Irina’s POV

I stayed on the floor.

For a long moment I couldn’t do anything except breathe. And even that hurt — each inhale scraped against something raw and swollen deep in my throat, like the inside of my neck had been turned inside out. My palms were flat against the cold stone. I focused on that. The cold. The solid realness of it pressing against my hands.

*He’s gone.*

I kept telling myself that. He’s gone. He ran. Sofia’s voice scared him off and he left and I’m still here. Still breathing.

My hands were shaking so hard I could barely hold myself upright.

"Miss? Miss Irina?"

Sofia’s footsteps in the corridor. Getting faster. Getting closer.

I pressed my back against the wall. Tried to sit up straight. Tried to look like something other than what I was. I managed maybe half of it by the time the door swung open.

She stopped in the doorway.

The look on her face — the way her hand flew to her mouth — told me exactly how bad I looked.

"Oh my god." She was already moving. "Oh my god, what happened —"

"I’m fine." My voice came out ruined. Barely a whisper. Cracked down the middle.

She didn’t believe that for a single second.

---

She didn’t ask questions. Not right away. She just got me up — both hands under my arm, steady and sure — and steered me down the hallway and into my room and sat me on the edge of the bed like she was afraid I’d shatter if she let go too fast.

Then she disappeared for thirty seconds.

She came back with a glass of water.

"Drink," she said. Not a suggestion.

I drank. My hands were still shaking. Water sloshed over the rim. I didn’t care.

Sofia sat in the small chair across from me and watched. I could feel exactly where her eyes kept going. My neck. She kept looking at my neck, and the more she looked, the more controlled her face got — the way people’s faces get when they’re working very hard to stay calm.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked. Quiet. Careful.

I shook my head.

"Let me —" She leaned forward like she was going to touch my throat. Every muscle in my body locked up in half a second. She caught herself. Pulled her hand back.

"Okay." She folded her hands in her lap instead. "Tell me what happened."

I opened my mouth.

And then I remembered.

*I’m going to kill him. Your precious alpha. I’ve been watching him for weeks. I know his schedule. I know his routes.*

Everything went cold all over again.

I shoved the glass onto the nightstand and stood up.

"I have to go." Already moving toward the door. "I need to find Nicholas —"

"Hey —" Sofia was on her feet, faster than I expected, stepping directly into my path. "Stop. Irina, stop. You can barely stand up."

"I’m standing fine."

"You were just attacked." Her voice sharpened. "You are not going anywhere alone."

"Sofia." I looked at her. Actually looked at her. "Someone is going to try to kill him. I have to tell him. Right now."

Something moved across her face. Hard to read. Gone before I could figure out what it was.

"His name is Alexei," I said. "He’s my step-brother."

Sofia said nothing.

"He was from the Iron Stone clan. When the clan was dismantled, the surviving members got absorbed into other packs. He was one of them." My voice was getting steadier. Barely. "He’s been here for a while. Under a different name. Hiding. Nobody knew who he really was."

"And he came after you."

"He came to shut me up." I pressed my fingers to my throat without thinking about it. Forced them back down. "He told me his whole plan. Said he’s been watching Nicholas for weeks — learning his schedule, his routes, where he goes without guards." It still felt unreal, saying it out loud. "He wants to kill him. And once Nicholas is dead, he steps in. Someone will have to take control, he said. Why not him."

The room went quiet.

Sofia hadn’t moved. Hadn’t said a word.

"You understand why I need to go." I was on my feet again. "Now. Today. Before Nicholas goes anywhere without security, before —"

"What does he look like."

I stopped.

She wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at the floor, arms folded tight across her chest. Her jaw was set in a way I’d never seen on her before.

"Alexei," she said again. Still not looking up. "What does he look like."

"Why does that matter?"

"Describe him."

There was something in her voice I didn’t understand. Something underneath the question. I answered anyway.

"Tall. Dark hair, kept short. There’s a scar on his chin — small, just a thin line, from when we were kids. His eyes are lighter than you’d expect. Almost gray." I watched her face while I talked. "If you saw him in soldier’s clothes you’d think he fit in. But something about the way he moves is off. You’d notice it if you were paying attention."

I was paying attention now.

The stiffness that had crept into her shoulders. The way her fingers had gone white where they gripped her own arms. The tiny, very controlled breath she pulled in through her nose.

She knew.

I didn’t know how I was certain. I just was. She knew exactly who I was describing.

"Sofia."

She didn’t answer.

She’d grabbed my hand at some point. I hadn’t noticed. Her fingers were wrapped tight around mine and they were shaking — Sofia’s hands, shaking — and I didn’t think I had ever seen her hands shake before, not once.

"Irina." Her voice cracked. "Please don’t go."

"Sofia, what —"

"Just give me a minute." Her eyes were wet. Actually wet. "Please. Give me five minutes. Before you do anything. I need you to listen to me —"

"I don’t understand any of this." I looked at her face. Really looked. Something cold and slow was spreading through my chest. "How do you know him? Do you *know* him? Who is he to you?"

She looked away.

Didn’t answer.

For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the two of us breathing.

Then she looked back. Her chin was trembling. Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

"The man you described." She swallowed hard. "Alexei."

She said his name like she had said it a thousand times. Like it already lived in her mouth.

"He’s my mate."

The room tilted.

My heartbeat was very loud in my ears.

"And he’s my ally."