Chapter 207

Chapter 207: Chapter 207

Drake’s POV

The map room was bathed in the low, amber glow of stone lanterns, their flames flickering against the ancient walls. The only sound was the rhythmic hum of the territory grid, its enchanted lines illuminating the mountain pass and the borders separating my domain from the neutral lands.

I stood over the wide oak table, both hands braced against its edges, studying the glowing boundary. My attention, however, was fixed on something far more important than the territory lines.

A traitor was moving inside my territory.

And I intended to find him.

The door opened behind me without a sound.

Commander Valen, head of my covert scouts, entered the room. He was a lean, dangerous man who preferred shadows to courtrooms and facts to speculation. He didn’t waste time with unnecessary greetings. He approached the table and inclined his head.

"Sir, Lord Julian left his private quarters forty minutes ago."

My crimson eyes narrowed. "Which route?"

"The subterranean drainage tunnel beneath the east wing. He used an outdated master keycard to bypass the lower gate sensors, then took an unmarked path along the eastern ravine."

Valen touched the map, bringing up a faint trail that disappeared into the mountains.

"He believes he went undetected," he continued. "Scout Kael has been following him since he crossed the perimeter wall. Three hundred yards behind, downwind, with the mountain mist masking his scent. Julian hasn’t looked back once."

I straightened slowly.

"Where did he go?"

Valen reached into his leather vest and retrieved a small glass projection stone. He placed it in the center of the table. Pale light erupted from its surface, forming the image of a bleak stone fortress carved into the side of a valley cliff.

"Gideon’s border fortress. Julian arrived at the iron gates twenty minutes ago. The guards recognized his crest and escorted him inside through a side entrance."

For a moment, I simply stared at the projection.

Then Valen delivered the final piece of information.

"He’s made three trips to that fortress in four days, Sovereign. Each visit coincided with a rotation of your personal guards. We believe he’s coordinating directly with Gideon."

The air around me turned bitterly cold.

Frost crept across the oak table, spreading beneath my fingers until the glowing territory lines flickered. Valen remained motionless, accustomed to the dangerous effects of my temper. He knew better than to mistake my silence for calm.

Everything finally made sense.

Julian hadn’t accidentally discovered Lysander’s abduction on the rainy ridge. He had arranged it. He had provided Gideon with information about my security, identified the weaknesses in my defenses, and ensured that the bastard could enter my territory without raising an alarm.

The poison in my glass hadn’t been an unfortunate accident, either.

Julian had wanted me incapacitated. He had needed me weak enough to be caught off guard while Gideon carried Lysander away.

And afterward, he had stood before me, wearing that concerned expression, and lied about my mate’s supposed betrayal.

I remembered every word he’d spoken. Every carefully calculated pause. Every time he’d looked me in the eye and pretended to be on my side.

He thought my pride would blind me.

He thought I would be too consumed by anger over Lysander’s supposed betrayal to question the convenient circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

My fingers curled against the table.

He had made one mistake.

He had forgotten that I was not merely a king who ruled through authority and fear. I was a pureblood Sovereign who had survived centuries of enemies, assassins, and ambitious fools. I knew how betrayal smelled, and once I recognized it, I never stopped hunting until I found its source.

"Is Lysander inside that fortress?" I asked.

My voice sounded almost ordinary, but the glass projection stone trembled beneath the force of my growl.

"Kael confirmed that a high-tier suppression ward was activated in the subterranean cellars two hours after Julian’s first visit," Valen replied. "Its signature matches the iron grids designed to suppress hybrid bloodlines."

His expression hardened.

"Lysander is being held in the lowest level, Sir."

For one terrible second, the room disappeared around me.

All I could see was Lysander trapped beneath cold stone, surrounded by iron designed to weaken his blood and sever his connection to the world beyond those walls.

And our child.

My hand pressed against the table as I closed my eyes, forcing myself to breathe. The thought of Lysander suffering was enough to awaken the monster sleeping beneath my skin. The thought of our unborn child sharing that suffering nearly shattered the last thread of my restraint.

I couldn’t afford to lose control.

Not now.

I reached beyond the fortress, beyond the mountain pass and the endless stretch of pine forest, searching for the faint, fraying thread that connected me to my family.

The bond was weak beneath Gideon’s suppression wards, but it wasn’t gone.

There.

A fragile pulse stirred in the darkness, faint enough that another man might have mistaken it for an illusion. I recognized it immediately. It was the life growing inside Lysander, a tiny heartbeat I would never willingly allow the world to extinguish.

Wrapped around that fragile presence was Lysander’s familiar spirit, exhausted but stubbornly enduring.

He was still alive.

He was still fighting.

And somewhere beneath those iron wards, he was waiting for me.

I opened my eyes.

The crimson glow in them intensified until Valen’s face reflected faintly in the polished surface of the table.

"Assemble the vanguard," I ordered. "Twelve elite guards. The best trackers, the quietest fighters, and those capable of breaking suppression wards without triggering the fortress alarms."

Valen nodded immediately.

"No armor. No lanterns. We move through the mountain pass under cover of the fog. I want every entrance mapped before we reach the walls, and I want the guards’ rotation memorized. Nobody attacks until I give the command."

"Understood, Sovereign."

He turned toward the door, but I stopped him with one final question.

"And Julian?"

Valen looked back at me.

"He’s still inside the fortress," he said. "Kael can secure the exits if you want him captured before the assault."

A cold smile spread across my face.

"No."

The word came out softly, but Valen understood the command beneath it.

"Leave him inside," I continued, pushing away from the table. "Let him sit beside Gideon and celebrate their little victory. Let him believe he’s successfully delivered my mate into enemy hands."

I reached for my dark leather coat and pulled it over my shoulders.

"They’ve spent days preparing for a king who doesn’t know the truth. I intend to give them exactly what they expect until the moment I arrive."

Valen’s mouth tightened with grim satisfaction.

"And when you breach the gates?"

I looked once more at the projection of Gideon’s fortress, memorizing its towers, entrances, and narrow approach through the ravine.

"I will retrieve my family."

Then I turned toward the door, my fury settling into something far more dangerous than rage.

"And when Lysander is safe, Gideon will answer for every second he kept him imprisoned. Julian will answer for every lie he told me."

My claws slid free, scraping against the wooden edge of the table.

"Neither of them will leave that fortress believing they have won."