Page 120 of Knot Heirs: Serenity's Reign

Lucian shrugged. "I handled it."

"What's their endgame?" she demanded, looking between the three Alphas. "If they wanted you dead years ago, why the sudden urgency now?"

Ronan's laugh was bitter. "Because now I've formally allied with you. And that makes me even more of a problem for them."

An alliance I didn't even know I was making.Yet as Serenity looked at Ronan, something clicked into place—the fierce protection her father had extended to this man, the resources he'd invested in him. It wasn't just business; it was something deeper.

"What can we do?" she asked, surprising herself with the 'we.' Twenty-four hours ago, she'd been planning her escape from these men.

Darius stopped his pacing, hands sliding into his pockets with calculated casualness. "It comes down to the Society's hold and their rules. We have to complete the thirty days with you in our possession to establish immunity."

"Possession?" Serenity repeated, her temper flaring. "I'm not a fucking object to be possessed."

"Poor choice of words," Darius conceded, though his gray eyes remained unapologetic. "Under our protection. Under our claim. The Society respects traditional pack bonds above all else—it's why they've allowed this arrangement at all."

Ronan nodded. "If they can eliminate me before the claim is formalized and recognized, they believe they can control your inheritance, redirect it to someone more... amenable to their interests."

Serenity's mind raced, pieces falling into place as she processed Ronan's revelations. Her inheritance—the Vale financial empire that stretched from legitimate banking interests to shadowy underworld concerns—suddenly appeared in a new light. Not just as wealth to be claimed, but as leverage. As protection.

"The Vale banking network," she murmured, almost to herself. "It has dozens of shell companies, offshore accounts..."

Ronan's eyes sharpened. "Your father kept most of my operations separate from his main business, but there were still connections. Vulnerabilities."

A plan began forming in Serenity's mind, drawing on her years in corporate finance. The complex web of holdings her father had built could be restructured, repurposed. She could use legitimate Vale business fronts to shield Ronan's morequestionable enterprises, creating a buffer of protection that even the Society would hesitate to challenge directly.

"I can help you," she said, the words surprising her even as she spoke them. "The Vale financial structure is designed to obscure ownership and protect assets. If we integrate your operations correctly, attacking you would mean attacking the entire Vale empire—which would destabilize too many of their own interests."

Darius raised an eyebrow, clearly reassessing her. "You'd use your inheritance to protect Drake?"

"I'd use it to protect what's mine," Serenity corrected, meeting his gaze steadily. "And apparently, that includes certain alliances my father valued."

Ronan's expression shifted to something like respect mingled with cautious hope. "It would take weeks to restructure everything properly."

"We don't have weeks," Darius reminded them. "The deadline approaches."

Serenity squared her shoulders, feeling the weight of her father's legacy settling more firmly upon them. "Then we work fast," she said, golden eyes gleaming in the dim light. "And we make sure they understand that the Vale empire has teeth—whether they like who's wielding them or not."

***

Serenity leaned forward, fingers steepled beneath her chin as her analytical mind clicked into high gear. The financial consultant in her hadn't disappeared just because her world had been turned upside down.

"The Vale holdings are diverse enough to create a legitimate umbrella structure," she explained, her voice taking on the confident edge she'd used in boardroom presentations. "We can position Drake Security as a specialized asset protection division of Vale International Shipping."

She rose to her feet, pacing the living room as her thoughts crystallized. "On paper, it's a perfect partnership. Drake's mercenary operations become private maritime security contractors, authorized to protect Vale cargo chains. Your fighting rings? They become 'employee wellness and training facilities.' We create a legitimate paper trail that makes it financially catastrophic for anyone to disrupt."

Ronan watched her with growing intensity. "And my territory disputes?"

"Property acquisitions," Serenity countered without missing a beat. "We backdate appropriate paperwork showing Vale Industries had legitimate claim to those areas under shell companies that recently transferred management rights to Drake Security."

Lucian's amber eyes gleamed with appreciation. "Clever little Omega," he murmured. "Create enough legitimate business between Vale and Drake that attacking one destabilizes the other, making it unprofitable for the Society's own interests."

"Exactly." Serenity tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "The Society members all have financial ties to one Vale enterprise or another. They won't risk their own profits by coming after what's protected under the Vale umbrella."

She turned to face Ronan directly. "I'll need full access to your books. Real books, not the sanitized versions. I can integrate everything in ways that will withstand scrutiny, but I need to know what I'm actually hiding."

A tense silence followed before Ronan nodded once, a sharp dip of his copper-haired head.

Lucian cleared his throat, his elegant fingers drumming once against his thigh. "While I admire your financial acrobatics, we have more pressing concerns." His typically smooth voice had hardened at the edges. "My contacts have confirmed that the Society is accelerating their timetable."

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