“And what do you think I should do with her?” Castiel threw an angry gaze atRoxy.“She is a princess,” the redhead tried to explain to him her brilliant idea, “Well, ofsorts.

But she is important in Thorn’s pack! We can use her.”“Thorn’s pack is now done.

And not thanks to you,” the leader of the foxesfrowned, “So far you have been one big disappointment, Roxanne.

For someonewhom I personally trained.

Yet all your work was done by Luna Riannon Michaelsinstead.”“It was just a coincidence,” Roxy furrowed her brows, “She...”“She played you to her advantage,” Castiel smirked, “You were supposed todestroy her but instead she wiped her feet over you.”Roxy had nothing to say to that and she hated that.

She hated that the manwhom she loved so much was praising another.

It wasn’t just a coincidence thatshe was the best in hergroup.

She worked hard for it, trained hard...

in the hope that one day he wouldnotice her.

Andshe was sure that he did.

He took her to his bed where her education continued.He personally showed her how to please a man and she was sure that it meantsomething.

He never let anyone touch her and he singled her out every time.

Hepaid her way more attention than toother she-foxes.But then he sent her on a mission into another man’s bed.

She was upset aboutit.

Heartbroken even.

But she never admitted it out loud.

It was not great to beused as a tool, but she had no choice.

This was her job.

And this was what hehad been preparing her for.

She was ready to prove herself to him anyway.

Afterall, Castiel always seemed like a man of broad

views.

He only respected two things in his life – power and intellect.

And if shemanaged to have those, nothing else would matter.Foxes weren’t like everyone else.

Although they were excellent warriors whenneeded and could easily rival werewolves, what they actually preferred was agame of wits.

Why fight anyone if you could just trick them into doing what youneeded in the first place? Or even better, if you could make your enemies fighteach other while you watched? Everything was a challenge and foxes loved theirvictories.But this was also why they were never on good terms with the wolves.

The latteralways strived for dominance and this was where the problem between the twospecies lay.

Foxes did not like to be dominated.

And wolves really did not like tobe played.

They took it as an insult if they caught someone trying to deceivethem.It was much easier with the werebears, where they were all muscle but could becertain bargain in the end.

Whereas wolves would want blood and nothing else.This was why they couldn’t live together.

So, when the foxes’ populationincreased and the land they had in their possession became not enough, wolvesdid not want to share.

Hence, they became a problem.

A problem that the foxesneeded to solve.

Or better say get rid of.

Whatever it cost them.But whatever they tried was failing.

And then the Union was formed to uniteshifter packs under the wing of lycans from the Western kingdom.

This was theworst news for the foxes.

Back then, Castiel’s father was the king and he was nothappy with the new situation.

Because since the Union was formed, if he daredto attack one pack, the rest would come for him and destroy him.

So, the formerfox king started thinking of ways to destroy the Union.And this was how the most brilliant plan was born.magic

And it was now on Castiel’s shoulders.

He had to finish what his father hadstarted.Roxy wished she could lift at least some of the weight off him.

This was all shewas thinking of.Him.And how could she not? The fox king was amazing.

Tall, handsome, clever,strong and cunning.

A perfect man.But now he wasn’t happy with her anymore.

He was disappointed and there wasonly oneperson to blame for it.Riannon Michaels.From the very beginning, she complicated things for her.

It was supposed to be amuch easier mission than it turned out.

When she was studying the Luna prior toher dispatch, she didn’t seem like a threat at all.

A chosen mate, stuck up, soperfect that it was boring.

It should have been easy to get rid of her and Castiel’sorder was clear on her account.

Get her place and kill her discreetly.Yet the Luna turned out to be full of surprises.

She put up a real fight andRoxanne found herself outmatched.Who knew that she would want to divorce this fast and manage to get throughwith it, taking half of a pack with her? That ruined a lot of their plans.But what was worse was Castiel’s growing interest in Riannon Michaels.

Thiswas probably the most painful part.

At first, he was entertained by her notbehaving the way theypack as a prisoner, she could sense his growing interest with the Luna.

She toldherself many times that it was just her imagination under the pressure of workthat was getting to her.

Yet

she was still in for a surprise.She helped him to get out as soon as she could, killing good warriors for him andrisking her own life.

All that only to find out that as soon as he got out, he went tosee that other woman.

That one hurt her.

But it was what followed next thatabsolutely destroyed her from the inside.

When the time came for their plan to gointo its active phase and slaughter the werewolves, she received another orderthat she did not expect in the least.

Castiel ordered her to make sure thatRiannon wouldn’t be there.

This was the last straw.

She disobeyed her king’s order for the first time when she didn’t do anything tostopRiannon from attending the Summit.

In fact, she pushed Brayden to make surethat they went there together.

And personally checked that the blonde nuisancewas present, hoping that the bomb she installed in the morning would get rid ofher little problem.Yet that time, everything also went wrong and what was supposed to be the fatalblow to the heads of the alphas, turned into a slap that only made them angry.And yet again, Riannon Michaels was in the middle.Moreover, when Castiel found out that she was there and not back in her pack ashe wanted, he got furious.

The man, who always remained calm, got furious overa little and insignificant matter like that.

She couldn’t stop thinking about it.And when Riannon mentioned him coming to her again after the pack split,Roxanneabsolutely lost it.What she did wasn’t a well-thought through plan and she knew it.

But she had totry to get rid of that woman once and for all.

Even if it would make Castiel angry.

She could survivehis wrath.

What she couldn’t survive was him being interested in another.

Forwhateverreason.So, she contacted warriors that she knew from her training and talked them intohelping her to attack the wolves.

She lied to them, saying that it was the order oftheir Alpha.

And thenshe attacked.

Roxanne did what she could.

But her team still lost.

And now theirsecret wasout.

Now the wolves knew that all the talks about foxes and the bears weren’t justempty words.

She knew that it was a grave mistake and she could only pray forher king to forgiveher.This was why she brought him a gift.sounds away.

Her legs and wrists were chained in silver-plated chains and shedid not look her usual polished self.

Roxy figured her out first with her unrequitedlove for Ash.

She liked thegirl because she could relate to her.

This was also the reason why it was so easyto make Harper do what she wanted her to do.Roxanne felt guilty for doing this to the girl.

If she had a choice, she wouldn’tstoop so low.

But these were desperate times...

And she couldn’t come up withanything better in such a short amount of time.“And what would I do with her?” Castiel rubbed the bridge of his nose as if hewas

already annoyed and tired with the whole conversation.

Which he probably was.“Use her as a hostage,” Roxy suggested, “Brayden doesn’t have anyone but hernow.

He would do anything to get his little sister back.”“Shame I do not need anything from him anymore,” the fox king chuckled.“Riannon Michaels would try to save her too if she found out about this,” sheheard herself saying, not quite believing in bringing this name up.“You told me that they hate each other,” Castiel ran a hand through his hair.“Hate is a strong word,” Roxanne tried to smile but her leader remainedunimpressed,“ They are not the biggest fans of each other.

But I am sure that shewould come to her sister-in-law’s rescue.”“Why did you do it?” the king before her aske finally, “Why did you risk everythingwe have built like an j***t?”“The situation required it,” she lied uncomfortably.

She hated lying to him, buttoday her life depended on it.“Anything else you want to tell me?” Castiel shot his brow up and looked at herintensely.There was something important that he needed to know.

That Riannon could shiftand that her wolf glowed when she did.

But telling him that wouldn’t changeanything for her.

She would still be punished for her mistakes.

And drawing evenmore of his attention to the werewolf Luna was beyond her.“No,” Roxanne said meekly and immediately received a backslap, which madeher fall to the ground.

She touched her cheek which already started to swell andlooked up at her king.“Liar!” he spat and her heart clenched painfully, “Still thinking that you are moreclever

than anyone?!”recognised him at once as one of the warriors she took with her to try and killRiannon.

Now she knew that she was in trouble.“I don’t know what you were thinking,” Castiel sneered, “But lying to me wouldcost you!” “I am sorry,” she fell to her knees, mumbling, “I...”She didn’t have a good explanation.“As I thought,” the fox king smirked and motioned to his people, “Take them bothto the dungeon.

I think Roxanne needs some time alone there to understand thatlying to her superiors is bad.

And while you are at it, remind her why discipline isso important.

Show her hell.”Two men grabbed her and started pulling her away.

At the same time, a third onethrew Harper over his shoulder, to which she made a few pitiful sounds.“Castiel, please!” she begged him, but he already turned his back to her.

Sheknew that if she didn’t do something now, she would probably be dead in the nextfew hours.

“There is something else I know!” Roxy screamed, “Somethingimportant! It can help you! I swear it’s important.”The men next to her stopped and she realized only now that she was pantingprofusely.

Castiel walked towards her and grabbed her chin, making her look athim.“Then tell me,” he sneered, “And remember that it’s better to be good.

Your lifedepends on it, after all.”