Chapter 208: Chapter 208

I watched her laugh and felt something cold settle under my skin. Her laugh was sharp, brittle, like glass. It was the laugh of someone who still thought the world would not touch them. I let it ring out, then let the quiet fall like a cloak.

"You’re crazy," she said, voice high and laugh trailing. "Don’t you know how ruthless the triplets are? They were the ones who killed their father. Killing their great uncle and their Luna would be nothing to them. Do you even understand what you’re asking?"

Her eyes flashed. Fear went out of them for a second, then anger. She held my stare like a blade. I lifted my hands slowly, palms open, as if to say I was not surprised.

"I know," I said. The words came flat and slow. "I know exactly what they do. I know what they will do."

She stamped a foot like a child. "Then why say it? Why...why tell me anything at all? You’re mad."

I smiled, small and sharp. "Mad? Maybe. Or careful. Haven’t you guessed, Belinda?" I leaned forward. My voice dropped, the way a man pulls a blanket over a secret. "I was the one who asked them to kill our father."

Her face changed. It was like watching color drain from a painting. Her hand flew to her mouth. "You..." She could not say it the first time. The word stuck and then slipped out, softer and raw. "You did that?"

"Yes." I let my voice hold steady. "I asked. I told them he had to go. They did as I asked."

She stared, eyes wide, breath shallow. For a while, she said nothing. I could see her thinking, the wheels turning in that clever mind, but slower now. Pain cut through her like wind.

"You... you told them to kill him," she repeated, small and unbelieving. "And now you want the throne?"

"Yes," I said again, simple as a knife. "I asked for it then. Things fell into place, odd and wrong. The throne found them, not me. But it is mine by right. I will take it."

Her hands shook. Her voice wobbled when she finally spoke. "You can’t mean that. They are watchful. They are...obsessed with keeping power. They will notice any treacherous mind. They will sniff it out."

"They are watchful," I agreed, nodding slowly. "They are careful. That is why I must strike clever, not loud. That is why I need the throne now, before they tighten their net."

Belinda’s eyes narrowed. "You sound like you’ve planned this for a long time."

"I have," I said. "Longer than you think."

She leaned back, folding her arms like a woman trying to protect the soft parts. "And yet no one trusts you. Not really. Not the Alphas, not their circle. Why would they trust a man who asked for his father to be killed?"

I heard the truth in her question. It landed cool. I smiled without humor. "Because trust is not what I need. I need a position. I need the seat. Once I sit, I can make them trust or I can make them fear. Both work."

She watched me for a long time, like testing a glass for cracks. "So what do you want from me? You must want me to give you any info that would help."

"Tell me what you know," I said. "Tell me who listens to whom. Tell me where you see weakness."

Her mouth twitched. She stared at the false letter in her hand as if it were a live thing. "You truly think I will help you?" she asked. "After everything?"

"Yes," I said plainly. "Because if they strip you down to nothing, what will you have? A slow death of being laughed at? Or a life where you rule a little? You should want to live." I pushed the words like a stone into her lap.

She looked away for a long moment. Her shoulders pulled in like a shell closing. Finally, she exhaled and met my eyes. "Lisa," she said. "Lisa is the key."

The name tasted like poison. I felt my face go still. "Lisa?"

"Yes," she said, low and sure. " Damon is already hers. You saw it. It’s a matter of time for Kael and Rowan to be with her. The Alphas will not stop until they have everything. "

Her hands trembled, and she smiled, small and dangerous. "To be honest, sometimes I feel I have already lost Kael and Rowan to her. Damon is her puppet. There is nothing good in betraying them if betraying them will put me back on my feet. If you want to get the throne, you must cut the roots."

I listened to her talk and felt the map unfurl.

"You would use Lisa against them?" I asked, slowly.

"Yes," she said, steady now.

"And there is another thing," Belinda said, voice trembling with something like shame and hunger. "If you want them weak, if you want them scared, their mate must die. If their mate die, the power shakes, they will become weakened, and without their mate, the music stops."

A dark thought bloomed in me like a black rose. I did not flinch. "You mean..."

"That Lisa must die," she said in a whisper that sounded like prayer.

Her words hung between us heavy as a stone. For a breath, I did not speak. I watched her, really watched. She looked small and terrible and beautiful all at once. The fire in her had not gone out; it had only been covered.

"You want her dead?" I asked, testing the sentence on my tongue.

"Yes," she said, blunt as a blade. "I cannot stand her. I cannot watch her take everything. She must be removed. Then take the throne. Take the rest." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥

My smile came easily and coldly. It spread like oil. "Certain as the sun," I said. "If I sit, the Alphas cannot have heirs under my watch. No one will breed a line to challenge me. The palace will change. The laws will bend. Power will be rearranged."

Belinda’s breath hitched. She swallowed shame and said, "If you do this, if you use me and cut her down, will I get what you promise? Will you keep me safe?"

"You will be high," I promised, voice smooth. "You will sit where you should. You will not be mocked. I will make sure of it. But first, you must be brave enough to point."

She laughed then, a short, broken sound. "Brave? You call this bravery? This is murder and treachery."

"Call it what you like," I said. "Call it survival."

She looked at me long and hard. "And you...you confessed to their father’s death. You are not afraid that others will know that? That will make you hated."

"Hated tastes like victory if it wins the throne," I said simply. "They hated their father, and all I did was to help them get rid of him."