Chapter 28: The Queen's Gambit

Theron’s proposal of a partnership, a merger of equals, lingered in the air of the Emberfall lodge like a challenge. He had presented himself as the only logical choice, the Alpha strong enough to stand beside her, not behind her. He waited for her counter-proposal, for the negotiations to begin, confident that his power and lineage were assets she could not afford to ignore. He had, however, fatally misjudged the nature of her ascent. Emilia listened, she considered, and then she acted with a strategic brilliance that left him reeling. She did not reject him outright. Instead, she simply… bypassed him. While Theron waited at the borders of his Sunstone territory, expecting her envoys, Emilia’s diplomats were forging alliances with the packs beyond his lands—the Silvermane Clan to the east, the Frostfang Howlers to the north. She offered them trade routes that circumvented Sunstone lands, shared technological advancements, and security pacts that made her the