Thalia watched Elena write, the tenderness that had briefly lingered between them now gone—replaced by a quiet, watchful silence. Vantim perched on Leo's shoulder, preening his feathers, while Leo eyed the hawk with visible unease.
"Do you know why he was there?" Elena asked, leaning back to glance over her writing.
Thalia folded her arms, studying her niece. "He was clearly after Borris, that much is obvious. But his intentions?"
Elena's gaze flicked upward, thoughtful. "Yes… His intentions for Borris." Her mind drifted to Jake's promise—to avoid killing unless forced. She knew he had slain the assassins sent after her, but to kill Borris, a noble, even one as corrupt as him… that was another matter.
Thalia exhaled softly. "No. He said he didn't care about Borris's fate, only that he'd be punished—and he will be."
She still couldn't fully believe that Elena, her niece, and the son of the Singer of Harmony and heir to the Lockvry crime family were lovers.
Yet when Elena admitted their relationship, she could only see the truth in her eyes.
Elena sighed and rolled up the letter, tying it neatly around Vantim's ankle. With a soft screech, the hawk spread its wings and flew out through the open window Leo had unlatched.
"Auntie…" Elena's voice trembled slightly, hesitation woven through each word. "Only a few people can know about me and Jake. We've sealed it through Pacts."
Thalia's brow furrowed, but her voice stayed calm. "A Pact?"
Elena nodded. "A binding one. It hides our relationship from the world—protects it. Anyone who swears to it shares the weight of the secret. Some Pacts fade in time, but this one… is blood; it will only be broken if our relationship ever gets out.
Thalia's expression softened, and she stepped closer, placing a firm, warm hand on her niece's shoulder. Thalia knew blood pacts were the most powerful pacts, but also chaotic.
"I agree to the Pact."
Her tone was gentle, yet the air in the room shifted—pressure building, faint threads of golden light curling between them, pulsing like veins beneath the surface of reality. The air shimmered, humming softly.
The light flickered, then sank into their hearts—gone in an instant. But the magic remained, alive and waiting.
~~~~~
Jake felt it before he understood it. A sudden shiver—sharp, electric—raced through him. His breath hitched, eyes wide, tail twitching.
Shawn noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked, grabbing the hilt of his axe that was leaning against the table.
"Someone agreed to our pact," Jake breathed. They all froze as they shifted their gaze to him.
"You mean?" Audrey asked, leaving her question in the air. Jake nodded. "Yeah, someone else knows," he sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"Vantim is on his way back, I am guessing she would tell us in the letter she has sent," Audrey said, as she looked through ship manifests.
The manifests were in together over seven hundred pages of notes and documents over the last five years. Reports on cargo, captain, crew, incidents that happened while on the ship: deaths, injuries, overboard, etc.
"Why am I looking at this?" Audrey sighed, slumping on the desk she was at. "I have one eye, and this is very, very small handwriting!"
Shawn chuckled, "Hey, you can read that, that's what matters," he said as he looked at another. Dan rumbled something under his breath.
Hours bled away as they sifted through ink and dust, hunting patterns only criminals or kings would recognize. Even though their plan was already in motion, they wanted proof—enough to put a bounty on Forrest's head that no man could outrun.
A knock broke the silence, their gazes going to the door. "Enter," Jake spoke softly. The door opened to reveal a young girl, a servant, who had Vantim on her shoulder. She quickly walked to Audrey, and she met the young girl with a hug."Thanks, Val," Audrey said, as Vantim perched on the desk she left.
"Can Thanis play soon?" Val asked, her voice high with the age of youth. Her green eyes were glowing in the blue lamplight.
"Sure, I can summon him soon." Audrey smiled as she patted Val's blonde hair.
"Yay!" Val exclaimed with excitement. Jake and Shawn chuckled as Val rushed out, closing the door behind her.Audrey shook her head at the young girl's antics as she took the note from Vantim and handed it to Jake.
Jake managed a tired grin. "Still the same wild spirit," he murmured.
Audrey said. "Here. Straight from your fox."
Jake nodded and unraveled the letter, and his gold eyes read over it—then again, and he cursed.
"Is she alright?" Audrey asked, concern edging her tone.
"That person who agreed," Jake trailed off.
"Yeah?"
"Thalia Falmil," he sighed.
The room went still, the only thing breaking the silence was Shawn's curse, "Shit."
"She also wants to meet me, check if I am alright, and she will explain things further about Thalia." Jake shook his head, "Well…" his words drifted off as his tail twitched and lashed through the air, his mind racing.
He leaned back, shadows rippling faintly around his chair. "I'll send her a reply in person… if my mana doesn't burn me first."
"Still hurting?" Audrey asked.
Jake winced as his attempt to summon the shadows sent pain shooting through his veins. "Yeah, it is." He sighed. "It's been a day… I think?" Jake asked, his words fading as his eyes seemed heavier.
"It's been what—forty hours?" Shawn said, crossing his arms. "You haven't slept since before you saved the fox. You fought, bled, got patched up, hunted the man behind the assassins, escaped the Flame of Helver, then came back and went straight to paperwork. That's not 'half wolf' endurance, that's insanity."
Jake's tail twitched. "Ah—"
"Bed. Now." Shawn's voice was iron. "Get your fluffy ass in bed before you pass out."
Jake scowled, muttering, "Fuck you."
Shawn laughed. "Love you too, pup."
As Jake disappeared down the hall, Dan rumbled a laugh like distant thunder. "He's always been like that." He said, a smile plastered on the mountain's face.
"Yeah," Shawn said, shaking his head. "Never knew how to rest. Always chasing something he can't catch."
"Hey, remember how Jake got into a bar fight with a Skunk-kin?" Audrey said, mirth in her voice, Shawn's eyes glittered like gems. His grin widened. "Thought it was a bar fight."
"It wasn't," Audrey said, holding back laughter. "He got sprayed to visit the fox." Her laughter finally broke as Shawn doubled over laughing. Dan chuckling.
"That damn idiot," Shawn said through his laughter.
~~~~~
"Such an idiot," Lily muttered as she helped Elena into a dress. "He really attacked Borris Dale right after getting injured?" She said with exasperation in her voice.
Elena nodded, "And now I have to explain why I told Thalia," she sighed, as she remembered his injuries.
"He's fine, Elena, after all, you've seen his body before?" Lily said, teasing her, making Elena blush, remembering the few times she had seen him shirtless, scars peppering his body, from who knows how many fights.
Lily chuckled as she zipped up the back of her dress. "This thing is handy,"
Elena made a sound of acknowledgment, trying to get the images out of her mind. Elena exhaled, steadying herself. "Do you think it was right? Telling Thalia?"
Lily paused, meeting her gaze—green against amber. "You followed your heart. That's never the wrong choice."
Elena nodded slowly. The Pact weighed heavily on her. Pacts between blood relatives were notoriously unpredictable—some caused madness, others bound emotions or fate itself. No one fully understood why. They simply acted.
She switched topics, "Jake wants to reform the Underground," Elena said softly, turning to the window. "But he hasn't told me how. I have… questions."
Her thoughts drifted to the Pact Between One and Five—the great Pact that ended a civil war and kept the balance between Altor above and the Undercity below. It was a blood and land, a Pact that bound rulers, boundaries, and bloodlines alike.
But King William had no heirs. When he died, the Pact would die with him."Do you think that he will kill William?" Elena asked, her mind wandering through all possibilities.
Lily froze her eyes wide, "He wouldn't do such a thing. He is not that stupid; killing William would just start another civil war."
Elena nodded. She had so many questions for him: how exactly were they gonna take out Forrest, how would they deal with the five families, how would they deal with other corruption in the courts, how would they deal with all of this?