LOGINElena looked back toward the manor. The windows continued vibrating with every pulse of conflicting magic. “Then how do we disconnect it?”Gail didn’t answer. Elena already knew what that meant. “You don’t know.”“I need time.”Another powerful vibration rolled through the ground. This time, the exterior lights flickered, and several went dark.“We don’t have much of that,” Damien said.Elena focused on the anchor again. Now that she knew where the foreign magic originated, she could feel the connection far more clearly. Peter’s power radiated outward from the tiny object in dozens of thin strands, each one attached to a different section of the manor’s protection.It reminded her of roots or veins. She remembered what happened in the cellar when the corruption tried to take shape. Fighting it had only given it something to push against. The moment she stopped thinking about destroying it and focused instead on removing the conditions allowing it to exist, everything changed.“What if
“Everywhere.”The word barely left Micah’s mouth before another violent tremor moved through the manor. This one was powerful enough to rattle the paintings against the walls and send a decorative vase crashing to the floor somewhere nearby. Elena instinctively reached for Damien, but her attention immediately turned inward as she tried to feel what was happening beyond the walls.Something was wrong with the wards, but it wasn’t the same sensation she had experienced during Peter’s earlier attacks. She didn’t feel corruption pushing against the manor or searching for a way inside. Instead, the magic surrounding them seemed confused. The individual layers were still there, but they were vibrating against one another instead of working together.“Gail!” Elena shouted.“I’m here.”Her aunt appeared at the end of the hallway, running toward them with Esther close behind. Gail’s normally composed expression was gone. Her hair had fallen loose around her face, and she was already whisperin
Elena continued staring at the trees long after the raven disappeared. She had no way of knowing whether the creature was actually connected to Peter, but Ryan’s reaction told her enough. He had spent too many years working with the man to become alarmed over an ordinary bird, especially when it had been watching the exact part of the manor they were trying hardest to protect.“We need to tell Roland,” Damien said, already turning toward the doors.Ryan reached out to stop him. “Not yet.”Damien immediately turned back around. “Why the hell not?”“Because if Peter was watching through that thing, we don’t know when the connection ended. For all we know, he can still see the grounds from somewhere else.” Ryan glanced casually toward the gardens, careful not to focus too long on any one place. “The worst thing we can do is start running around like we discovered something.”Elena understood immediately. If they rushed inside and suddenly doubled the guards around Theron, they would conf
Roland wasted very little time putting his plan into motion. Before anyone left the council room, he summoned several of his senior warriors and quietly divided them into two groups. One would leave the manor within the hour and ride directly for the Ash River Pack. The other would remain behind, with no one outside the manor knowing they were still there.Elena stood near the map while Roland explained the assignments. She admired how calm he remained even with so many moving pieces. There was no panic in his voice and no hint of uncertainty. He spoke with the confidence of someone who had spent a lifetime making difficult decisions, and every wolf in the room seemed to draw strength from it.“I want the departure to be obvious,” Roland instructed. “Take marked vehicles, wear your formal patrol jackets, and leave through the main gate. If someone is watching this manor—and I believe they are—I want them to think we’ve committed a significant portion of our forces to Ash River.”One o
The council room remained quiet for several moments after Roland finished speaking. Elena found herself replaying his words over and over in her mind.Peter doesn’t build monsters. He finds wounded people and teaches them to believe their wounds define them.The more she thought about it, the more every piece of the puzzle seemed to fall into place. Ryan had carried bitterness long before Peter found him. James had spent years quietly convincing himself that Marcus valued everyone else more than his own Beta. Even she had almost let Peter convince her that her mother’s binding had been an act of betrayal instead of love.Peter never created the wound. He simply made sure it never healed.“So where does that leave us?” Damien finally asked, breaking the silence. “James has already made his move. Every hour we wait gives him more time to spread that speech to the other packs.”Roland remained standing by the window overlooking the courtyard. Several guards crossed below as they changed
Roland’s words settled over the room like a weight no one knew how to lift.He knows Marcus cannot defend himself.Elena lowered her eyes to the table. The anger she’d expected never came. Instead, all she felt was sadness. James hadn’t challenged her strength. He hadn’t questioned her power. He had gone after the one person who could never stand before the pack and answer him.She remembered sitting on her father’s shoulders during the summer festivals while he pointed out constellations she was too young to understand. She remembered falling asleep against his chest after long pack meetings because she’d insisted on staying awake until he came home. Marcus had always smelled like pine and cedar after patrols, and no matter how tired he was, he always made time to tuck her into bed.James remembered those moments, too. He had been there. That realization hurt almost as much as the speech itself.“I don’t understand,” Elena admitted quietly. “If James hated my father this much, why di
The training ring was already lit when Elena arrived. Roland stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, not looking at her yet. Gail traced faint symbols along the outer boundary, reinforcing wards that hummed too softly to hear. Damien remained near the entrance, present in the exact way
The manor no longer felt like a sanctuary. It felt like it was holding its breath. Elena sensed it long before anyone spoke of it aloud. It wasn't fear or danger in the immediate sense. It was something quieter, deeper. She stood alone in the inner courtyard at twilight, where the last light of da
The first thing Roland did was issue an order of silence. Guards escorted Mona from the chamber without spectacle. Two of them flanked her at a respectable distance without the use of restraints. They kept their posture relaxed enough to appear honorable, not contained. A casual observer would assu
The manor changed in a choreographed performance. Elena watched it happen from the second-floor gallery. Guards shifted in staggered pairs, servants rerouted without being told, and doors closed softly behind important conversations. No one ran or whispered loudly. The whole estate moved like a bod







