My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 159

Sera

"We can't kill her."

Yvara frowned, her lip curling. "She's a liability, Sera. She’s practiced dark magic that would get her burned even in the South. You saw what she did to Bram's face."

"I know what she is," I shot back. "But you’re forgetting the Treaty. Valdris is powerful, Yvara. Killing the Queen is calling first blood. That means war. It means the treaty is over before the ink even dries. Pushing away an alliance like Valdris this early? It would be stupid."

Yvara stared at me, her eyes like flint. "We all know Aldric doesn't have good intentions. We just don't know what those intentions are yet."

"Yes, I know that," I responded, leaning over the table. "The fact that we’re aware of his games is exactly why we stay in them. We can’t be caught unawares if we’re part of the deal. Right now, we need the alliance. With the way you’re treading ground with the elders like Vane and Kael, it would be foolish to throw away a treaty with the South. We need that buffer."

Yvara’s frown deepened. She looked at me like I was a spy. "Are you in support of your father now?"

I paused, looking at Fenris. He was just staring at me, his expression a blank wall, offering no help. I shook my head quickly.

"Of course not," I stuttered, my mind racing. "But... surely Dimitri knew what he was doing when he made the deal? Right? He wasn't a fool."

Yvara tilted her head, a sharp, dismissive gesture. She looked at Fenris, then back at me. "Dimitri is dead."

"But you trusted his judgment, didn't you?" I countered.

The room went dead quiet. The mention of his brother always hit Fenris, and Yvara’s loyalty to the dead Alpha was the only thing that rivaled her loyalty to the current one.

I let the silence hang there for a long beat.

"Do whatever you have to do to retrieve the Totem," I finally spoke up, my voice dropping to a low, serious register. "Just don't hurt my mother. Please. Promise me that."

Yvara stared at me for a long time, her eyes tracing the line of my jaw. She looked like she wanted to argue, like she wanted to tell me that I was being soft. But then, slowly, she nodded.

"Fine," Yvara rasped. "I'll take it. But I won't be gentle about the search."

Fenris finally nodded in response. He stood up, the movement massive and final. "So that's it. We retrieve the Totem so your mother doesn't drop the spell on Bram. Yvara handles the extraction. We keep the Queen alive for the sake of the treaty."

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