Missing Pieces

Chapter 21

Missing Pieces

Devin had intended to spend the afternoon reviewing patrol reports.

Instead, he found himself buried beneath seven years of old records.

Which was somehow worse.

Dust coated nearly everything inside Silverwood's archive room.

Rows of shelves stretched from floor to ceiling.

Ledger books.

Council minutes.

Patrol records.

Financial reports.

The history of the pack sat quietly inside these walls.

Waiting for someone to pay attention.

Unfortunately, that someone was him.

Across the table, Garrett looked equally thrilled.

"You look miserable."

The Beta didn't glance up.

"I am miserable."

"Good."

Garrett finally raised an eyebrow.

"Good?"

"If I'm suffering, you should be too."

The older wolf snorted.

"That's a terrible leadership philosophy."

"Yet here we are."

The conversation faded as Devin returned to the documents spread across the table.

Most of them related to border activity.

Some referenced the period surrounding Jade's father's exile.

That part hadn't been intentional.

At least not initially.

Then he'd started noticing inconsistencies.

Small things.

Missing pages.

Incorrect dates.

Reports that referenced documents which no longer existed.

Nothing definitive.

Just enough to be annoying.

Which usually meant something was hidden underneath.

"Garrett."

The Beta looked up.

"What?"

Devin slid a ledger across the table.

"This patrol report references a financial review."

"So?"

"The financial review doesn't exist."

Garrett frowned.

"Maybe it was misplaced."

"That's the fourth misplaced record today."

That got the Beta's attention.

Silence stretched between them.

Then Garrett reached for the report.

Several minutes passed.

His frown deepened.

"That's odd."

Exactly.

Devin opened another folder.

And another.

The deeper they dug, the stranger things became.

Several reports regarding Jade's father appeared incomplete.

Others contained corrections made years later.

Entire pages had been rewritten.

Some had vanished altogether.

The pattern was impossible to ignore.

Someone had altered these records.

The only question was why.

---

Three hours later, both wolves had moved their investigation to Rowan's office.

The Alpha stood beside the window reviewing the growing stack of discrepancies.

His expression had become progressively darker with each document.

"This doesn't prove anything."

Garrett nodded.

"It doesn't."

Rowan set another report down.

"But it suggests something."

Devin watched his father carefully.

"What?"

For a long moment Rowan didn't answer.

Instead, he stared out toward the forest.

Toward the territory he'd spent decades protecting.

When he finally spoke, his voice had grown quieter.

"I never believed we were told the whole truth."

The confession surprised both younger wolves.

Rowan rarely admitted uncertainty.

Especially about major decisions.

"You believed Jade's father was innocent?" Devin asked.

"No."

The answer came immediately.

The Alpha shook his head.

"He had debts."

"He made mistakes."

Pain flickered across Rowan's features.

"He betrayed the pack's trust."

Then his gaze hardened.

"But the story never felt complete."

The room fell silent.

For years Silverwood had accepted the official version of events.

Nobody questioned it.

Nobody investigated further.

The former Beta had fallen.

The pack moved on.

Only now, looking at the records before him, Devin realized how convenient that had been.

Very convenient.

Garrett crossed his arms.

"If someone manipulated evidence..."

The unfinished thought lingered.

Because everyone knew what followed.

Someone had benefited.

Someone had gained power.

Status.

Influence.

The question was who.

---

The answer began appearing sooner than expected.

As evening approached, Garrett retrieved another archive box from a forgotten storage room.

The container looked old.

Poorly labeled.

Easy to overlook.

Which immediately made Devin suspicious.

"I hate that look," Garrett muttered.

"What look?"

"The one that says you found something."

Devin opened the box.

Inside sat several ledgers.

Old financial records.

Exactly the type of documents they needed.

His pulse quickened.

Carefully, he started reading.

At first everything appeared normal.

Debt reports.

Trade accounts.

Taxes.

Routine pack business.

Then he noticed a familiar name.

Sullivan.

The former Beta.

Immediately Devin sat straighter.

Garrett noticed.

Rowan too.

"What?"

Without speaking, Devin slid the ledger across the desk.

The two older wolves moved closer.

The room grew very quiet.

Several debts had been recorded against the former Beta.

Nothing surprising there.

Those debts had always been part of the story.

Yet something else appeared beside them.

A second signature.

Not Sullivan's.

Devin stared.

Read it again.

Then a third time.

Just to make sure.

"No way."

Garrett took the ledger.

His expression instantly darkened.

Rowan grabbed it next.

Silence filled the office.

The signature remained exactly the same.

Clear.

Undeniable.

Written beside multiple transactions connected to the investigation that destroyed Jade's father.

Marcus Carter.

Gamma Marcus Carter.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

For years Marcus had claimed distance from the scandal.

For years he had acted as though the exile was unfortunate but necessary.

Yet his signature sat right there.

Attached to records nobody should have hidden.

Records that had somehow vanished from the official archives.

Garrett looked up first.

"Rowan."

The Alpha's jaw tightened.

"I see it."

Devin's thoughts raced.

Questions collided inside his head.

Why was Marcus involved?

Why were the records hidden?

How much did he know?

And most importantly...

What else had been erased?

Slowly, Rowan closed the ledger.

His expression had become unreadable.

Dangerously unreadable.

The sort of look that made warriors nervous.

"We say nothing."

Neither Devin nor Garrett argued.

Not because they agreed.

Because they understood.

If Marcus was involved, they needed proof.

Not suspicion.

Proof.

The Alpha looked toward the darkening forest beyond the windows.

Toward secrets buried for seven years.

Toward truths that might reshape Silverwood forever.

"We continue digging."

The order was simple.

Firm.

Final.

Yet as Devin stared at the hidden ledger resting on Rowan's desk, one thought refused to leave him.

For the first time since this investigation began, they had found something real.

And whatever role Marcus Carter had played in Jade Sullivan's father's downfall...

It was far bigger than anyone had imagined.