I don’t care about a pack member’s life," he began, his tone solemn yet firm as if he wanted me to understand every word. "That is where you’re wrong. I know it might have seemed that way to you earlier, but finding the keys isn’t just for myself, Vivien. There’s more to it than you know, and something much bigger is at stake. Not my desires, not even my life. Far bigger than you think. So you cannot blame me for my eagerness when you mentioned the harp."

Far bigger than you think.

My brows knitted tightly. "What do you mean by that? What exactly is at stake?"

If it wasn’t about his personal ambition, if it wasn’t about seizing enough power to crush every Alpha aboveground, then what was it?

What reason could drive him with such relentless obsession?

When he didn’t answer, I searched his face and pressed further, my words tumbling out.

"Could it be that you’re afraid of what will happen when the Celestial Wolf awakens? That if she mates with Finn, they’ll bring you down and slaughter the Undercity?"

It would make sense.

Every Alpha above feared the Undercity—its strength, its shadows, its refusal to bow to anyone’s rule. To them, it wasn’t just a city, it was a threat that lurked beneath their feet, untamed and unpredictable.

And Finn... he knew his runaway breeder was here, under Rion’s protection. To him, that wasn’t just defiance, it was an insult carved in blood.

After the chaos I had seen in Finn’s lands, I couldn’t imagine he would let it go unanswered. His pride wouldn’t allow it. His hunger for control wouldn’t allow it. If the Celestial Wolf truly awakened and bound herself to him, the world above and below would erupt.

Blood would surely flow, spilling through tunnels and streets alike. The Undercity would become a battlefield.

The thought twisted my stomach into knots, cold and heavy. I pictured the carved stone halls filled with the stench of death, the murals of wolves smeared red, the laughter of children silenced by screams.

I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear to imagine this place—the place I’d learn to like—drenched in that kind of ruin.

But Rion shook his head slowly. His voice was so low, so grave, it sent a shiver crawling down my spine.

"No. This isn’t just about the Undercity."

I stepped forward, impatience burning in my veins. "Then what? Tell me."

His eyes lifted to mine, and in them I caught a glint—dark, grim, almost inhuman. Shadows swirled faintly at his shoulders, as though they answered to the storm tightening inside him.

That look chilled me, rooted me in place, but I refused to look away.

"War is about to happen."

I sucked in a breath, questions flooding me all at once. What kind of war? Which packs? Who would be foolish enough to spark it—

"...a war between continents."