Chapter 17: The Balcony Gamble

The private study felt less like a sanctuary and more like a crime scene waiting to happen. My heart was still doing a frantic tango in my chest after that conversation with Kaelen. *'Possess them,'* he’d said. Yeah, I’m sure that’s just a figure of speech and not a literal warning that he’s gonna start measuring me for a collar. I was pacing the room when the balcony door slid open. I didn't reach for a weapon—I didn't have one—but I did move behind the massive mahogany desk. It was Alessia. She looked like she’d just walked out of a blizzard, her leather jacket dusted with snow, her green eyes scanning the room with the precision of a sniper. "You’re alive," she said, shutting the door behind her. "I heard a rumor that the King had a little 'disciplinary meeting' with an annoying human and that said human was currently being served as an appetizer." "Ha. Very funny," I muttered, slumping back into the chair. "He didn't kill me. Turns out, being 'the only human in the room who knows how to operate an Excel sheet' is actually a high-value skill in this century." Alessia walked over, her boots clicking rhythmically on the floor. She leaned against the desk, looking down at my open laptop. "You found it, didn't you? The ledger." "I found everything, Alessia," I said, my voice dropping. "My father, your pack leaders, the whole 'I-can-buy-an-army-with-crypto' scheme. It’s all right here. And I’m betting Kaelen is currently having his guards burn the houses of everyone involved." She didn't look surprised. In fact, she looked almost relieved. "Good. Let them burn. Those old bastards have been running this pack like it’s still the Middle Ages. They think they can just ignore the fact that the world has moved on? They deserve to be a footnote in the King's biography." "You don't care that your pack leaders are about to be, uh, 'removed'?" I asked. Alessia smirked, that jagged scar on her face pulling into something almost playful. "Elian, I told you—I didn't become Alpha by asking nicely. If they go down, it just makes my job easier." She paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me. "But you… you’re the one who needs to be worried. You think Kaelen is keeping you around because you’re a genius? He’s keeping you because you’re a shiny new toy that he hasn't figured out how to break yet." "I’m not a toy," I said, though it sounded weak even to me. "Keep telling yourself that," she replied, pushing off the desk. "But listen, the coup isn't just about the money. There’s a faction in the guard that’s planning to strike during the banquet tonight. They think the King is weak because he’s 'distracted' by his new human obsession." I felt the blood drain from my face. *Distracted.* "Tonight?" I asked. "Are you sure?" "I’m an Alpha, Elian. I don't guess," she said, heading for the balcony door. "Do with that information what you will. Just… try not to be the first one to lose your head when the chaos starts." She vanished into the night as quickly as she’d appeared. I stood there, staring at the empty space where she’d been. *Fantastic.* My first big move as the King’s ‘advisor’ was about to be interrupted by a bloody coup. I looked at the laptop screen, then at the door. I had the ledger. I had the intel on the coup. I was either about to save the King’s throne—and likely my own neck—or I was going to be the first casualty of the banquet of thorns. "Well, Elian," I muttered to the empty room, "I guess it’s time to see how fast you can run when the rats start jumping off the ship."