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36

작가: Bella Fyre
last update 게시일: 2026-03-22 11:06:18

36

The meeting room in the packhouse had once been a formal dining hall. Now it has become something else entirely. The long wooden table at the center held maps instead of plates, territory markers instead of candles. Old scars carved into the wood hinted at past arguments, past decisions that had shaped the future of both packs. Today it held something far more fragile. Peace. Or at least the possibility of it.

Adam stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, staring down at the large map
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  • The Alpha Forgets    124

    124 Elara was found beneath the retreat before dawn. Not by the regional council. By Jared. That mattered. The lower tunnels beneath the retreat were older than the building itself, carved into the stone generations ago for emergency evacuations, storage, and the kind of secrets no council member wanted recorded in the main archives. They were narrow. Cold. Badly lit. And they smelled of dust, damp rock, old fear and blood. Jared stopped at the mouth of the third tunnel and lifted one fist. The mixed security team behind him froze. One guard from each pack. Dark Mountain. Edgewater Falls. Silver Claw. Ashvale. Iron Ridge. Pine Hollow. Blackwater. Whitefern. For once, none of them argued. They had learned quickly that when Jared stopped, everyone stopped. He crouched near the stone floor and touched two fingers to a dark smear on the ground. Fresh. Still wet. The Silver Claw guard leaned closer. “Elara?” “Likely,” Jared said. The Edgewater tracker sniffed the air, his eyes n

  • The Alpha Forgets    123

    123 The retreat changed within minutes. Whatever illusion of neutrality the regional council had maintained shattered the moment Elara disappeared. Doors were locked. Hallways were sealed. Council guards spread through the old stone building with grim faces and clipped orders. But they were not the only ones searching. Not anymore. By Decker’s order and by the agreement of every Alpha present a second security team was formed. One guard from each pack. Dark Mountain. Edgewater Falls. Silver Claw. Ashvale. Iron Ridge. Pine Hollow. Blackwater. Whitefern. No single pack would control the search. No single council guard would be trusted alone. If Elara was found, everyone would know. If evidence vanished, everyone would see who touched it. That was the new rule inside the retreat. Trust no one completely. Watch everyone equally. Jared took command of the mixed security team without asking permission. No one argued. The Whitefern guard, a tall woman with a scar along her jaw, gave him

  • The Alpha Forgets    122

    122 The regional council convened behind closed doors before sunrise. Not in the grand hall. Not where the Alphas could listen. They gathered in the inner chamber, an old circular room built beneath the retreat itself, lined with shelves of law books, treaty scrolls, and portraits of council leaders who had long since turned to dust. There were seven council members present. Seven wolves who had claimed neutrality for generations. Seven wolves who now sat beneath the weight of eight angry Alphas questioning whether neutrality had ever been real. Council Elder Rasmus sat at the center. Silver-haired. Sharp-eyed. Old enough that even Morgan had addressed him with caution. He listened while the others argued. “This is an insult,” Councilwoman Elara snapped. “The Alphas come into our retreat, accuse us at dinner, and now expect us to open private archives?” Councilman Torren leaned forward. “They do not expect it. They demand it.” “And we should refuse.” Rasmus lifted one hand. The

  • The Alpha Forgets    121

    121 Round two of the summit never started. Not officially. The Alphas had too much to sort through before anyone was ready to sit in that circle again and pretend they knew where the lines were drawn. So the meeting was placed on hold. Not canceled. Not delayed out of fear. Paused. That was the word Morgan used. But everyone knew what it meant. The room had cracked open too much. Now every Alpha needed time to decide what they believed. And who they suspected. For the rest of the afternoon, the retreat became a maze of private conversations. Alphas disappeared into assigned rooms with their Betas, Lunas, or closest advisers. Papers changed hands. Confessions were reviewed. Old promises were compared against current borders and trade routes. Matthew looked like he hadn’t eaten in a day and had no interest in changing that. Tony looked equally tired and far more annoyed. The two Betas sat together at one point with files spread between them, speaking in low voices while Jared stood

  • The Alpha Forgets    120

    120 The break between meetings felt less like rest and more like everyone had been released from a cage just long enough to pace. Alphas disappeared into private corners with their Betas. Guards gathered in tight circles. Lunas spoke softly near windows, their eyes moving over the room as carefully as any warrior’s. Lotty slipped out onto the side terrace for air. The cold helped. So did the quiet. She rested one hand lightly against her stomach and let out a slow breath. “Escaping?” Lotty turned. Selene stood in the doorway with two cups of tea in her hands and a knowing smile on her face. Lotty laughed softly. “Trying to.” Selene crossed the terrace and handed her one cup. “I thought you might need this.” Lotty accepted it gratefully. “Thank you.” For a moment they stood side by side, looking out over the neutral grounds below. Then Selene said, “That meeting was worse than I expected.” Lotty nodded. “And somehow better.” “Because no one died?” “ That helped.” Selene smi

  • The Alpha Forgets    119

    119 The regional council retreat sat in the valley between territories. Neutral ground. At least, that was what everyone called it. No one believed that anymore. Not after everything that had been uncovered. Not after Ellis. Not after Varric.Not after Gregory’s promises had begun surfacing like bones washed out of shallow graves. The retreat had once been used for peace talks, alliance ceremonies, succession discussions, and boundary agreements. It was old stone and dark timber, built around a central hall with eight private wings branching off from it like spokes. Eight Alphas were arriving. Eight packs. Eight versions of the truth. And not one of them trusted the others. Decker arrived with Lotty at his side. That alone changed the air. The Dark Mountain convoy rolled through the outer gates shortly after midday. Three SUVs carried warriors. One carried Decker, Lotty, Tony, and Jared. Garrick, Kara, and Elin rode close behind with the rest of Lotty’s guard detail. Decker had a

  • The Alpha Forgets    54

    54 The air shifted before they even arrived. Lotty felt it standing at Decker’s side on the wide stone steps of the packhouse, the late afternoon light stretching long shadows across the courtyard. The guards were tighter than usual. Patrols doubled along the perimeter. Even the wolves moving thro

  • The Alpha Forgets    40

    40 The next two days passed in a blur of long hours and hard decisions. Nothing about the truce was perfect, but it was real. Adam and Decker worked side by side, sometimes agreeing, sometimes clashing, but never once crossing the line into hostility. There were moments, brief ones, where Lotty w

  • The Alpha Forgets    39

    39 The candles had burned down to stubs. Dinner sat half-cleared on the small table, forgotten. The room still carried the faint warmth of what had almost happened, something soft, something intimate, but now it was overshadowed by the sharp edge of reality. Blood had replaced romance. War had in

  • The Alpha Forgets    37

    37 The evening had been planned carefully. Too carefully. Decker had spent most of the afternoon arranging it, quietly coordinating with the kitchen and slipping back upstairs before Lotty could suspect anything. The guards had noticed, of course, nothing happened in the packhouse without someone

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