Chapter 121: Palace room

My father-in-law stares at the screen, his face carved from stone, but I see the storm in his eyes.

“I sent a team of six of my best trackers to Korran’s territory three weeks ago,” he says slowly.

"They were to gather evidence and return. None came back.”

The words land like stones in still water.

“You sent them without telling us?” Evander’s voice is dangerously calm, but I feel the alpha power rolling off him.

“I believed it was a single household,” my father-in-law replies, meeting his son’s gaze.

“I thought I could handle it quietly, cut the head off the snake before it poisoned the rest of the alliance. They never returned. Not one. I fear they are either dead… or wearing those same collars.”

I press a hand to my belly as one of the twins kicks hard, as if sensing my rising distress. The small movement grounds me.

“Show us everything, Kade ,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel.

Kade swipes across the tablet. New footage appears- rows of cages, wolves forced to fight each other for the entertainment of their captors, omegas being paraded and auctioned in hidden rooms while buyers from multiple territories bid in low voices. The final clip shows a branding ritual: a red-hot iron pressed into a wolf’s shoulder, burning away their original pack sigil and replacing it with a crude slave mark.

The emotional weight in the room becomes almost suffocating.

Naville turns away from the screen, breathing hard. “These are our people. Our blood. Some of them could be distant kin. And we’ve been sitting here playing politics while they suffer in the dark.

“They justify it,” Kade says bitterly.

“Call it ‘necessary control.’ Claim the omegas are too weak to survive without masters. Claim the warriors were traitors. But I saw the truth. They break them. Starve the wolf spirit until the human half forgets how to howl.

My father-in-law’s voice cracks for the first time. “My men… they had families. Mates waiting. Pups. I sent them to their deaths because I was too arrogant to wait for proper intelligence

He looks at me then, raw regret in his eyes. “I failed them, my Queen. And I may have failed you by acting alone.”

I reach across the table and take his hand. The gesture surprises him.

“You acted because you carry the weight of this pack on your shoulders, just as we all do now,” I say softly. “But we do not carry it alone anymore. That is what the coronation meant. That is what the goddess showed me.”

Evander squeezes my knee, then speaks. “Lirael, what can we do with what Made brought back?”

The Oracle pulls up new data streams. “The video evidence is damning. We can use it to rally the allied alphas who attended the coronation. But we must move carefully. If we strike too soon without knowing every player, we risk driving the network deeper underground — or sparking the very war the goddess warned us about.”

Naville paces, her warrior instincts clearly at war with her growing rage. “Every day we delay, another wolf loses their freedom. Another spirit is broken. I can feel it in my bones. My wolf is clawing at me to do something.”

Ronah nods, voice thick. “I’ve known some of those faces on the video. Not personally, but by reputation. Good wolves. Loyal. They deserve better than chains and shock prods.”

I look around the table at each of them — my brother, my sister-in-law, my mate, my father-in-law, the strategist who risked his life, and the keeper of secrets who now carries the weight of terrible knowledge.

“This is not just about slavery,” I say, my voice gaining strength even as emotion threatens to overwhelm me. “This is an attack on the very soul of what it means to be a wolf. The pack bond is sacred. The freedom to run under the moon is our birthright. They are stealing that. They are caging what should never be caged.”

Tears prick at my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. “I will not be the Queen who sits on a throne while our people suffer in darkness. I will not bring these twins into a world where wolves can be bought and sold like cattle.”

The room falls quiet again, but this time the silence pulses with shared resolve.

Made leans forward. “There is more, my Queen. Korran is not the head. He answers to someone higher — someone who has influence across three territories. I heard a name whispered only once: ‘The Silent Alpha.’”

My father-in-law’s head snaps up. “If my team was taken, they may still be alive. They are strong. If there is even a chance…”

“We will get them back,” Evander promises, his voice like tempered steel. “We will tear down every collar, burn every cage, and make those responsible answer in blood and moonlight.”

Naville stops pacing and places both hands on the table, looking directly at me. “Zephyra… you’re carrying the future of this pack. You should not be this close to the front line of what’s coming. But I also know you. You won’t sit back. So tell us — how do we do this without losing you or the pups?”

I meet her gaze, then look at each of them in turn.

“We do it together,” I answer. “As a pack. As family. We use the evidence Made risked his life to bring us. We strengthen the alliances forged at my coronation. We prepare the warriors. And when the time comes, we strike as one — not with blind rage, but with the precision of wolves who know the value of every life we are fighting to free.”

Lirael nods slowly. “I can begin cross-referencing the footage with missing persons reports. We’ll build an irrefutable case.”

Ronah adds, “I’ll increase patrols and begin discreet training exercises. The younger warriors need to understand what they may soon be fighting for.”

My father-in-law straightens, the weight of his earlier failure still visible but now tempered with renewed purpose. “I will personally lead the next reconnaissance — but only with full council approval. No more lone actions.”

Evander turns to me, his golden eyes filled with a mixture of pride, worry, and deep, unwavering love. His hand slides from my knee to rest gently over the swell of our twins.

“And I will keep my Queen and our pups safe,” he says quietly, “while ensuring the pack understands that our strength does not lie only in fangs and claws, but in the bonds we refuse to let anyone break.”

I cover his hand with mine, feeling the steady kick of one of the babies beneath my palm.

Outside, the wind picks up, rustling through the pines. In the distance, a lone wolf howls — long, mournful, and full of longing. It is answered by others, until the night fills with a chorus that seems to echo the pain and determination in this room.

The war room’s screens continue to glow, red markers blinking like accusations. The tablet still displays the frozen image of chained wolves, their eyes begging for salvation.

We are no longer just preparing for war.

We are answering a call older than any of us — the call to protect the sacred freedom of the wolf.

And I, crowned Queen under the moon, will not fail them.

"Her majesty" I turn at Kade voice

"Yes"

"Your room in the palace has been prepared as said" my body gets doused largely by cold water.

So soon?

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