The Luna they betrayed became Untouchable

Chapter 43: Chapter 43

It was Evelyn’s second time being in Bloodmoon. The gates opened immediately without hesitation the moment the guards recognized her.

Tristan walked behind her, never leaving her side. "Do you think he’ll help?" he asked.

Evelyn shrugged as they were welcomed into the pack house, now being led to Damon’s wing. "Does he have a choice?" she asked. "Not only is he my partner, but his pack has also been restricted just like Valemont has been. I think he’ll jump on the opportunity."

Tristan said nothing, although he didn’t think it would be as simple as Evelyn had just said. After yesterday’s news, Evelyn had barely slept, and that meant he too didn’t sleep. He was up all night trying to find loopholes in all Valemont had about Lucien. Evelyn didn’t want to rely just on Soren’s book, which only had things she could release as rumors. Now, she had to hit Lucien where it would hurt, and for this...

She needed all the help she could get. Hence, their arrival in Bloodmoon.

"Alpha Damon will see you now." The Beta, Ren, announced. The door opened and Evelyn stepped in, Tristan still behind her.

"The great Evelyn Valemont, in my pack twice within a fortnight." Damon stood up from his seat. "To what do I owe the honor this time?"

Evelyn sat down and crossed her legs, hands intertwined. "I’ll keep this short and brief, Alpha Damon." She looked at him as his brows raised. "I want to bring Lucien down."

The silence after her words was loud, then suddenly Damon burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking.

"I didn’t take you to be a comedian, Lady Evelyn." Then on seeing Evelyn’s firm face and Tristan’s stern look, his laugh slowly quietened down.

"You’re serious?"

"Very," Evelyn replied.

He shook his head. "Evelyn, I hate the man. I hate Kael more, but he’s second place on the hate list. But bringing down the Supreme Alpha isn’t something that happens, Evelyn. Not by you. Not by me. Not by anyone."

Evelyn leaned in. "Then help me shake him. Help me destabilise him." She leaned back. "You joined this alliance with me because you not only wanted to see Kael fail but to see Lucien fail as well, right? Well, here I am giving you a chance—a front row seat to see Lucien fail at one thing—and you won’t take it?"

Damon’s jaw hardened. She was right, of course she was, but... "This could backfire, Evelyn. I don’t take battles I can’t guarantee winning."

Evelyn tilted her head slightly. "Since when has that ever stopped you? You bid four million silvers on a sword out of spite, Alpha Damon. You announced our partnership to your entire pack before the ink was dry, just to provoke a reaction. You don’t strike me as a man who calculates every risk before he takes it." She let that settle. "You strike me as a man who’s been waiting years for a reason good enough to justify what he already wanted to do."

Something flickered across Damon’s face. Beside him, Beta Ren’s expression had gone carefully still—the look of a man deciding whether now was the moment to intervene and thinking better of it.

"And if I refuse?" Damon asked finally.

"Then I’ll go to Soren instead, and build this without you." Evelyn’s voice didn’t waver. "Your pack has already paid the price of standing with me, Alpha Damon. Whether you help me finish it or not, that cost doesn’t disappear. I’d think you’d rather it buy you something."

Damon leaned back, jaw hardening with each second. He didn’t think he would come to hate the said Soren man, but somehow, he was fast climbing his list of hate.

Damon was unsure why though.

"Don’t do it, Alpha. We have enough to focus on and worry about. This offer of hers is—" Damon tuned the Beta out.

"What do you need?" he asked.

Evelyn smirked. "Everything you have. Every trade agreement tied to the First Houses. Every contract renewal. Every Alpha whose pack treasury runs through Lucien’s coffers rather than their own." She held his gaze. "All of it, Alpha Damon. Nothing held back."

Damon gave a single nod and glanced at the Beta, who was practically glaring at him only to hurriedly fix his face. A single glance at him and he disappeared, returning minutes later with an armful of ledgers thick enough to need both arms to carry.

Evelyn sat forward immediately, Tristan joining her, pulling the first stack toward them.

Damon watched them. "What exactly are you looking for?" he asked.

"Something—anything—to nail the Supreme Alpha."

She went through all of the records they had. It only took her three hours and twenty minutes, and by the time Evelyn was done, she’d gotten more information than she had when she first came in.

"The First Houses aren’t as independent as they want everyone to believe," Evelyn said slowly.

Damon, who had been watching her for the past three hours, straightened. "What do you mean?"

Evelyn tapped one of the ledgers. "They have money coming in from everywhere. Pack investments, merchant fees, trade guarantees, foreign contracts." She flipped another page. "But look at how many of these contracts renew at almost the same time."

Damon moved closer. "Every six months."

"Exactly."

Tristan leaned over the table. "Why does that matter?"

"Because it means Lucien needs constant liquidity."

Damon frowned. "Explain."

Evelyn pointed toward the figures. "When an Alpha invests with the First Houses, their money doesn’t simply sit there. It’s used to guarantee other transactions. Those guarantees allow merchants to extend credit. The merchants then move goods between packs. Those goods generate more money, which comes back through the First Houses."

She looked up. "It’s a cycle, and if the cycle breaks, everything slows."

Tristan’s expression sharpened. "And if it slows enough? Merchants stop trusting the guarantees."

Damon stared at her. "And then they stop trading."

Evelyn nodded. "Exactly! They stop trading because they become afraid they’ll lose money."

She opened another record. "If they’re afraid, they’ll know who caused it. If they’re uncertain, they’ll start looking for alternatives themselves."

Tristan nodded slowly. Evelyn’s eyes moved across the pages again.

"That’s what I need—a weakness that doesn’t look like an attack."

"And how exactly do you plan to find that?"

Evelyn closed the ledger. "I don’t know yet." She looked toward the remaining stack. "But I know someone who might."

Tristan already knew the answer. "Soren."

Evelyn nodded. "He operates outside this realm. If Lucien has a weakness in his foreign trade, Soren will know where to find it."

Damon’s jaw tightened. "You really trust him?"

Evelyn glanced at him. "I trust his information."

Something about that answer seemed to irritate him.

Damon ignored it. "Fine. We’ll go."

Tristan looked between them, confused. "You’re coming too?"

Damon gave him a look. "Apparently, I enjoy making poor decisions."

Evelyn almost smiled. She gathered the documents she needed and stood. "Then let’s go."

---

By the time they reached Soren’s estate, the sun had begun to dip. It was the first time in years Evelyn was stepping foot into the pack.

Soren was waiting for them in his study, his expression brightened when he saw Evelyn and he stepped closer.

"Evelyn."

Then his gaze shifted to Damon and the warmth disappeared. "Alpha Damon."

"Alpha Soren," Damon greeted stiffly.

Neither man looked particularly pleased to see the other, but Evelyn ignored it.

"I need your help," she said, and Soren’s stiffness was gone in an instant. He gestured toward the table.

"Sit and tell me what you need."

Evelyn placed the ledgers down. "I need to understand Lucien’s foreign trade."

Soren’s brows rose. "Foreign trade?"

"Yes." She explained what she’d discovered in Bloodmoon, laying out the First Houses’ investment structure and the dependence between the different contracts.

Soren listened without interrupting. When she finished, he walked to another cabinet and pulled out several files.

"I may have something."

Damon and Tristan’s attention sharpened as Soren placed the files on the table.

"These are foreign trade records from the last three years."

Evelyn opened them, her eyes moving rapidly. "Why do you have these?"

"Because I don’t operate entirely within one realm."

He pointed at several entries. "These merchants move through territories outside his control. Most of them eventually enter his realm through one of the major corridors."

Evelyn studied the map. "How many routes?"

Soren hesitated. "Technically, several."

"Technically?" Damon quipped.

"There is only one route capable of handling the volume Lucien requires," Soren explained.

Evelyn looked up. "Where?" she asked.

Soren pointed to the map, and she followed the marked line with her finger. It crossed several territories before reaching Lucien’s borders.

Then she stopped. "Who controls this passage?"

"The Celestial Realm."

Tristan frowned. "No one can access that route without permission."

Evelyn’s eyes remained fixed on the map while Soren watched her carefully.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, but she didn’t answer. Her finger slowly traced the route again, mind reciting all she’d found out today.

Then she paused. "Which realm does every major shipment pass through first?"

Damon and Soren exchanged glances. "The Celestial Realm."

Evelyn went still. For some seconds she said nothing. Then she smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile. No, it was the kind that made Tristan immediately suspicious.

Damon’s eyes narrowed. "What?"

Evelyn looked at the map again. "I think I just found Lucien’s throat."

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