Kael Pov
The worst part was knowing I'd planned for this.
Not the bloodshed—that came naturally. Not the deceit—I'd been raised on lies. No, the worst part was how calmly I'd laid the groundwork for betraying the very wolves now walking beside me.
Lucian's words still rang in my head.
"I still think you're a bastard. But you care about her."
That was all he said before assigning me to the unit.
It almost made me laugh. As if caring about Sera was enough to cleanse my sins. As if guilt was redemption.
I didn't argue. I let him assign me to the scouting party like I hadn't already warned Corin to take over the decoy lead if this exact scenario happened. I wasn't surprised when Lucian tried to keep me close—it was the smart move. What he didn't know was that it played right into our hands.
We moved at dawn.
