Semua Bab HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE: Bab 21 - Bab 30

KAI POVRick was in holding when I got there, looking far too calm for someone accused of conspiracy to commit murder. James had him chained with silver-reinforced restraints, the kind we used for the most dangerous prisoners. Smart, considering what Melissa had claimed he'd done."Alpha." Rick's voice was neutral. "I assume this is about Melissa's accusations. You should know she's lying. Trying to drag innocent wolves down with her.""Innocent." I pulled up a chair and sat facing him. "That's an interesting choice of words. Because Melissa named you specifically as the one who supplied the poison. Said you've been working with outside forces to destabilize my leadership.""She's a desperate traitor looking for a scapegoat." Rick's expression didn't change. "I've served this pack for twenty years. Served your father before you. Why would I betray everything I've built?""That's what I'm here to find out." I leaned forward. "And Rick, I'm going to use Alpha command. So you might want

KAI POVElara fell asleep within minutes of our conversation, exhaustion finally claiming her. I sat beside her bed watching her breathe, too wired to even consider resting myself. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Rick lunging for Aiden. Saw Elara throwing herself between them. Saw her get torn apart protecting our son.She'd almost died. Again. And this time it would have been my fault for bringing her to Thornwood. For asking her to walk back into her trauma. For not seeing the conspiracy brewing in my own pack."You're spiraling." James appeared in the doorway. "I can tell by the look on your face. Stop it.""I almost got her killed." I didn't take my eyes off Elara. "Almost got the twins killed too. If she hadn't been strong enough to fight through the sedative—""But she was." He moved into the room. "And they're all alive. Focus on that instead of the what-ifs.""The what-ifs are all I can think about." I rubbed my face. "What if Rick had been faster? What if Elara hadn't awake

KAI POVI watched Marcus leave Elara's office and knew immediately what had happened. The look on his face. The set of his shoulders. The way he'd finally said whatever he'd been holding back for years. He'd confessed his feelings. And now I was competing with my own Beta. Or rather, Elara's Beta. Because James had made it clear where his loyalties lay when he defected."You okay?" James appeared beside me. "You look like someone kicked your dog.""Marcus just told Elara he loves her." I kept my voice low. "And judging by the fact that he walked out looking relieved instead of rejected, she didn't immediately shut him down.""Of course she didn't." James leaned against the wall. "Marcus has been there for her since day one. Saved her life. Helped her build Shadow Creek. Been a perfect gentleman the entire time. Why wouldn't she consider him?""Because she's my mate." But the words sounded hollow even to me. "Because we have children together. Because the bond still exists even if it's

KAI POVI spent the night after Elara came back from the Summit going through my father's research with new eyes. Everything looked different now. Every note about True Alpha bloodlines. Every warning about Council interest. Every document suddenly had weight because Elara's mother hadn't just been killed. She'd been executed by the same wolves currently threatening Elara and the twins.The files were extensive. My father had been obsessed, documenting every True Alpha family he could trace back two hundred years. The Reed family appeared multiple times, always with notes about their power, their resistance to authority, their refusal to submit to Council oversight. And beside Eliana Reed's name, my father had written one word in red ink: Eliminated.Not killed. Not died. Eliminated. Like she was a problem that had been solved.I felt sick reading it. My father had known. Had documented the Council's systematic murder of an entire bloodline. And he'd done nothing to stop it. Worse, he

KAI POVWe spent the next three hours planning in Elara's office, mapping out strategy like we were preparing for actual war. Which, I supposed, we were. Just not the kind with clear battle lines and uniformed enemies. This war was information and exposure and trying to turn enough wolves against the Council before they could eliminate us."We need allies." Elara had her mother's journal open, cross-referencing names with my father's research. "Packs who'll stand with us when we go public. Who won't immediately side with the Council.""That's a short list." I'd been making notes. "Most packs are Council loyalists. Either because they benefit from the current structure or because they're too scared to challenge it.""Then we target the scared ones." She looked up, those silver-gray eyes sharp with focus. "The packs who hate the Council but don't dare speak against them. We give them evidence they can't ignore. Make it impossible for them to stay neutral.""That's risky." I moved around