Chapter 96: The unseen hand

Noah Alaric arrived at his penthouse in the heart of Velos, the doors swinging open before him with a quiet precision. The city was a sprawling labyrinth of ambition, power, and secret plots—yet tonight, its usual hum felt muted, as if even the skyline sensed the weight of the decisions pressing against him. The subtle tension in the air, a familiar sensation, wrapped around him as he crossed the threshold, his thoughts already deep in the game.

As he moved further into the sleek, minimalist interior of his penthouse, the last traces of sunlight disappeared, casting the room in the dim glow of city lights. Noah stopped by the large windows, gazing out over the vast expanse of Velos. The city glittered below, alive with the faint pulse of thousands of lives, each one a potential piece on the board. But tonight, his mind wasn't on the city or its people. It was on the **Avaros Clan**—and how to bring them to ruin without ever touching them directly.

The werewolf clan had been a thorn in his side since his arrival in Velos. Their reach was vast, their presence commanding. They had seen him rise through the ranks with unsettling speed and had begun to notice his potential, a potential that could disrupt their carefully crafted control over the city. And that, of course, was why they had sought him out. They wanted to control him, use his power to further their own ambitions. But Noah had no interest in becoming another puppet in their vast and tangled game.

Their attempt to broker an alliance had been a calculated move—an attempt to secure him before anyone else did, to use him as a tool to extend their dominance. But Noah had no intention of playing by their rules.

The Avaros werewolves had no idea what they were dealing with. They thought they could control him with power, with promises of protection and influence, but they had underestimated the scope of his plans. He had no interest in simply surviving in their world. He intended to bend it to his will. The key, however, was not to confront them head-on. No, that would only play into their hands.

He needed to break them, destroy their influence, without ever becoming the target of their retaliation. The Avaros Clan was powerful, yes, but they were not invincible. They had made their mistakes—mistakes Noah intended to exploit.

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Noah walked over to his desk, the soft click of his boots the only sound in the otherwise quiet room. He sat in his chair, his fingers steepled before him as his gaze turned inward, plotting the steps of his next move. The Avaros Clan was already under pressure. The loss of their heir had rattled their carefully managed façade, sending ripples of instability through their ranks. But that, in itself, was not enough. Noah would need to push them further into chaos, to expose the fractures in their carefully curated image.

But how to do so without involving himself directly? Noah knew that if he made his moves too obvious, the Avaros would retaliate with brutal force. He had to remain in the shadows, pulling strings from behind the scenes, always unseen.

He had been watching the clan's movements closely. Their internal structure was not as solid as they liked to believe. Beneath their veneer of unity, there were tensions—old rivalries, hidden ambitions, and a deep-seated thirst for power that often led to betrayal. It would be these weaknesses he would exploit.

Noah smiled faintly to himself. **Patience** had always been his greatest strength. He had time on his side. The Avaros werewolves might have wealth and strength, but they were bound by the same human weaknesses as any other clan: greed, jealousy, and the hunger for power. He would leverage these against them, creating chaos within their ranks.

His first move would be subtle—a whisper in the right ears, a suggestion planted where it would do the most damage. The Avaros had several factions within their clan, each vying for control, each with their own ambitions. If he could feed those ambitions, stoke the fires of rivalry between them, the clan's unity would begin to fracture.

It wasn't enough to simply sabotage them from within. Noah needed to ensure that their reputation began to crumble. In the underworld, perception was everything. If he could turn the city's view of the Avaros Clan into one of weakness and instability, their allies would start to distance themselves. The moment their allies began to turn, the Avaros would be forced to fight a war on two fronts—one within, and one against the world.

---

Noah rose from his desk, pacing the room as his mind continued to churn. The next step would involve the **Graven Spire**, the shadowy organization that dealt in forbidden magic. They had their own agenda, but they were also deeply envious of the Avaros' influence and resources. If Noah could leverage their thirst for power, he could create a wedge between the Graven Spire and the Avaros Clan, setting them at odds without either party realizing it was he who had orchestrated it.

But he couldn't move too quickly. The Graven Spire was dangerous, and their magic was not something he could simply disregard. Noah knew he would need to feed them just enough to draw them into the conflict, but not so much that they turned on him instead. It was a delicate balance, and he would need to be careful, patient, and above all, subtle.

Noah stopped at the window once more, looking out over the city that stretched before him. Velos was a city of ambitions, of dreams and shadows, where power was the currency that could buy everything—or destroy it all. In this city, he had already made his mark, but the Avaros Clan was a force that needed to be handled delicately.

He didn't need to crush them directly. He needed only to dismantle their perception of invincibility, to sow doubt and suspicion within their ranks, and to turn their alliances into liabilities. Then, when the time was right, he could move in for the final blow. But for now, Noah was content to watch from the shadows, the puppet master pulling strings no one could see.

The Avaros werewolves would fall, but it would be on his terms, in his time, without ever staining his hands with their blood. The world would never know the hand behind their downfall.

And when they were no longer a threat, Noah would stand at the top of Velos, untouchable, having crushed them from the shadows without so much as a trace of his involvement.

The game was in motion, and Noah was the unseen hand guiding it all.