After My Mate Kidnapped My Sister, I Destroyed His Pack

I met Caden in my office at dawn.

He came alone, as I'd instructed. No witnesses. No record. Just the two of us and the locked door between us and the rest of Silverfang.

I had the ledgers spread across my desk. Three years of documentation. Ironclad's rogue-era operations, cataloged and cross-referenced. Smuggling routes through neutral territory. Unsanctioned attacks on smaller packs. Illegal land seizures that predated their so-called legitimacy.

I'd kept all of it. From the beginning.

Caden stood across from me and looked at the files without touching them. His expression was carefully neutral.

"Insurance," I said.

He nodded once. He understood.

I slid a handwritten list across the desk. "These are the packs we have active border agreements with. I need you to contact each Alpha personally. Not through official channels. Private calls. Remind them of the terms. Remind them who holds the supply lines."

"You're calling in the debts," Caden said quietly.

"I'm reminding them where their loyalties should sit." I tapped the list. "Start with the northern territories. They're the most vulnerable to Ironclad's rogue connections. They'll move first if they think the region's destabilizing."

Caden picked up the list. Scanned it. "This will take three days. Maybe four."

"You have two."

He looked up at me. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he said, "You're not submitting to the Lycan Court yet."

"No."

"Why?"

I looked at the ledgers. The years of careful documentation. The evidence I'd compiled while believing I was building something with Dante. While believing the Moon Goddess had chosen him for me.

I'd been so careful. Even then.

"Because I want them to feel it first," I said. "The isolation. The collapse. I want Dante to understand exactly what he had before I take the rest."

Caden was quiet for a long moment. Then he folded the list and tucked it into his jacket. "Understood."

He turned to leave.

"Caden."

He stopped.

"Keep this quiet," I said. "If anyone asks what you're doing, tell them it's routine alliance maintenance."

"No one will ask," he said.

He was right. No one would.

The door closed behind him. I sat alone with the ledgers and waited for the sun to rise.

---

Reese came to my office three nights later.

I didn't hear her knock. I was too focused on the smuggling routes spread across my laptop screen, cross-referencing dates with territorial violations. The water glass beside my hand had gone warm hours ago.

The door opened. Reese stepped inside and closed it behind her without asking.

I didn't look up.

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of my desk. Right on top of a stack of files. The only person in Silverfang who would dare.

"You're not sleeping," she said.

I kept my eyes on the screen. "I'm sleeping."

"Sloan."

I scrolled down. Another route. Another violation. Dante's network had been extensive. Impressive, even. He'd built an entire criminal infrastructure and I'd legitimized it with my name.

Reese reached over and closed the laptop.

I stopped. My hand hovered over the keyboard for a moment. Then I let it drop.

The office was very quiet.

"How much longer?" Reese asked.

I looked at her. She was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Not concern exactly. Something steadier than that.

"Two days," I said. "Maybe three. Caden's finishing the alliance calls. Once the supply lines freeze, Ironclad won't have any options left."

"And then?"

"Then I submit to the Lycan Court."

Reese nodded slowly. She didn't ask what would happen after that. She already knew.

She slid off the desk and headed for the door. Stopped with her hand on the handle.

"The eastern perimeter," she said quietly. "I've been running patrols there. In case you wanted to know."

My throat tightened. I didn't trust myself to speak.

Reese opened the door. "Get some sleep, Sloan. You're going to need it."

She left.

I sat alone in the dark office. The laptop stayed closed. Outside the window, the moon was nearly full.

I thought about the wolf-dog. The grave I'd dug with my own hands. The eastern route I'd never walk again.

Then I opened the laptop and went back to work.

---

The messenger arrived the next afternoon.

Rogue. Male. Young enough to still be stupid. He came to the main gates with his hands raised, unarmed, carrying a sealed envelope with Dante's scent all over it.

Caden brought me the report while I was in a supply meeting with three of Silverfang's senior logistics coordinators. He set the note on the table without interrupting.

I glanced at it. Recognized the seal. Kept talking.

The coordinators didn't miss the interruption. One of them — Marcus, who'd been managing our northern trade routes for six years — looked at the envelope, then at me.

I finished the sentence I'd started. "Reroute the grain shipments through the western pass. Ironclad's checkpoints are no longer viable."

Marcus nodded and made a note.

I picked up the envelope. Broke the seal. Read.

It was an ultimatum. Formal. Detailed. Withdraw the financial freeze. Restore alliance terms. Publicly acknowledge Rosie and the pup as legitimate members of the alliance structure.

Or face consequences.

Dante had signed it himself. His handwriting was sharp and angry.

I set the letter face-down on the table.

"Marcus," I said. "How long before the western pass route is fully operational?"

He blinked. Glanced at the envelope. Then back at me. "Seventy-two hours. Maybe less if we push."

"Push," I said.

The meeting continued.

When it ended and the coordinators filed out, Caden stayed behind. He looked at the envelope still sitting face-down on the table.

"You're not responding," he said.

"No."

"He'll escalate."

"I know."

Caden was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "The alliance calls are almost complete. Every pack we contacted is standing by. They're waiting for your signal."

I nodded. "Good."

"Sloan." He hesitated. "When he escalates — when Dante moves — it's not going to be political. It's going to be personal."

I looked at him. "I'm counting on it."

He held my gaze. Then he picked up the envelope, walked to the fireplace, and dropped it into the flames.

We both watched it burn.

"Two days," I said quietly. "Then we move."

Caden nodded. "I'll be ready."

He left.

I stayed at the table and watched the fire consume Dante's ultimatum until there was nothing left but ash.