Chapter 144: Eyes Everywhere

Author’s POV~

"Oh? You mean she’s going out to meet the person you personally hired to be her secret security detail? Her personal bodyguard that she never knew about?"

Raven stood halfway down the steps, one hand resting lightly on the railing. His shirt was half unbuttoned, and his dark hair was still wet, as if he had just come from a late-night shower. But his eyes were sharp, dark, and wide awake, and they weren’t looking at Keiran at all.

They were looking straight at his grandmother.

The Dowager Luna’s eyebrows lifted slightly. A small, knowing smile touched her lips.

"So you found out already, Raven?"

"It wasn’t that hard to figure out," Raven said softly. He stepped down the rest of the stairs, his bare feet making no sound on the cold marble, and stopped in the middle of the hall.

"Think about it, Keiran. On Adeline’s very first day at the academy, Sierra walked right up to her and became her best friend. Just like that. Out of every single wealthy, powerful student in that place, Sierra picked the one girl nobody wanted to look at."

Raven continued, his voice calm, quiet, and intense. "Sierra is an alpha. A pure, strong alpha. And back then, Adeline was completely scentless and wolfless. She was the exact kind of girl every proud alpha would walk past without giving a second glance."

"But Sierra stuck to her like glue. She knew exactly what Adeline was, and she stayed anyway. An alpha, choosing to be best friends with a scentless nobody. Does that sound like a normal coincidence to you?"

Keiran’s eyes narrowed into dark slits, but he didn’t answer.

"It doesn’t," Raven continued, staring directly into the Dowager Luna’s eyes. "So I started to wonder. I started digging into how Sierra always happened to be at the right place at the right time whenever Adeline was in trouble. And then, I became completely sure."

"How?" the Dowager Luna asked, her smile remaining perfectly still.

"You told me earlier that Adeline threw up my blood right after the healing," Raven said, his dark eyes fixed on hers.

"Think about who she would actually run to and tell a secret like that to. She doesn’t talk to anyone. She never has. She hides from the world. The only person on this entire planet she trusts with her life is her friend. So she must have told Sierra. And somehow, within minutes, that exact secret reached your ears."

The entire hall fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.

"You hired Sierra to watch her," Raven said flatly. "You paid her to be Adeline’s shadow."

The Dowager Luna slowly nodded her head, her calm smile unchanging.

"Yes," she said. "I did."

A short, low laugh tore out of Keiran’s throat. It was a cold, bitter sound.

"So that’s it," Keiran said, shaking his head as he stared at the Dowager Luna. "You have been watching every single step she takes, all along."

"Her safety comes first, Keiran," Gwen said, her voice turning firm and unyielding.

"Always. Sierra reports directly to me. Everything Adeline says, every single word that leaves her mouth from morning until night, I hear it. I didn’t do it to spy on her, Keiran. I did it to keep her breathing."

The Dowager Luna said, lifting her chin proudly. "And do not think Sierra is weak just because she acts like a silly college girl. She is a trained alpha warrior. If anyone ever came at Adeline with a blade in the dark, Sierra would step in front of it without a single second of hesitation. She would save Adeline’s life before she saved her own. I personally made sure of that when I put her next to her."

Keiran and Raven looked at each other across the wide hall.

Neither of them spoke a word, but a silent, heavy understanding passed between them. After a long moment, they both gave a single, slow nod.

"Fine," Raven said softly. "That makes it a little easier to breathe."

Keiran’s hand slowly slid off the iron door handle. His heavy shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch, though his dark eyes remained filled with tension.

The Dowager Luna watched them carefully. Then, she turned her back on the front doors and walked slowly toward the sitting area near the massive stone fireplace. She sat down in a high-backed velvet chair, and folded her small hands in her lap.

"Now," Gwen said, looking up at them through the dim firelight. "Tell me about the other matter. The situation with the Crescent Pack. Did Zyran and Blake reach out to you?"

Keiran followed her into the sitting room and sat heavily on the padded arm of the leather sofa.

"They reached out an hour ago," Keiran said, his face darkening.

"And?" Gwen asked. "How is she?"

"It wasn’t easy," Keiran said, rubbing his jaw with his hand.

"She fought back like a wild animal. She half-shifted in the dark and tried to tear her own wrists completely off the iron chains holding her. Because of the curse, she felt zero pain, so she just kept pulling and ripping at herself. Blake said the deep purple bruises on her hands looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them."

"They gave her a heavy sleeping salve through a needle. She is completely unconscious now, but she’s still breathing. They said she will stay locked in that sleep for a very long time."

"Good," Gwen said.

Raven walked over and sat down on the sofa across from his grandmother. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his dark hair falling over his forehead.

"Keep her locked away," the Dowager Luna commanded, her eyes not blinking even once as she stared into the flames.

"Keep her unconscious. Keep her in the dark forever, if you must. I would rather that girl sleep for a hundred years in the deepest dungeon on this continent than take one single step outside of it, if it means saving Adeline’s life."

Raven stared down at the floor, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Grandmother..." Raven began softly.

"There is something else I need to ask you," Raven said, his voice breaking the heavy silence.