Chapter 36. The Bait

The silence in the Citadel was a heavy, suffocating thing, far more unnerving than the usual controlled chaos of a high-ranking Pack headquarters. Every sound—a guard’s footstep, the whir of a ventilator, the distant clatter of dishes—was magnified, echoing in the tension. The Wolf Guard was confined to barracks, communication was limited to essential security channels, and Kade, the Alpha, remained locked away in the command center, coordinating with Jules to stabilize the collapsing financial and political situation. The Exile Pending order had been a political nuclear strike, leaving behind a silence of stunned activity.

This was precisely the environment Cassandra had been waiting for: maximum preoccupation, minimum oversight.

She moved with an unnerving, deliberate calm. The rage from the night before, fueled by Jeris’s confirmation of the Molten Light Bond, had calcified into a diamond-hard resolve. She was no longer acting out of petty spite; this was a strategic