CHAPTER 376: THEIR CRUELTY RAN DEEP

Meredith.

"Draven," I whispered through the mind-link.

"That group is fake! It’s all a lie. Brackham and his senators made it up to distract you from discovering what they have been doing. They created that ’investigation’ just to waste your time—so you would stop looking into our missing people."

I waited for his reaction—for some flicker of surprise. But when he finally spoke in my head, his voice was calm. Controlled. Almost amused.

"I know."

I blinked. "What?"

He didn’t look at me. He didn’t even shift in his seat. His thoughts came steady and smooth.

"I’ve known about it from the onset. I just wanted to see how long Brackham could keep up the charade. I wanted them to think they were ahead while we carried out our own secret investigation."

I stared at him, completely stunned.

He was still sitting there like a king among scavengers, his presence filling the room without effort, his calm terrifying in its restraint.

Just then, he leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees, as he continued with Brackham.

"After all these months," he began, "the lives of over fifteen of my people who went missing on your land have never been accounted for by your government."

The room shifted immediately. A ripple of unease rolled through the senators and advisors. Brackham froze, caught off guard by the question.

Draven didn’t stop. His tone remained composed, but the strength behind each word made even the lights seem dimmer.

"The blood of my people was spilled on your soil," he continued. "The few we recovered were buried — but the rest, they vanished. You created this investigative group, yet to this day, not a single answer. Not even the courtesy of acknowledgment."

Silence spread slowly, choking the air.

Brackham swallowed, then tried to recover, sitting a little straighter. "Alpha, I—I must apologize. We did what we could, but—"

"You did nothing," Draven said flatly. "And the worst part? We respected the peace between us so deeply that we didn’t launch our own investigation, even when we had every reason to. We honored your leadership because we believed in the alliance you offered."

That struck deep. I could feel it. Every senator stiffened. Brackham’s jaw worked as he fought for words.

"I understand how this looks," he said finally, forcing a diplomatic smile. "And I will admit, it was a failure on our part. I take full responsibility. That... that group you mentioned will be dissolved, effective immediately. You have my word."

Draven leaned back, nodding once. "Good. That’s all I wanted to hear."

A collective exhale swept through the humans—senators, advisors, even Brackham himself. For a second, they thought the storm had passed.

But Draven wasn’t done.

He leaned back in his seat and spoke in that calm, deliberate voice that never needed to rise to command obedience.

"You know," he said, "I’ve seen many kinds of men, Mayor. Some fight for survival. Some fight for honor. But some men..." He paused, eyes drifting across the room. "Crave control, power, and blood at the same time, at all costs. And those are the ones history remembers for all the wrong reasons."

The room went rigid. Even without reading minds, anyone could feel the discomfort rippling through the senators.

I could, though. I heard the guilt, the panic, the fury bubbling just beneath their composure.

"He is calling us greedy animals."

"Who does he think he is?"

"Arrogant wolf."

And Brackham—oh, Brackham’s mind was a storm.

"You will pay for this, Alpha. When this is over, every last one of your kind in Duskmoor will rot. You will bleed for every word you speak."

I clenched my fists in my lap, trying to keep my face still. Valmora stirred, restless and angry.

Draven continued like he hadn’t noticed the hostility thickening in the air.

"But one thing will not be overlooked in this case," he said smoothly. "You will answer for the blood of my people—every werewolf who died or went missing on your land. You will answer to me."

That final line landed like a hammer.

Brackham hesitated, then inclined his head stiffly. "If that’s what it takes to move forward," he said, voice tight. "You have my agreement."

Liar!

His mind betrayed him almost instantly.

"Once this meeting is done, I will deal with those failed experiments of your kind myself. They have had enough time to prove useful. I will go down to the lab tonight and clean up the mess."

My pulse spiked. ’Lab? The Secret lab?’

He was thinking about the lab—about killing our people who didn’t pass whatever experiments he was carrying out on them.

I nearly lost focus as the images from his mind flashed—the steel tables, the restraints, the smell of blood and chemicals.

"Valmora," I called in my head, trying to steady my breathing. "Brackham just thought about going down to the lab. Can you tell if it’s under this building?"

Her voice came low and calm, like water over stone. "No. I can’t smell anything from here. That means it’s not directly beneath us—but close. Very close."

My teeth clenched. Rage and disbelief tangled in my chest. These humans—their cruelty—it ran deeper than I had imagined.

When I blinked back to the present, the meeting was ending. Everyone was rising from their seats, chairs scraping softly against the marble floor.

Brackham extended his hand toward Draven and forced a smile, "Thank you for your time, Alpha."

Draven stood up, his expression unreadable.

Then their hands met—and even from where I stood, I could feel the tension crackling in the air like lightning before a storm.

If only Brackham knew that by the end of this alliance, it wouldn’t be the vampires he would have to fear.

It would be us.

"Allow me to walk you to your cars, Alpha." Brackham’s grin looked more like a stretch of discomfort than genuine warmth when he offered.

Draven inclined his head politely. "If you insist."

The senators trailed behind like a cautious entourage, whispering among themselves as we exited the building.

The late afternoon light spilled across the marble steps, bright but strangely cold, the kind of brightness that didn’t feel clean.

We reached the convoy waiting outside. The guards nearby bowed respectfully as Draven and Brackham walked ahead, shoulder to shoulder, though the air between them felt sharp as glass.

Then Brackham stopped beside the lead car and turned slightly, forcing a casual smile. "Alpha," he began, "I have one small request."