Nora and Marcus had left for the infirmary when I decided to visit my dad as I hadn't seen him in a few days.

After going towards his room, I opened the door to find Svetlana sitting next to him on the bed as they were busy talking, and it seemed like the atmosphere was a bit heavy.

"Hey Dimitri, I just got to know what happened," she said with a sigh as I sat down on one of the hospital chairs next to the bed. "I met up with Nora before coming here. She's fine and Marcus is doing well too."

"That's good," I muttered as I adjusted myself to my seat.

My father's eyes flickered up to me, his lips forming a half-smile, though it was thin, fragile. "How are you doing son?"

I leaned forward, taking his hand in mine. "I'm fine, father. The nurses told me you haven't been taking some of your medicines. Seems like you need another scolding."

He just laughed, it was good to see him happy. "Boy, you are becoming my father now? And no, I have been taking medicines, just a bit less," he said seriously as I rolled my eyes with a sigh.

He was pale, the color drained from his face, but there was something about the way he spoke that still carried his usual authority.

"But there is something I want to talk to you about," he rasped, his tone serious now. "It's about the clan alignment."

I blinked, confusion tightening my chest as I glanced toward Svetlana. "Clan alignment?" What the hell was he talking about?

His eyes searched mine as if weighing my reaction. Svetlana remained silent, her gaze steady but distant, like she already knew what was coming. "You see, Dimitri, the world is shifting," he said slowly, his words deliberate. "We've all been watching, and we believe it's time to consider uniting the clans. It's the only way we'll become stronger. Together."

I stared at him, trying to process it. My thoughts started to churn, but the idea didn't feel right—too many power struggles, too many enemies who would take advantage of such a shift.

"You've seen what's happened—Nora's accident, the safe house attack... They're all signs. This world is becoming more unstable, and we can't afford to stay divided. If we join forces now, we'll be in a better position to fight back and secure our place. It's the only way forward."

I looked down for a moment, my mind racing. "The accident, the attack—everything felt like it was spiraling out of control. But is this really the solution?" I pried on as he smiled and gave me a nod.

I turned my attention to Svetlana, hoping for some insight, but she simply gave me a small, reassuring smile. "This is the way forward, Dimitri," she said gently. "You're young. You're strong. You can handle this. I'm getting old, and managing the full army at my age is... difficult. It's time for you to take charge."

Her words hit me like a stone, though they didn't bring clarity right away.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, my voice a little rougher than I meant. "This isn't just because you think you have to?"

Svetlana smiled again, her expression soft. "No, honey. This was my idea. I trust you. You have the mind for it. You have the people who will back you."

"You're right. And besides, this attack was more definitely toward you than Nora and Marcus. That is more dangerous," I spoke, my voice conflicted and sharp.

She blinked slowly, knowing fully well what I meant. "Exactly."

I wasn't sure what to say, more.

After a moment, I exhaled slowly. "Alright," I said, my voice steady. "I'll do it."

A brief silence followed, and then Slavik gave a small nod of approval, his hand patting the side of his bed. "Good. You'll make us proud, Dimitri."

I didn't feel proud. I felt uncertain, unsure if this was truly the right move, but I knew there was no turning back now.

We exchanged a few more words about life, about the future, about things that didn't seem to matter much in the grand scheme of things. Then Svetlana stood, her movements graceful despite her age.

"We should go," she said quietly. "The meeting is about to start."

I nodded, rising from my chair. As we left the infirmary together, the decision still weighed heavily on my mind, but I didn't look back.

Back at the meeting hall, everyone settled down and Svetlana stood beside me.

"Everyone knows that this was a definite assassination attempt and we think it was not supposed to be on Nora and Marcus. Dimitri says it was supposed to be me in the car."

I stood up from my chair. That's right. That is the exact reason why they ran. They thought it was Svetlana in the car and they wanted to kill her but when they found out it was you two, they ran off."

"So me and Dimitri have come up with a huge decision," Svetlana added after I completed my sentence.

"And what's that?" Nora questioned in confusion.

"We want to align the clan and make Dimitri the official head," Svetlana announced. For a moment, no one uttered anything. Everyone gazed at each other, speaking in hushed whispers as disarray flew across the room.

Svetlana spoke again, her voice calm but firm. "This alignment is the best option, Dimitri. The clans need to unite if we're going to survive what's coming. We can't stay fractured any longer. You know as well as I do that it's the only way forward."

I glanced around the room. Irina, Marcus, and Nikolai were all nodding in agreement. Irina, of course, was the first to speak up with her usual pleasantries. "I agree with Svetlana," she said softly. "We're stronger together. And with the support of everyone, we can make this work."

Marcus didn't say much, but the look in his eyes was all the confirmation I needed. He wasn't a fan of change, but he wasn't an idiot either. He knew this was necessary.

Nikolai leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, his gaze flicking between Svetlana and me. "She's right, I guess. We've been managing on our own for too long. It's time we consolidated our forces. I'm all for it."

I felt my jaw tighten as I glanced at them, all so damn agreeable. The whole thing felt too easy. Nothing was ever this easy, especially not with this many people involved.

Then, I felt the weight of Nora's gaze on me, and I could practically hear her irritation. "I hope you're okay with it," I didn't even need to look at her to know what she was thinking, but I said it anyway. "Or are we too far past your little empire-building plans?"

The moment I spoke, I could feel the atmosphere shift. The entire room seemed to pause as Nora's lips pressed together, the familiar fire in her eyes ignite.

"Funny," she muttered, her voice low, "I was going to agree with this whole thing, but now that you've opened your mouth, I'm seriously reconsidering."

Irina, ever the peacemaker, jumped in. "It's a good decision, Nora. You should trust the people around you. We're all in this together."

Nora's eyes snapped to Irina, and for a moment, I saw the storm brewing in them. She rolled her eyes, an exaggerated gesture that made it clear she wasn't taking Irina's words seriously. "Right, because that makes so much sense. This whole thing is a brilliant idea, just what I always wanted. Let's all just hold hands and be one big happy family."

I could feel the tension rising, but before the argument could escalate further, Nora spoke again, cutting through the air with her usual bluntness. "Look, it's not like I think this is a bad idea." She paused, her eyes moving between the rest of us. "But I swear, every time I'm about to agree, someone—usually him," she said, jerking her finger in my direction, "has to open their mouth and ruin it."

I leaned forward, crossing my arms, my smirk barely contained. "I'm not the one being difficult here."

Nora sighed, shaking her head as if the whole situation was too ridiculous for words. "Fine, whatever," she muttered, her voice softer now. "It's for the best, I get it. I'll go along with it. But don't act like you're some saint, Dimitri. You've got your way of making everything worse."

The conversation seemed to settle for a moment, but the underlying tension lingered. I watched her, my thoughts racing. There was a part of me that wanted to keep pushing her buttons, but for some reason, I didn't. Instead, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my jaw as I processed everything they were saying.

Svetlana stood, breaking the silence with her usual calm authority. "We've made our decision, and we'll move forward. There's no room for doubt now. We need to prepare for what's coming."

And with that, the meeting shifted. There was no more argument. Just an understanding, even if the details still didn't sit right with me. As we began to leave the room, the silence was deafening. There was a sense of finality in the air, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

The meeting broke with a heavy silence, the kind that lingered long after the words had settled.

Svetlana reached the doorway first, but something stopped her. Her hand gripped the frame, just for a second, but long enough for me to notice the slight tremor in her fingers.

"Svetlana?" I asked, my voice quieter than usual, but laced with concern.

She turned to me, that damn ironclad smile on her face. "I'm fine," she said, brushing it off like it was nothing.

A strange unease settled in my chest. Svetlana wasn't the type to admit weakness, not even if it was staring her in the face. If she wasn't saying something, it meant she thought it wasn't mine to know—or worse, that it didn't matter.

{Word Count- 1786}

A/N

Here is the part 2!

So I couldn't fit it in one chapter as it would get too long. So I decided to make two parts. Hope you'll enjoy.

Please vote and comment for my hard work.

What do you think of all the characters? Irina? Marcus? Nikolai?

Anyway, thank you so much for 1k views on this book. I appreciate it.

See you soon loves!

xoxo

-lily