At dinner that night, I finally got the chance to check on my sister. "How are you doing?" I asked, giving her a one-armed squeeze.

"I'm okay," she said, and I was surprised to see she was telling the truth. "How did the rest of the visit go?"

"It was good," I replied, not quite ready to change the subject. I felt eyes on us and looked up to find Roger watching our exchange. Moreover, I realized Cora was staring at him, not at me. Suddenly, I understood why she wasn't more upset. I didn't know what Roger had done or said to her after we left, but he'd clearly worked his magic. "I think we made some progress. More importantly, we finally received a response from one of the human governments we contacted last week—they're open to a meeting—so it seems like we might be gaining some traction."

"But didn't you contact a lot of human leaders?" Cora asked, genuinely intrigued. "Just one isn't a very good return rate."

"One so far," I corrected, hoping I was right. Vanara is so far away, and these matters so complicated, that we always expected any response to take a long time. The humans are undoubtedly gathering their entire parliaments to consider our offer, and political debates are rarely fast. "Besides, even if no one else responds, if we can bring one government on board, they could become a link to others—they could vouch for us."

"That's great," Cora smiled, brightening. "What did the other Alphas think of that?"

"So far, everyone but Kieran is playing their cards close to their chests—not that I blame them. Still, I think the camp visit did what we intended. Hearing about a crisis like this is nothing compared to seeing it firsthand." I wanted to tell her about how some of these puffed-up Alpha males had dissolved into tears in the nursery, but unfortunately, they were all within earshot. Instead, I said, "Roger even showed them the video of the coast and offered to arrange a visit there as well."

Cora blinked, her eyes snapping back to Roger. "But surely that's not safe."

"We're deploying the first security drones tonight, and Dominic is pulling his continental spies and a few resistance forces back to the coast to protect the refugees—now that it's obvious Damon knows their location," I revealed. "For now, it's the best we can do, and so far Damon's focus isn't on us. He's too busy trying to maintain control of the territories he stole, and from all appearances, it's not going well for him."

"I don't understand," Cora blinked, returning her gaze to me. "I thought the takeover was complete."

"That was before the secrecy pact broke. Now he's fighting the human armies, and resistance forces have been springing up everywhere. Apparently, his initial success was short-lived. He's employed thousands of rogues he can't control, and the more shifters he targets, the more enemies he makes. We even have some rogue-led militias now."

"Really? Butwhy am I only just hearing about this?" Cora asked, looking slightly affronted.

"Don't worry, I'm in the same boat," I said. "These bossy wolves aren't great about sharing information. We're all so busy with our own projects and tasks that it's easy to lose track." In truth, between planning the summit, my hypnosis, working with the refugees, bed rest, and Sinclair's near-death experience, I almost forgot about tracking events on the continent. It wasn't until my mate filled me in that I realized how much I'd been missing.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it—are the delegations going to go to the coast?" Cora asked. "It's not clear yet," I answered, which wasn't entirely accurate. It was obvious the chickens hadn't wanted to take the risk, but I wasn't going to say that aloud. "Anyway, we can talk more later. I just wanted to check on you."

"Wait," Cora caught my arm before I'd even moved. She glanced around at her neighbors to make sure they weren't paying attention. "Do you I mean Ella, when all that happened earlier—you were kind of glowing." She whispered, "Did you realize?"

I pursed my lips. "Later." This was the precise word Sinclair had used when Henry and Gabriel brought up the strange phenomenon—which I had been completely unaware of at the time. It wasn't until they mentioned it that I even knew it happened, and I don't know how I did it. Still, Sinclair hadn't wanted to discuss it in front of the delegations.

I returned to my seat, and Sinclair promptly slid his arm around me. "How is she?" he asked through our bond.

"Like you couldn't hear," I joked, arching my brow.

"It's still polite to ask," he replied, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. The dinner continued without incident, and eventually, I told Sinclair I was going up to our suite a bit early. Of course, this wasn't what I actually wanted to do. Instead, I headed for Roger's rooms. He'd left dinner a little while ago, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he and I were on the same page. When he opened the door, he only smiled. "I had a feeling I might be seeing you."

I walked in without hesitation. "So, what are we going to do to that fucker?"

"Well, whatever it is, it needs to be something Kieran can't trace back to us. As much as I want to teach him a lesson, if he knows why he's being punished, he might go after Cora," Roger replied, needing no further explanation. "We'll have to keep our distance."

"What does he hate? Other than humans, I mean," I asked, though I realized my brother-in-law knew the wolf barely better than I did.

"Well, I imagine a hyper-masculine ass like that wouldn't appreciate being made to look like a little girl. We could turn all his clothing pink? We would only need to go down to the laundry and slip some dye into the wash," Roger suggested, a devious glint in his eye.

"Oh, I like that," I agreed. "But I don't want to get any of the castle servants in trouble, and I can tell he'd demand their heads on a platter." I paused. "In fact, I think we need to keep this out of the palace entirely. If we humiliate him while he's here, it could undermine the summit and our alliance. It would be best if we could hit him on his home turf." I racked my brains, and after a moment, a lightbulb flickered on with a brilliant idea.

"What are you thinking?" Roger asked, easily reading my beaming grin.

"Well, obviously the ignorant bastard needs some education and guidance on how not to be a world-class prick. So I think we should start sending him some literature and self-help guides. They can be mailed directly to his mansion in the Storm Forest capital, and we can even space out the deliveries so that it starts small, but over time it will build up into a veritable library. It would certainly be easy enough to place the orders and conceal our identities so he doesn't know who's sending them," I explained, getting more and more excited by the minute. "We can even keep it on the theme of things that would completely emasculate the little weasel."

"I'm not sure I follow," Roger confessed, his brow crinkling in confusion.

"Well, just picture it," I instructed, fighting back the urge to giggle. "When Kieran returns home from his trip and starts going through the correspondence and packages that arrived while he was away, imagine how surprised and confused he'll be when he finds an advice book about living with a micropenis; brochures about resisting the urge to cross-dress; and how-to guides for fixing impotence." I painted the scene for us both, watching as Roger's face lit up with delight. "He'll try calling the companies that sent the books to find out who purchased them, only to find out that his own name is on the buyer accounts."

"He'll be baffled and angry, and of course he'll throw it all away—but the outrage will pass after a week or so. That's when the next set of packages will arrive," I continued, becoming more animated by the minute. "More self-help books about overcoming the things he would consider most humiliating, in conjunction with supplies to help him improve. Adult bedwetting literature with boxes of diapers; books on how to pleasure your unsatisfied lover along with penis enhancement pills; feminization porn along with frilly dresses and sex toys."

"You're a bloody genius," Roger praised, laughing out loud. "And the best part is that you know he's not even going to be the one opening the boxes. His servants will deliver everything to him unwrapped. Before long, rumors about his embarrassing problems will be all over the pack."

"Exactly," I giggled, more than a little proud of myself.

Just like that, we were off to the races, beginning to make lists and search for materials online. We made the final arrangements for the first shipment and agreed to meet again, before I finally snuck back to my own room. I was so pleased with our scheme, and I was still smiling when I walked into the suite.

"Hello, mate," Sinclair's deep voice sent me leaping into the air before the door could even close. "And just where have you been?"