12. The Chairman of the Federation

In Silver Moon Pack Territory — Federation Headquarters...

Mason Larkin sat at his desk, his cold gaze fixed on the flickering screen before him. The room was silent, except for the low hum of the air conditioning and the tap of his fingers on the keyboard.

As Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack and Chairman of the Federation, every move he made echoed across the eighteen werewolf packs in the state of California. 

He was a man feared more than revered—his name spoken with caution, if not trembling awe. 

The door creaked open.

Beta Julian entered, his right arm still bound in a sling. He moved with quiet urgency, a sealed file clutched in his good hand. 

Mason’s gaze flicked toward the folder before locking back onto Julian’s expression.

“They moved,” Julian said in a meaningful tone. “The man we’ve been watching. He disappeared two days ago—resurfaced near Crimson Claw territory.”

Mason’s jaw tensed. “Where in Crimson Claw?” he asked with a voice sharp as a blade.

“South border. Near the Ridge Hollow ruins. Not far from the crash site.”

The silence that followed was not empty; it was charged.

Mason took the file and flipped it open, scanning the contents. 

Photos, coordinates, timestamps. The man in the grainy images was someone Mason had long suspected of being connected to an underground network. The same network he believed was responsible for the attempted hit that nearly took his daughter’s life.

His eyes darkened.

His thoughts went to the adorable little Nina. She's five years old. Bright, fierce, and his only reason for choosing peace over chaos.

At least for now...

She had been strapped into her car seat, happily munching on gummy bears, when the vehicle flipped twice and landed in a ditch. 

And then there's Aria. 

The woman who should’ve never been there but somehow was. The woman who dragged Nina out of the wreckage while being injured herself. 

The woman who cradled his beloved daughter against her chest as if she were her own child, whispering soothing lies that everything was going to be okay, even when the world was clearly not.

Now this...

A ghost from Mason’s suspicion list had crossed into Crimson Claw territory days after Aria’s reputation was destroyed, her pack stripped from her, and her parents imprisoned in disgrace.

Yes, he knows all about it... Nothing can surpass an alpha like him, the Lycan King... Or at least that's what everybody knows.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the report, veins tensing beneath his pale skin. Something in his gut twisted... Not fear, never fear... But that primal instinct that had kept him alive longer than most. He’d learned long ago not to ignore it.

The timing was too convenient; The highway accident and the truck that seemed to be aiming for Aria's car, which was in front of his car, with his beta and daughter inside.

Coincidence? He didn’t believe in coincidences.

“Do you want me to send someone to grab him?” Julian asked.

Mason leaned back in his chair, fingertips pressed together. His expression remained unreadable, but the room seemed to grow colder with every breath.

“No,” he said. “Not yet.”

Julian blinked. “Sir?”

“If we grab him now, we tip our hand. I want to know who he’s meeting, why he’s there, and what exactly he’s doing near Crimson Claw’s land.”

Julian nodded. “And Aria?”

Mason’s eyes narrowed.

“She’s in the middle of this,” he murmured. “Whether she knows it or not.”

For a brief moment, the mask Mason always wore cracked, just enough to reveal something flickering beneath it. A storm of questions.

He clenched the folder in his hand.

“Keep watching. Every step he takes, every person he speaks to. If he so much as breathes wrong, I want to know.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Julian replied.

As Julian turned to leave, Mason’s voice cut through the air once more.

“And Julian…”

The Beta stopped.

“Get me everything you can on Aria Harper. Every detail. From her birth records… To what she was doing the night her parents were arrested. Everything that I haven't gotten my hands on before."

Because if this were a game, Mason Larkin had no intention of playing blind.

He would tear down every wall, expose every secret, and bury the truth beneath his enemies’ bones if he had to. For Nina. For justice.

And perhaps—for Aria.

Mason looked at the documents one more time and thought, ‘What have you gotten yourself into, this time, little muffin? At this rate, you shouldn’t be left alone at any cost.’

As Julian turned to leave, Mason’s voice stopped him again.

“How’s Nina?”

Julian hesitated before answering, choosing his words carefully.

“Physically, she’s healing well,” he said. “We can bring her home anytime. The doctors cleared her for home recovery this morning since her cast is already in place. Plus, she only incurred a few stitches, minor fractures. But...”

Mason’s eyes sharpened. “But what?”

Julian sighed. “She’s traumatized, Mason. Badly. She wakes up crying in the middle of the night. Sometimes she screams like she’s still trapped in the car. She won’t speak to the staff anymore, not even her nanny. She’s terrified of everything—people, shadows, even with loud sounds.”

Mason’s fingers curled slightly against the desk. A flicker of something painful moved behind his eyes. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“I didn’t want to overwhelm you until we had confirmation about the Crimson Claw lead,” Julian said, his voice quiet. “But Mason… she needs you. More than your enemies need tracking. More than the Federation needs micromanaging. Be her father first today, not the Alpha Chairman.”

The silence stretched between them.

Then, slowly, Mason stood. He didn’t say anything, but the decision had already been made.

“Tell my secretary to cancel the rest of my meetings,” he ordered, straightening his suit jacket. “Anything urgent can be rerouted to you. The rest can wait.”

Julian nodded. “I’ll handle it. And Mason?”

“What?”

“Take off the Chairman mask for a while. She needs you. Not the man the world fears.”

Mason didn’t respond. But as he turned and walked toward the door, the lines of cold resolve on his face softened just enough to reveal the truth beneath them—

He wasn’t just going to bring home his daughter.

He was going home to save what was left of her childhood.