THE NOTE

Elaris's POV

The hall seems to tighten around them as Averic re-reads the note.

No one speaks.

The guards who carried the box from Virelle's chamber stand tense and waiting as they await orders from their Alpha.

Elaris watches from a distance close enough to Averic's back to read the note over his shoulder.

Her eyes catch on the last line.

"Once the old woman is gone the child will be next. Be ready."

Her stomach knots at the words in her gut and her hand instinctively covers her stomach.

The baby stirs beneath her palm.

Elaris whispers, "it names Maevra first then the child."

Averic says nothing at first.

He traces the edge of the note with his thumb, where the crease marks from the fold it had been tucked into in her bodice.

"It wasn't a threat made in haste," Averic finally says. "Someone wrote this with a pattern in mind."

Elaris' eyes flick to the closed doors of Maevra's chamber.

"That means we're inside their pattern," she says softly.

Averic looks to her and for once there's no fight in either his expression or his stance.

Only the realization that the enemy had been several paces ahead of them the whole time.

Averic re-reads the note before folding the paper and sliding it into his hand rather than passing it to a guard.

His stance has shifted, no longer uncertain like he'd been in the first few hours of the investigation.

He turns to the nearest guard.

"Bring Caedmon here."

The man straightens.

"Alpha, he is still being held in the lower cells."

"I know."

"Should we inform the council before-"

"No."

The man stops immediately and Averic's voice is calm, but there's no room for argument. "Bring him directly to the interrogation chamber. Double the escort. Bind his wrists and ankles. Twice before he enters."

The guard bows. "Yes, Alpha."

"And no one speaks to him on the way."

The guard nods to the others and leaves.

Elaris watches them retreat down the hall.

She expected Averic to demand another search, another witness, more information from someone who could challenge his position.

He doesn't.

The note has crossed the line of caution he'd been able to hold for several hours.

Elaris murmurs, "you believe it."

Averic looks to the paper in his hand.

"I believe someone wanted Caedmon to receive that message," he replies.

His pause is measured. "And I intend to find out why."

Elaris studies his face, noting how he tenses his shoulders, how he takes slow measured breaths and how his fingers keep tracing the edges of the folded note as if he can decipher the message by touch alone.

Then she sees it.

Regret, not for the situation but for something he believes to be a lost cause.

Elaris understands his thoughts.

Maevra had warned them, Harwin had found the altered medicine, Elaris herself had found Harwin the bottle. She had tried to convince him, yet Maevra still fights to live.

"You should've listened to her sooner," Elaris murmurs.

Averic's eyes snap to hers.

The remark lingers between them before Elaris looks away.

"You asked for proof, I kept finding it every time it became more dangerous."

Averic looks away.

"I know."

"You could've lost her."

"I know."

"And the person who nearly killed her was inside your residence."

His jaw tightens. "I know Elaris."

There is no anger in his voice and that almost makes it worse.

Averic finally meets her eyes. "I'm not going to pretend I handled this well."

He doesn't move, neither does she.

Elaris can see the guilt in his expression, the fear that he's failed the people he's responsible for.

They return to Maevra's chamber.

The atmosphere is thick with the tension of the day, the medicine that had poisoned her is gone and Harwin and the other healers have replaced every bottle from Virelle's supply and are currently administering counter treatment to remove the toxins from her system. Yet despite the removal of the poison, Maevra's condition shows no improvement.

Her breaths are slow and measured but each one seems to take more effort than the last.

Harwin checks her pulse before adjusting the healing cloth across her forehead.

Averic leans over to see her.

"How is she?"

Harwin doesn't immediately answer, his eyes lingering on Maevra's face before he finally speaks.

"She survived the last dose because we stopped it in time, that doesn't mean the damage has stopped."

Averic's expression darkens. "Can you reverse it?"

"I can fight the poison."

"That wasn't my question."

Harwin looks up at him with an uncharacteristic intensity. "I don't know."

Elaris moves closer to the bed.

"How long?"

Harwin looks up at her.

"If her body reacts to the counter-treatment we may see improvement by tomorrow, if it doesn't-"

Averic stops speaking and Elaris understands.

There is no certainty anymore, only a fragile thread of hope that Maevra will live long enough for the healers to remove what someone had deliberately poisoned her with.

Elaris lowers herself into the chair beside the bed.

She reaches beneath the covers and gently takes Maevra's hand, it's colder than it should be.

"I'm here," Elaris murmurs.

Maevra makes no reply.

Elaris traces her knuckles slowly.

"You told me not to let anyone drive me away."

Her throat tightens.

"You were right."

Across the room, Averic stands beside the window.

His back is to the room but the distance between them is a wall built of everything that has passed between them.

Elaris can remember the moment when he banished her, the charge in his voice, how he refused to meet her eyes and how she had left the gates believing that he had cast her out of his life completely.

Yet now he stands in the same room while she holds his mother's hand, not knowing how to cross the space between them.

Averic clears his throat. "She trusted you."

Elaris looks to him. "Yes."

"She told me you were keeping her alive."

Elaris swallows hard. "I was trying."

Averic's fingers rest against the window.

"You were."

He pauses.

"And I nearly allowed someone to make me believe otherwise."

Elaris says nothing, she can't forgive him yet but for the first time since Maevra had been poisoned, she no longer feels completely alone in her fight against the truth.

The chamber doors open and a guard enters, bowing as he approaches.

"Alpha."

Averic turns.

"Speak."

"Caedmon is being brought from the lower cells, he will reach the interrogation chamber within minutes."

Averic nods. "Good."

The guard leaves.

Averic looks to Elaris.

"You stay here."

She immediately rises.

"No."

His brows furrow. "You don't know what you're walking into."

"I know exactly what I'm walking into."

"Elaris-"

"The note names my child."

Her hand rests protectively over her stomach.

"If Caedmon knows something about this I will hear it."

Averic moves closer to her. "This questioning could be dangerous."

"So could sitting here while everyone decides what I'm allowed to know."

"That isn't what I'm doing."

"Then don't ask me to stay behind."

Her voice is steady but the fear beneath it is unmistakable.

"I have already had people make decisions about my life without me, I won't allow that to happen to my child."

Averic studies her.

The argument is not about defiance, it's about survival.

For several seconds, Averic looks at her, as if he can see the change within her for the first time.

She is no longer the woman who waits for Caedmon to choose her, nor the woman who begs to be believed when she says the truth.

And she certainly isn't someone who will sit quietly while another decides whether her unborn child deserves protection.

Averic finally gives a single nod. "Fine."

Elaris exhales.

“But you remain beside me,” he continues. "If anything feels wrong, you leave immediately."

She almost argues but she notices the concern in his command.

"You don't get to order me away from danger and call it protection."

His gaze lingers on her.

"I know."

That answer surprises her, his expression is not angry but sorrowful.

He looks toward Maevra. "I thought keeping you away from the worst of it would keep you safe."

Elaris' expression softens despite herself.

"It only made me feel abandoned."

Averic absorbs the words.

"I understand that now."

He doesn't reach for her, he doesn't ask for forgiveness, he simply steps aside and allows her to walk beside him.

It is a small gesture, but after everything between them it seems significant.

They leave Maevra's chamber together.

Caedmon is brought into the side chamber under heavy guard.

The doors open first, two guards entering the room before allowing the next two inside.

Caedmon follows between them, his appearance is gaunt compared to when he first returned to the pack.

His clothes are creased from his time in confinement and he has a small bruise along his temple from the scuffle in the archive.

Yet his poise remains intact as his eyes scan the room, passing over Averic before landing on Elaris.

For a moment, something unreadable crosses his face.

He looks at her abdomen, then back to her eyes.

Elaris refuses to move.

Averic notices the glance.

"Look at me."

Caedmon slowly turns his attention toward him.

The guards force him into the chair.

Metal restraints are secured around his wrists.

Caedmon doesn't resist, simply sitting in the same unsettling calm he had displayed in the archive.

Elaris remembers the smile, the one he wore when he had attacked her.

The one that suggested he believed he already knew how everything would end.

Averic places both hands on the table. "You have one opportunity to explain yourself."

Caedmon's mouth curves slightly. "I have nothing to explain."

Averic places the folded note on the table between them.

Caedmon looks down, his expression not one of fear, but recognition.

Elaris watches him carefully.

Averic unfurls the paper and turns it so that Caedmon can see it.

"Did you write this?"

Caedmon makes no reply.

The silence stretches, one heartbeat, then another.

The guards shift their weight.

Averic waits.

Elaris watches Caedmon's fingers.

He isn't taken aback by the message, he is calculating how much he can reveal.

Averic's voice is quiet. "Did you write it?"

Caedmon finally raises his head.

A faint smile appears, it is the same empty smile Elaris remembers from the archive.

"You finally found it."

Elaris' stomach tightens.

Averic's expression turns unreadable.

"You knew about the note."

"I knew it existed."

"Did you write it?"

Caedmon leans back as far as the restraints will allow. "You're asking the wrong question."

Averic's hand strikes the table. "Then give me the right one."

Caedmon's smile disappears.

"The right question is why you think the note was meant to save anyone."

The room seems to lose its air.

Averic's eyes narrow. "Explain."

Caedmon looks directly at Elaris.

"The child."

Elaris' fingers curl around the edge of her cloak.

Caedmon's voice remains disturbingly calm.

"You think that child will be welcomed because it carries your blood?"

Averic moves forward. "Choose your next words carefully."

Caedmon ignores him. "It was born from a broken bond. From a woman whose wolf should have died when her first bond was severed. Yet somehow she survived."

Elaris feels warmth spreading under her skin.

The silver sensation begins low in her abdomen, not painful but protective.

Caedmon notices.

His gaze drops to the faint shimmer beneath her clothing.

His expression finally cracks.

"There."

Elaris instinctively covers the area with her hand.

Averic moves between them.

"Don't look at her."

Caedmon gives a quiet laugh.

"You still don't understand what she's carrying."

Averic's voice turns dangerous.

"Then explain it."

Caedmon looks at him.

"That child will not simply inherit your bloodline."

He pauses.

"It will change who controls it."

Elaris' stomach turns, she wants to demand an explanation but the silver warmth intensifies before she can speak.

The child moves beneath her hand.

Caedmon watches the movement.

His face becomes strangely solemn.

"That is why they are afraid."

Averic's restraint finally breaks.

He crosses the distance between them.

The guards tense, expecting violence.

Averic stops inches from Caedmon.

His voice is quiet enough that only those closest can hear.

"You threatened Elaris."

Caedmon says nothing.

"You threatened my unborn child."

Still nothing.

"You were connected to an attempt on my mother's life."

Caedmon's eyes remain on him.

Averic's hands remain at his sides, but every line of his body radiates barely controlled fury.

"Listen carefully."

His voice hardens.

"From this moment forward, any threat against Elaris or the child will be treated as an attack against the Alpha line itself."

Caedmon smiles.

"You think the Alpha line belongs to you simply because you wear the crown?"

Averic's expression turns severe.

"I don't need a crown to protect my family."

Caedmon laughs once.

Soft and humorless.

Then he says, "That's exactly why you are vulnerable."

Elaris feels the words settle into the room.

Caedmon isn't trying to escape.

He isn't even trying to defend himself.

He is trying to make them understand that his arrest is not the end of anything.

It is part of something already moving beyond their control.

The guards seize Caedmon's arms and pull him from the chair.

He doesn't fight.

Instead, as they turn him toward the door, he looks past Averic.

Straight at Elaris.

"You think this ends with me and Virelle?"

Elaris' breath catches.

Caedmon's gaze drops deliberately to her abdomen.

"The note was never the plan."

He pauses at the threshold.

"It was only the beginning."

Averic turns sharply.

"What did you do?"

Caedmon says nothing.

The guards drag him into the corridor.

His footsteps fade.

But his final words remain.

Elaris' hand stays over her abdomen.

The silver warmth is still there.

Averic looks toward the closed door.

For several seconds, neither of them speaks.

Then Elaris notices something on the interrogation table.

The note.

Averic had unfolded it earlier.

Now that Caedmon has been taken away, Elaris sees a second mark beneath the final sentence - one so faint it was hidden by the fold.

A symbol.

Three intersecting lines surrounding a crescent.

She has seen it before.

Not on Virelle.

Not on Caedmon.

On the wooden box taken from Virelle's room.

Elaris reaches for the paper.

Averic catches her wrist before she touches it.

" Don't."

She looks at him.

"Why?"

His expression changes when he sees the symbol.

Because he recognizes it too.

"That mark," he says quietly, "belongs to the old Alpha succession records."

Elaris' blood runs cold.

" Why would it be on a poison note?"

Averic looks toward the corridor where Caedmon disappeared.

Then the chambers where Maevra lies fighting for her life.

His answer comes slowly.

"Because this may not be about killing my mother or your child."

He looks back at Elaris.

"It may be about deciding who inherits the pack after we're gone."