IRIS POV
Two in the morning and Iris can't sleep.
She's been lying in the cottage bed for hours thinking about the way James looked at her in the study. The way his eyes changed when he realized she'd reorganized his work. The way he told her to fix things if she saw them broken.
So she gets up and walks through the dark compound to the library.
Eleanor said she's allowed to use it. Said that keeping her mind occupied keeps omegas from getting into trouble. The library is in the main house but accessed through a side entrance that doesn't go through the Alpha's chambers. Iris has spent the last week reading everything about pack law and history.
Tonight she's looking for the original pack charter.
The library is quiet and dark except for the moonlight streaming through the windows. Iris finds the charter on the oldest shelf. The leather binding is worn and the pages are brittle. She settles into a window seat and starts reading.
The original Blackwell Pack charter is written in careful handwriting. It outlines the structure of leadership. The Alpha makes decisions about war and territory. The Beta handles security and enforcement. The Council decides on law and policy.
And then she sees it.
A section about council representation. Every member of the pack is supposed to have voice in law making. Omegas included. It specifically states that omegas will hold three council seats. That omega perspectives are essential to pack survival.
She reads it three times to make sure she's understanding correctly.
Then she hears movement behind her.
Her heart stops.
A man sits down beside her without asking permission. She knows it's James before she even looks at him. She knows his presence. It fills the space around her like pressure.
She's terrified but she doesn't run.
He looks at the charter in her hands.
You found it, he says quietly.
Found what?
The truth. That the original charter gave omegas council seats. Real seats. Real power. Real voice in how this pack was governed.
Why are you telling me this?
He leans back against the window seat and his expression is unreadable.
Because you're intelligent enough to understand it. And because you're going to be my wife whether you like it or not. That means you need to understand pack law completely. Not the version Eleanor taught you. The actual law. The real law.
Iris closes the charter carefully.
What changed? If the original charter said omegas had power, what happened?
Men happened. My ancestors happened. They decided women were too emotional to handle real responsibility. They rewrote the rules. They created a new charter that said omegas were support systems. Decorative. Non-essential. They literally rewritten women out of power.
His voice is bitter when he says it. Like this is something that's bothered him for a long time.
Why are you angry about it? You benefit from the current system.
He turns to look at her fully and his grey eyes are intense.
Because it's inefficient. Because half the pack is operating at a fraction of their capability. Because smart people are being forced to be invisible. And because I'm starting to suspect that I've been buying my brides under false pretenses.
Iris doesn't know what to say.
They sit in silence for a while. The library is so quiet she can hear her own heartbeat. She can hear him breathing. She can feel the space between them like it's something alive.
Tell me about the Chen Pack, James says suddenly.
My father was weak. He couldn't lead effectively. The territory was dying. We didn't have allies or resources or hope.
And he sold you to survive.
Yes.
Did you agree with that choice?
Iris takes a long time answering.
I didn't have another choice. So agreeing or disagreeing seemed irrelevant.
But you had an opinion about it.
Yes. I thought it was wrong. I thought he should have fought harder. I thought selling your daughter shouldn't be the solution to pack problems.
James nods like she's passed another test.
You're smarter than you pretend to be. You've been pretending your entire life, haven't you? Being invisible. Being quiet. Being the kind of omega that doesn't threaten anyone.
How did you know?
Because I recognize the pattern. Because I've spent eleven years building walls and I can see someone else building walls when I look at them.
They talk for hours.
He explains the history of pack leadership. She explains how she sees systems breaking down. He describes the council members he doesn't trust. She identifies patterns in their behavior. He shows her strategy maps. She suggests different approaches.
By the time dawn is approaching, they've had a real conversation. Not a transaction. Not an Alpha speaking down to property. A conversation between two people with sharp minds who understand how power works.
James stands to leave.
Iris expects him to go back to being cold. To put the walls back up. To remember that she's purchased property and not someone worthy of discussion.
Instead, he stops at the window seat.
Never hide from me again, he says quietly.
She looks up at him.
Whatever you're thinking. Whatever you're feeling. Whatever you're understanding about this pack and this situation. Don't hide it from me. Not anymore.
Why?
Because I'm tired of being surrounded by people who are afraid of me. I'm tired of having conversations that mean nothing. I'm tired of being completely alone in every room I enter.
He walks toward the door then pauses.
And because you're the first person in a very long time who's looked at me like they can actually see me underneath the title.
He leaves before she can respond.
Iris sits alone in the library as the sun rises and realizes something that terrifies her more than anything else that's happened.
James Blackwell sees her completely.
He sees through the invisibility she's been building her entire life. He sees the intelligence she's been hiding. He sees the strategic mind she's been trained to suppress. He sees her.
And the most dangerous part is that she's starting to want him to see her.
Because when he looks at her, she doesn't feel like purchased property anymore. She feels like a person. She feels like someone who matters.
But mattering to the Alpha is the most dangerous thing she could possibly do.
It means he'll expect things from her. It means he'll push her to be more than she's trained to be. It means she'll have to claim power that she's been taught her entire life that she shouldn't have.
It means everything is going to change.
Iris looks down at the original pack charter still open in her hands and realizes that James didn't show it to her by accident. He showed it to her on purpose. He's showing her that omegas are supposed to have power. He's showing her that the system is broken.
He's showing her that she could be more than a bride.
And she has no idea if that's a gift or a trap.