Chapter 153

I woke alone in my bed, staring into the darkness while the sounds of the house settled around me. The space beside me felt too large, too empty. Ravin was on patrol, checking the perimeter after Aureon’s news. Caelion had gone to watch the children, making sure they were all in bed. My other mates were scattered throughout the house or the village, each trying to solve a piece of the puzzle that had become our lives.

I lay there for a long moment, listening. Soft breathing drifted from the corners where the children slept. The occasional scrape of scales against stone marked where one of Soryn’s children shifted in their rest. Outside, leaves rustled in a faint breeze that carried the scent of night blooming flowers.

Normal sounds. Safe sounds.

Except nothing is ever really safe.

Someone inside the tiger tribe had betrayed the tribe. We knew this when we first came to this village and since then trying to find the culprit had but futile. Someone had taken the sacred tiger seal and given it to the stonehorn. Someone had helped the enemies get close enough to threaten the family, our children, our home. And worse, someone else was protecting them. Someone powerful enough to obscure the trail every time Aureon’s hunters got close, someone who could twist magic to hide another’s tracks.

I pressed my palm against my stomach. Heat immediately met my touch, radiating from within like a small furnace had been lit beneath my skin. My Mer baby was absorbing more of the water from inside of me, which was making me dehydrated even faster. I needed to get to the cave soon, but the thought of leaving the house for my need while everyone is doing their best to keep the tribe safe, seem selfish on my part.

I sat up slowly, the furs sliding from my shoulders. The air felt heavy against my skin I pulled on a loose tunic and slipped outside quietly, stepping over sleeping children and around the nest where the snakes coiled together in a pile of emerald scales. The village looked peaceful beneath the twin moons, deceptively calm. Fires had burned low, leaving only glowing embers scattered between the homes. Guards moved along the outer paths, their silhouettes passing between trees like ghosts.

Everything appeared normal. That was somehow worse. Because somewhere inside that normality was a traitor, and somewhere above them was a puppet master pulling strings we couldn’t see.

I walked around the side of the house, telling myself I was just stretching my legs, just getting air. But my feet carried me toward the back of the house, toward the shadows where the trees grew thickest. Something pulled me there, some instinct I couldn’t name.

That was when I saw it.

A mark in the dirt behind our home. Not a footprint exactly. Something else. The earth was disturbed in a long, sweeping pattern, as if something heavy had been dragged or pressed against the ground. The shape was wrong for any beast I knew. Too narrow for a bear. Too long for a cat. The edges of the disturbed soil held a strange sheen, almost like oil had been spilled and soaked into the earth.

My skin prickled. I crouched down, my heart hammering against my ribs. The mark was fresh, the soil still dark with moisture. Someone had been here recently. Something had stood in this exact spot and watched my home while my children slept inside.

I reached out to touch the edge of the disturbed earth.

"Don’t move."

I spun around, my heart exploding in my chest.

Ravin stepped from the shadows, his amber eyes catching the moonlight. He held up one hand. "Stay still. You’re standing on the edge of evidence."

"Ravin," I gasped, clutching my chest. "You scared me half to death."

"You’re awake." He moved toward me, his bare feet silent on the packed earth. "I saw you leave the house. I was patrolling the perimeter when I caught your scent moving in the wrong direction."

"I couldn’t sleep."

His jaw tightened as he crouched beside me, his eyes scanning the ground. "Neither could I."

He leaned closer to the mark, his nose nearly touching the dirt. Then his expression darkened, his brows drawing together. He rubbed two fingers against the earth and lifted them toward his nose. His eyes sharpened, pupils dilating.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Ash," he said quietly. "Mixed with something. Something herbal. And beneath it..." He paused, his nostrils flaring again. "Scales. Or something like them. Something reptilian."

My blood chilled. Reptilian could mean many things. Snake. Lizard. Dragon. None of them should have been standing behind my house at night.

Before I could ask more, movement sounded behind us. Ravin spun so fast I barely saw him move. A growl exploded from his chest, low and dangerous.

"Easy."

Aureon stepped from the shadows, his white hair nearly glowing beneath the moonlight. Leon followed him, emerging from behind a different tree. Veylan was behind them both, his silver eyes scanning the darkness.

"God," I muttered, clutching my chest. "Do all of you enjoy appearing out of nowhere?"

"Yes," Leon answered calmly.

I stared at him. He almost smiled. Almost.

Aureon crouched beside the mark, his movements economical and precise. The moment he smelled the earth, his face changed. Something dark passed behind his golden eyes.

"You smelled it too," Ravin said. It wasn’t a question.

Aureon nodded slowly. "Tigerroot."

I blinked. "What?"

"Tigerroot," he repeated, his voice carefully controlled. "It grows only near the northern cliffs. The elders burn it during council gatherings as part of the ritual purification."

My stomach dropped. "Only the elders?"

"Traditionally, yes."

Leon folded his arms across his chest. "That does not prove an elder stood here. Anyone could have collected the ash. And reptilian scent could be from any number of beasts."

"No," Aureon said, his jaw tight. "But it proves someone carrying its scent did. Someone who has been near the council fires recently. And the scale residue..." He looked up at me, his expression troubled. "It’s old. Days old. As if someone carried it on their skin, their clothing, long enough for it to become part of their natural scent."

Veylan moved around the side of the house; his nose lifted to the air. "There’s another scent here."

Aureon turned sharply. "What?"

Veylan’s silver eyes narrowed as he followed the trail. "Oil. Something processed. Not natural."

He followed it several steps before crouching near the base of another tree. Something glimmered between the roots, catching the moonlight.

He reached down.

"Don’t touch it," I said immediately.

Veylan froze, his hand hovering inches from the object. Everyone looked at me.

"What?" he asked, sounding irritated.

I pointed at the glimmering thing. "If someone is covering tracks and watching the house, maybe we shouldn’t put our hands all over mysterious objects they conveniently leave behind."

Leon nodded slowly. "She has a point."

Veylan looked personally offended by the idea that I had stopped him from touching a suspicious object.

Aureon used a stick instead, hooking the object carefully and pulling it from beneath the root. It was a strip of black leather, thin and oiled. And stamped into one corner was a symbol I recognized immediately. A tiger claw.

Aureon’s face went completely still, all expression draining away.

Ravin looked at him. "What does that mean?"

Aureon didn’t answer. His fingers tightened around the stick until his knuckles turned white.

"Aureon," I said, stepping closer.

"It belongs to the elder guard," he said quietly. "The personal guards assigned to the council elders. Each elder has one. Each guard carries a strip like this as proof of their station."

Silence fell over our group. My heartbeat became loud in my ears, drowning out the night sounds.

"So an elder’s guard was standing outside my house in the middle of the night?" I asked. "Or an elder themselves?"

"Or someone wants us to believe that" Leon said.

I looked toward him. He was staring at the leather instead of the mark on the ground, his expression thoughtful.

"Think about it," he continued. "The trail at the border leads toward an elder, but every time we get close, the scent disappears. Now this appears outside our home? A piece of evidence that practically screams ’elder’? And reptilian scent near the home of a woman mated to a snake shifter?"

"Too easy," Veylan murmured.

"Exactly."

Aureon’s jaw tightened. "They know we are investigating. They’re playing with us. Trying to point us toward the council while the real traitor hides elsewhere."

"We say nothing."

I blinked. "What?"

"Nothing," he repeated, his voice firm. "Not to the guards. Not to the council. Not even to those we believe are loyal the only one we bring this up to is my parents. If the enemy knows our movements, every investigation only gives them another chance to erase their tracks."

Soryn emerged from the shadows near the house, his emerald eyes reflecting the moonlight. He had been checking on the snakes inside, ensuring they were safe in their nest. He looked at me briefly before turning to Aureon. "I agree with Aureon. If there is a backer protecting the traitor, someone with enough power to hide magic from Aureon himself, then we cannot trust anyone. Not yet."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Aureon and Soryn exchanged a look. Then Aureon smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It was the smile of a predator who had spotted prey.

"We give them something to erase."

Aureon continues. "I’ll tell my father. He can call the meeting without raising suspicion."

---

By morning, the plan was already moving.

I hated it. Which apparently meant everyone else thought it was brilliant.

Aurin called an emergency meeting of the elders, just as Aureon had arranged. The official reason was simple. The tiger tribe had supposedly discovered that the stonehorn still seek vengeance. A scouting party would leave tomorrow before sunrise. Only four elders were told the location. Aurin. Aureon. The rest of my mate and myself are the only ones that also knows about it.

Except the location was false. There was no scouting party. There was no stonehorn camp. Instead, each elder was given a slightly different route. If one of those routes reached the enemy, we would know where the leak came from.

"You’re using false information to bait them," I said to Aureon as we prepared for the meeting.

He glanced at me. "Yes."

"That is terrifyingly smart."

Soryn looked offended. "We are not stupid."

"I never said you were."

"You sounded surprised."

"I’m surrounded by men who solve most problems with claws," I pointed out.

Aureon crossed his arms. "They are very effective claws."

I rolled my eyes.

The meeting chamber filled slowly. One elder after another entered. Elder Saar walked in first, his white beard brushing his chest. Elder Merek followed, his face set in its usual scowl. Elder Vasha entered with quiet grace; her silver hair braided with shells. Elder Thalen came last, looking like he would rather be sleeping.

I watched all four. Every movement. Every glance. Every twitch. And learned absolutely nothing.

Elder Saar looked bored, picking at his fingernails. Merek looked irritated, as usual. Vasha looked concerned, her brows drawn together. Thalen looked half asleep.

Any of them could have been pretending. That was the problem. A traitor didn’t walk into a room announcing themselves. They smiled. They nodded. They agreed. They looked ordinary.

My stomach twisted.

Then the door opened again. Reona entered, her golden presence filling the space.

I frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Aurin asked me to sit in." She came beside me, her hand resting briefly on my shoulder. "Because if one of these idiots tries anything, I would like the privilege of hitting them first."

I stared at her. She smiled sweetly.

I loved her.

The discussion began. Aureon explained that scouts had supposedly found evidence of stonehorn movement in the eastern ridges. He gave the general story first, watching each elder’s reaction. Then Aurin dismissed the room one elder at a time, privately giving each their assigned route.

I watched. Saar left scratching his beard, muttering about the cold. Merek left complaining about wasted warriors and aching joints. Vasha asked three questions about supplies before leaving. Thalen said nothing, simply nodding and shuffling out.

Nothing suspicious. Nothing useful.

When the final elder left, I sagged into my seat. "Well, that accomplished absolutely nothing."

"It accomplished what it needed to," Aureon said.

"Now we wait."

I hated waiting. Especially when someone wanted my family dead.