Page 48 of Sun's Roar

“Something you’d like to share?” Victor asked, noticing her wistful expression.

Helena straightened, meeting his gaze directly. “Just wondering how long you think you can keep the Luna of the Sunflare pack captive before her alpha comes looking.”

Victor’s smile was cold. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

One of the men approached with a bottle of water, offering it to Helena with a slight bow. She hesitated, then accepted it, using the opportunity to scan the room more thoroughly. Two exits—the main doors they’d entered through, and a smaller one at the back. At least fifteen feet of open space in all directions around her chair. If she needed to make a move, she’d be exposed from every angle.

“Don’t worry about poison,” Victor said, misinterpreting her hesitation. “You’re far more valuable to us alive.”

“Valuable how?” Helena asked, twisting the cap off the water bottle but not drinking.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Victor let out a hollow laugh.

A chill ran down Helena’s spine.Sol,she thought again, more urgently.Please... find me.

Victor paced in deliberate circles around Helena’s chair, his polished shoes clicking against the wooden floor with each step. Her skin crawled as he moved behind her, just out of sight. The heat inside her chest flared with her growing uncertainty and fear.

“You know, I felt it the moment your powers awakened,” Victor announced, his voice rich with self-satisfaction. “It was like a beacon in the night. Every shifter in the region wouldhave sensed it.” He moved back into her field of vision with a smug smile that made Helena’s fingers clench around the water bottle. “But unlike our dear Prince Sol, I had the resources to act immediately.”

Helena remained silent, watching as Victor spread his arms in a theatrical gesture toward his followers.

“Money opens doors that teeth and claws cannot. I had you located within hours.” He chuckled, clearly enjoying his moment of triumph. “Buying that pitiful restaurant was simply the most efficient way to gain access to you. A chef is nothing without her kitchen, after all.”

The casual way he dismissed her career—her passion—sent a surge of heat coursing through Helena’s veins. The water in the plastic bottle began to warm between her fingers.

Victor continued, oblivious to her simmering rage. “I had it all planned. I’d introduce myself as your benevolent new boss, earn your trust, and then gently guide you toward understanding your new nature.” His expression soured. “But then that fire erupted. You have remarkable power, my dear, but such poor control.”

Helena felt her cheeks flush with anger as Victor spoke of her as though she were a misbehaving child.

“I didn’t anticipate Sol finding you so quickly. That was... unfortunate.” Victor’s face hardened momentarily before his self-satisfied smile returned. “But not insurmountable. You see, I know Sol’s weakness—he’s arrogant enough to believe that simply being your ‘fated mate’ entitles him to your loyalty.”

The water in the bottle began to bubble. Helena set it down carefully on the floor, trying to control the fury building inside her.

“But I knew better.” Victor stooped to her eye level, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. “I knew that appealing to your sense of duty—your attachment to that little restaurant andthe people who depend on you—would be more effective than any mystical bond.”

He straightened, smoothing his expensive suit jacket. “And here you are. Just as I planned. Your devotion to your career made you so wonderfully predictable.”

Every word he spoke was like gasoline on the fire building inside Helena. She had spent years building her reputation in that kitchen. Years perfecting her craft, leading her team, and creating a place that felt like home. And this man had bought it on a whim and manipulated her connection to it, all to use her for some power play against Sol.

“You really thought all this through, didn’t you?” Helena finally spoke, her voice dangerously soft.

Victor’s smile widened, mistaking her question for begrudging admiration rather than the gathering storm it was.

“I always do. Sol may have his pack and his royal heritage, but I have vision.” Victor turned to face his followers. “In the end, the game goes to the player with the better strategy.”

Helena closed her eyes for a split second, swallowing the inferno that threatened to engulf her. The heat pulsed through her veins like molten lava, begging for release, but she knew that unleashing it now would be catastrophic. Thirteen against one weren’t odds she liked.

Breathe. Just breathe.She let the air fill her lungs slowly, imagining the oxygen cooling the fire inside her rather than feeding it.

When she opened her eyes again, Victor was watching her with undisguised fascination. His gaze made her skin crawl, but she forced herself to meet it steadily.

“What exactly do you want with me, Victor?” Helena asked, proud of how level her voice sounded. “You’ve taken some excessive measures to get me here.”

Victor’s lips curved up into a smile that never reached his eyes. “They’re not excessive at all when you consider what I stand to gain.” He clasped his hands behind his back, resuming his slow circle around her chair. “You, my dear, are the key to everything I’ve wanted for centuries.”

“Which is?”

“The complete and utter destruction of Sol Cadoret and his pathetic reign over the Sunflare pack.” The venom in his voice made Helena flinch involuntarily. “He has no right to that power. No right to that castle. And certainly no right to you.”

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