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Home / Werewolf / The Alpha Forgets / Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

All Chapters of The Alpha Forgets : Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

112 Chapters

91

91 Tony didn’t send the letter right away. He could have. Everything was in place, the message written in Theron’s hand, the dead drop identified, Jared’s clean wolves ready to shadow anyone who came sniffing for it. But Decker had stopped him with a single look. Not yet. Because there was one part of the plan that couldn’t move without her. Lotty was in their room when Decker found her. The night had settled over Dark Mountain again, quieter than before, but not peaceful. Not after the western ridge. Not after the hospital. Not after everything that had been uncovered below ground in stone and blood. She stood near the window, arms crossed, staring out into the dark. Waiting. She turned the moment the door opened. Her eyes went straight to him, taking in the dried blood at his collar, the tension in his shoulders, the way he carried something heavier than the fight itself. “What happened?” she asked. Decker closed the door behind him. “More than I expected.” That wasn’t reassu

92

92 Tomas did not use a messenger. That would have been too obvious. Too traceable. Too easy for the wrong eyes to notice. So when the first movement started inside Silver Claw territory, he stayed hidden in the tree line beyond their eastern road, belly low to the ground, black-gray fur blending into shadow and brush, and reached for the pack link instead. Not loud. Not broad. A narrow thread. One Alpha. “Decker”. The response came almost instantly. “Report.” Tomas kept still as two Silver Claw riders moved along the lower trail below him, their horses uneasy beneath them. “Your letter arrived. Jacob received it directly. He didn’t like it.” A pause. Then Decker’s voice came through the link, cold and steady. “Expected.” Tomas’s eyes narrowed as the riders disappeared around the curve. “That’s not all. Within an hour, one of Jacob’s private runners left through the southern route. Not toward us. Toward Morgan’s border.” The silence that followed was short. Heavy. “You’re sure?”

93

93 The quiet didn’t feel like peace. It felt like a breath being held. Two days passed without an attack. No rogues on the border. No strange movement near the packhouse. No sudden surges of panic through the pack link. On the surface, Dark Mountain settled. Patrols rotated cleanly. Training resumed. The dining hall filled again with voices that didn’t drop into silence when Lotty entered. But underneath everyone was waiting. Because the trap had been set. And somewhere out there, someone had read Theron’s message and decided what to do next. Lotty refused to sit still. By the second morning, she was already dressed for the hospital, pulling her hair back into something practical while Kara leaned against the wall and Elin checked the hallway outside. “You don’t have to go today,” Kara said. Lotty didn’t look up. “I know.” “Decker didn’t say anything about it.” “He didn’t need to.” Elin stepped back into the room. “All clear.” Lotty grabbed her bag. “That’s not the same as

94

94 They didn’t move right away. Three days. That was Decker’s call. Not out of hesitation, out of discipline. If they reacted too quickly, it would confirm everything the enemy already suspected: that Theron had been compromised, that the message had been intercepted, that Dark Mountain wasn’t being tested anymore it was watching. So they waited. And in that waiting, they made everything look normal. Day one passed quietly. Lotty went to breakfast as usual, sat at Decker’s side, spoke with Tony about hospital supplies, and even laughed once at something Elin said about a training mishap involving a pup and a very confused warrior. Nothing out of place. Nothing forced. If anyone was watching, they would see the same Luna they had begun to accept. Steady. Present. Unshaken. Day two followed the same pattern. Training grounds filled with warriors. The dining hall carried its usual low hum. Lotty moved through the packhouse without hesitation, her guards always near but never crowdin

95

95 They didn’t rush it. That was what made it dangerous. Not the sudden strike. Not the overwhelming force. The patience. They watched her. For days. From the edges of the pack’s routines, from the quiet places where servants moved and warriors didn’t look twice, from borrowed eyes and borrowed wolves who didn’t belong long enough to be remembered. They watched the shifts. The missed meals. The absence from training. The guarded movement. The subtle faltering. And they watched the contradiction. The hospital. Strong there. Untouchable there. That didn’t make sense. So they waited. Because wolves like Decker didn’t leave openings. Unless the opening was real. The moment came in the late afternoon. Not dramatic. Not obvious. Just a gap. Lotty stepped out of the hospital just as the sun dipped low enough to stretch shadows across the courtyard. Her shift had run longer than expected. It always did. A minor injury had turned into a complication. A complication into a procedure. A p

96

96 The rumors didn’t just spread. They moved. Fast. Clean. Deliberate. By the next morning, Dark Mountain wasn’t the only pack talking about Lotty. Silver Claw had already carried the story outward quietly, through the same channels they used for trade, for alliances, for whispers that shaped decisions before anyone realized they had been made. Morgan’s territory heard it. The smaller eastern packs heard it. And somewhere in the space between all of them, Ellis listened. The story was simple. Too simple. The Luna was strong but not stable. The pack link strained her. She avoided crowds. She faltered under pressure. Her strength showed in controlled environments but broke when pushed unexpectedly. Not weak. But cracked. And cracks could be widened. The conclusion didn’t take long. It never did with wolves who thought like strategists instead of warriors. Don’t remove her. Move her. Attack Edgewater Falls. Not to destroy it. Not even to win. Just enough to pull her back. She would

97

97 Edgewater Falls did not look fortified. That was the point. From the outside, the pack moved as usual. Patrols crossed familiar routes. Border posts stayed manned but not doubled in any obvious way. The packhouse lights burned at their normal hours. The hospital ran its shifts. Warriors trained in the open yard like they had not been warned that something was coming. But beneath the surface, Adam had tightened everything. Quietly. Efficiently. Matthew’s scouts were positioned farther out than usual, hidden beyond the known patrol routes. Warriors slept in shifts with boots beside their beds. The western and eastern ridges had been marked with silent signals only Edgewater wolves would notice. The hospital had two extra trauma teams on standby, officially for “training readiness.” Adam had listened to Decker’s warning. He just hadn’t made a show of it. That was why, when the first breach came just after midnight, Edgewater Falls did not panic. It answered. The alarm hit through

98

98 Adam did not let the prisoner rest long. The wolf was dragged into Edgewater’s holding room still bleeding from the fight, his broken leg splinted only enough to keep him from passing out. Matthew stood behind him, arms crossed, eyes flat and furious. Adam sat across from him. Bandaged shoulder. Fresh stitches. Blood still staining the edge of his shirt. Alive. Angry. The prisoner tried not to look at him. That was smart. Adam leaned forward. “You came for me.” The prisoner said nothing. Matthew stepped closer. “Wrong time to be brave.” The wolf swallowed, eyes flicking toward the door. Adam noticed. “You’re not leaving this room until I know who sent you.” Still silence. Matthew grabbed the back of the chair and jerked it hard enough to make the prisoner gasp as pain shot through his injured leg. Adam’s voice stayed calm. “You weren’t sent to win. You were sent to wound me. Just enough to pull my sister home.” The prisoner’s face changed. Barely. But enough. Matthew saw

99

99 Tomas found Ellis because Ellis was arrogant enough to keep doing the thing that made him useful. He picked up messages himself.Not every time. Not carelessly. But often enough. Often enough to prove he didn’t fully trust runners. Often enough to make him believe that if he controlled the final handoff, he controlled the risk. That was his mistake. And Decker was done waiting for mistakes to become opportunities. The plan was set before dawn. Tomas stayed hidden near the old trading post between Morgan’s territory, Silver Claw’s routes, and the outer edges of Dark Mountain influence. It had once been a neutral stop for merchants, healers, and border traders. Now it was something else. A mouth. Messages went in. Secrets came out. Decker stood in the strategy room while Tomas’s report came through the pack link. “He’ll come himself.” Tony’s brows lifted as Decker relayed it aloud. “Ellis?” Decker nodded. “Tomas is certain.” Jared folded his arms. “Why?” “Because the message c

100

100 The letters reached both Alphas before sunset. Not through servants. Not through council hands. Not through convenient channels where messages could be delayed, copied, or quietly buried. Directly. That was Decker’s order. And that was how the first crack became public enough that no one could pretend not to hear it. Alpha Morgan received his letter in his private study. He had been standing near the window when the runner arrived, watching the last of the evening light fall across his territory. Megan sat nearby, silent for once, her expression sharper than usual as she watched her father break the seal. Morgan read the first line. Then went still. Megan noticed immediately. “What is it?” Morgan did not answer. He read the letter once. Then again. Only then did he lower it. “Ellis.” Megan’s eyes narrowed. “What about him?” Morgan’s face gave away very little.But his silence did. Megan stood slowly. “Father.” Morgan handed her the letter. She read quickly, her expression sh

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