Chapter 159 Wolfsbane Test

Chapter 159 Neon Moon
Gabriel POV

The Seattle skyline stretched before us, a jagged silhouette of glass and steel against the darkening sky. I drove in silence, my thoughts circling back to yesterday's events at the medical center.

Callum and Eliza finding each other as mates had been unexpected. He'd stayed by her bedside all night, not once mentioning Dominic's alliance proposal again. That, at least, was a blessing.

But we still had other problems to contend with. Refusing Dominic's alliance didn't eliminate the threat he'd warned about: the Council's hunt for Lyra. We would have to face that danger on our own, and to do that effectively, we needed to better understand what we were dealing with.

My thoughts drifted to what Orion had mentioned about his contact. Time was running short. The Council could summon Lyra for another interrogation at any moment. I didn't know if Kade had truly allied with Malcolm, or how much Kade actually knew about the white wolf. What we needed was someone with deep knowledge of white wolves.

My grip tightened on the steering wheel as I considered our precarious position. The weight of responsibility pressed down on me. Not just for my pack, but specifically for Lyra. Every decision I made could either protect or endanger her.

I glanced briefly at her profile, illuminated by passing streetlights. This is a threat I'd never faced before. If Malcolm successfully declared Lyra to be guilty and hut her down, we'd be facing not just a pack or two, but potentially dozens of packs obligated to carry out the Council's will. I had to convince the Council to place their trust in me first. I needed to be three steps ahead, to anticipate moves in a game where the rules kept changing. My father had once told me that an Alpha's true test wasn't his strength in battle, but his ability to protect his pack when direct confrontation wasn't an option. Those words had never felt more relevant than now.

When I'd returned to the pack after the Council meeting yesterday, my final conversation with Orion had been about contacting his mysterious source. By evening, his message arrived: the contact had agreed to meet us at a bar in Seattle. I'd shared this with Lyra, who despite still recovering, had insisted on meeting them as soon as possible. I couldn't disagree. We needed answers.

"I don't want you shifting," I'd told her before we left this morning. "We can't reveal your white wolf identity, not until we know we can trust this contact."

Lyra had given me a withering look. "We're meeting in the city, not the forest. Do you think I'm that stupid, Alpha?"

I'd smiled ruefully. She was right, of course.

My mind wandered to Ethan's revelations about Lyra's father. His obsession with possessing the white wolf's power, his willingness to kill Lyra's mother to control it. I found myself wondering: was the white wolf's power truly so formidable, so important?

Professor Hawthorne had also emphasized the importance of protecting the white wolf. All signs pointed to Lyra's extraordinary significance. Whatever her true value, I was determined that neither the Council nor Kade would ever get their hands on her.

The traffic thinned as we left the highway, bringing me back to the present. City environments presented both advantages and challenges for werewolves. We could blend into crowds, but we were also subject to more surveillance and potential threats.

As the urban landscape unfolded around us, towering buildings reaching toward the night sky, my unease grew. "It's too noisy here," I muttered, "too many humans, too many variables."

Lyra's scent shifted slightly, anxiety mixing with determination. She remained silent, her gaze fixed on the passing city lights.

I pulled into a parking garage several blocks from our destination. "We'll walk from here," I said, cutting the engine. "I don't want the car to be tracked."

Seattle's night streets pulsed with energy: drunken humans, homeless individuals, and nightlife enthusiasts creating a chaotic tapestry of movement and sound. I felt the city watching us from every angle.

"Cameras, windows, even phones," I observed, scanning our surroundings. The city has its own surveillance system.

Every step heightened my alertness, my inner wolf growling warnings about this unfamiliar territory. I kept Lyra close, my hand firmly around her waist in a posture that might look romantic to passersby but was purely protective.

"Stay by my side at all times," I commanded. "Don't leave my line of sight for a second."

After navigating several busy main streets, we turned into a dimly lit alley. At its end stood an unassuming doorway beneath a flickering blue-white neon sign reading "White Moon." The sign featured a wolf's silhouette with eyes emphasized in bright white neon.

No line of people waited outside, no bouncer checked IDs. Just a single burly security guard standing motionless by the door.

"Interesting name choice," Lyra murmured.

I nodded. "Too coincidental." White Moon. The name of the original wolf tribe that Ethan had mentioned. This couldn't be mere chance.

The place seemed hidden in plain sight, tucked away from the city's chaos yet still part of it. "It exists in the noise, just as we exist in human society," I observed.

As we approached the entrance, Lyra asked, "Do we just go in? Or is there some password?"

The security guard suddenly turned toward us, his eyes gleaming unnaturally in the darkness.

Before I could respond, a female voice emerged from the shadows near the door: "No, I'll escort you in personally."

A slender figure stepped forward, her face obscured by a hood. "I've been expecting you," she said.

My instincts flared, and I immediately pulled Lyra behind me. The woman laughed softly.

"Relax, Alphas. If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have chosen a location crawling with humans in the middle of Seattle."