Chapter 150: A SISTER’S GAMBLE
KEISHA’S POV
The following morning arrived far too quickly.
I woke before sunrise though, feeling groggy and tired as hell.
By the time I stepped out of the guest room, Lyra was already awake.
Her suitcase stood beside the bed, zipped shut and ready to go. She was checking through her handbag one last time, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything important. She looked as organised as ever, but I knew her well enough to notice the hesitation hidden beneath the routine. She wasn’t worried about the journey, she was worried about leaving me behind.
"You’ve checked that bag at least five times yesterday. You can stop looking through it," I said.
She sighed. "Good morning to you too."
"Its not forever. You don’t have to keep looking for reasons to stay."
She sighed and sat beside her suitcase. "I just don’t like the timing."
"I don’t either."
"Every time I convince myself things are finally settling down, something else happens."
I couldn’t argue with that.
The past few weeks had been one disaster after another.
"I’ll be fine."
She looked at me for a long moment before shaking her head. "Of course you will."
I smiled faintly. "Yeah."
A knock sounded on the open door and one of the guards stood outside. "The Alpha asked me to let you know the car is ready."
Lyra nodded. "We’ll be down in a minute."
The guard excused himself but neither of us moved immediately.
Eventually, Lyra picked up her suitcase while I reached for the smaller travel bag resting beside it.
"Come on," I said. "If we stand here much longer, you’ll miss your transport."
The drive to the border was quieter than I expected.
Callum had arranged for one of the pack drivers to take us himself, insisting it would be safer than allowing Lyra to travel alone. From there, another vehicle heading towards Coldridge would be waiting to complete the journey.
The closer we came to the border crossing, the quieter the atmosphere became.
Neither of us wanted to acknowledge that it was time.
The vehicle eventually rolled to a stop beside the checkpoint separating Ashveil from the neighbouring territories and another transport already waited on the opposite side.
The driver stepped out first and began unloading Lyra’s luggage while we remained standing beside the car.
"This feels familiar," Lyra said with a small smile.
"Does it?" I laughed softly.
She stepped closer before wrapping her arms around me and I froze, because the hug caught me off guard but I held onto her just as tightly. "I’ll miss you."
I buried my face in her hair. "I’ll miss you too."
The driver finished loading her luggage and politely informed us it was time to leave.
Lyra squeezed my hand one final time before climbing into the waiting vehicle and I stood exactly where I was as the car pulled away.
She rolled down the window long enough to wave and I waved back until the vehicle disappeared beyond the bend in the road.
Only then did I climb back into the Ashveil car.
I spent most of drive back staring through the window, hoping Lyra would reach Coldridge without any delays. She’d spent days pretending she wasn’t worried about leaving, but I knew better. She’d only agreed to go because I’d convinced her the company needed her.
I just hoped I hadn’t made the wrong decision.
The gates to the mansion came into view and the driver pulled into the courtyard before stopping near the front entrance. "I’ll get the door," he said.
"I’ve got it." I reached for the handle and stepped out.
The morning air had barely touched my face when something shot through it and past me with a whoosh.
Oh shit.
Instinct jerked my head to the side and I ducked as a sharp object flew past my cheek so closely that I felt the rush of air against my skin.
A loud metallic crack sounded through the courtyard and my heart lurched as I spun around.
A knife had buried itself deep into the stone wall beside the entrance.
For one terrifying second, I couldn’t breathe.
Oh goddess.
If I had stepped out of the car a fraction earlier...
"Protect Miss Keisha!" The guards reacted instantly and weapons were drawn as several of them spread across the courtyard while others searched the surrounding walls and rooftops. "Find whoever threw it!"
I forced my breathing to steady.
"There." One of the guards pointed towards the knife.
Something white peeked out beneath the handle.
A folded piece of paper had been tied around it.
"Don’t touch it," one of the guards warned, moving quickly towards me. "It could be poisoned."
"I’ll be careful."
"Miss Keisha—"
I walked over before anyone could stop me.
The guard remained close enough to intervene if necessary, but I could already tell the knife itself wasn’t the message. The paper was.
I carefully untied it before unfolding the page.
The handwriting was rough but the message was clear.
If you want your sister to reach Coldridge alive, come alone.
A location had been written beneath it.
My blood turned cold.
Lyra.
No. It couldn’t be. She had only just left. If someone had been watching the mansion, then they knew exactly when she departed. They knew where she was heading.
Who knew about her journey? Who had enough people to intercept her before she reached Coldridge? Who would threaten my sister just to force me somewhere alone?
One name surfaced almost immediately. Orin. He’d already threatened me once. He’d already proved he was working with people powerful enough to stay one step ahead of us. And he was obsessed enough to use Lyra against me if it meant getting what he wanted.
"Miss Keisha?" The guard’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him.
"The Alpha isn’t here. What do we do?"
I folded the letter again and handed it to him. "Give this to Alpha Callum the moment he returns."
His eyes widened. "You aren’t—"
"I’m finding Beta Dane."
"Shouldn’t you wait for the Alpha?"
"There isn’t time." I was already rushing away.
Dane was in the training wing speaking with two patrol leaders when he noticed me approaching.
He took one look at the distraught look on my face and immediately dismissed them. "What happened?"
I didn’t waste time before I explained everything and by the time I finished, Dane’s expression had darkened considerably.
He held out his hand. "The letter."
"I gave it to one of the guards."
His jaw tightened. "So Callum already knows?"
"Not yet, but he will."
He looked relieved by that. "I’ll gather a team."
"No."
His head snapped towards me. "No?"
"I think it’s Orin. I mean he has threatened me before.If this really is Orin, then this could be exactly what we’ve been waiting for."
"You mean a chance to catch him."
"And the people working with him." I nodded. "If we send twenty guards charging into that location, they’ll disappear before we even get close."
"So what’s your smart plan, what if you go alone?"
"They’ll think they’ve succeeded."
Dane folded his arms. "I don’t like where this is going."
"I won’t go alone per se. But you’ll stay hidden. I’ll go to the meeting point by myself."
"No." He deadpanned.
"You’ll keep your distance."
"Absolutely not."
"If Orin appears, we follow him." I continued, undeterred.
"No."
"If the masked men appear instead, we finally have a chance to identify them."
His patience finally gave way. "You keep saying ’we’ as if you’re describing a strategy we’re both agreeing to."
"It’s the only plan!" I countered.
"The only plan?" He scowled.
"Yes."
"The one where you deliberately walk into an ambush?"
"I won’t really be alone."
"You will from their perspective."
"Exactly." I sighed, pinching my nose.
He rubbed a hand across his face. "Keisha, absolutely not."
"We don’t have time to debate this."
"We have enough time to come up with something that doesn’t involve using you as bait." He threw his hands around.
"If we waste time organising half the pack, they’ll move my sister before we even reach them. I can’t let that happen."
His expression tightened further and I knew he understood my reasoning.
He looked away for a moment, visibly fighting the urge to reject the idea outright.. When he finally looked back at me, the conflict in his eyes hadn’t disappeared. "Fine."
Good.
Because I couldn’t lose my sister.