Chapter 22 Maya Pov
"Father, what's happening?" Leo's voice carried clearly down the hallway. "Why are there armed guards surrounding our guests?"
"This doesn't concern you, Leo." Marcus didn't take his eyes off me. "Return to your quarters."
But Leo didn't move. He stood there in the hallway, looking between his father and the trapped guests, and I saw something shift in his expression. Decision, maybe. Or defiance.
"Let them go." Leo spoke quietly, but with unexpected firmness. "They're under Council protection. If you harm them or detain them, you'll answer to more than just Alpha Ryker."
Marcus's head snapped toward his son, genuine shock breaking through his controlled mask. "What did you say?"
"I said let them go." Leo moved forward, pushing through the gathered pack members until he stood beside me. "I'll vouch for them. Whatever they found, I'll testify it existed. I'll tell the Council everything I saw."
The gathered pack members murmured their agreement, a ripple of support spreading through the crowd. I could see the calculation in Marcus's eyes, the rapid weighing of options. He could order his guards to attack, could try to suppress the evidence by force. But not with this many witnesses, not with his own son openly defying him in front of half the pack.
"Very well." Marcus's voice was ice cold. "Take your evidence. Present it to the Council. But understand this, Alpha Ryker—there are consequences to interfering in matters you don't understand. Consequences that will affect more than just you."
The guards stepped aside, creating a narrow path through their ranks. I moved forward immediately, positioning myself between Maya and any potential threat. Kade and Owen fell in behind us, the folders still clutched safely in Kade's arms, as we made our way toward the hallway.
As we passed Leo, he met Maya's eyes briefly. Something unspoken passed between them, some recognition that made Maya's breath catch. But there was no time to explore it. We needed to get away from Marcus's guards, away from this confrontation before it escalated into something we couldn't control.
The walk back to the main section of the packhouse felt endless. Pack members watched us pass, their expressions ranging from curious to concerned to openly hostile. Word would spread quickly about what had happened, about the confrontation between Alphas, about the hidden documents and accusations of abuse.
When we finally reached the guest wing and closed the door of our assigned room behind us, I allowed myself to breathe. Maya collapsed onto the sofa, her hands shaking as she finally let go of the crumpled paper she'd been holding. Kade set the folders on the table with careful precision, while Owen immediately moved to check the windows and lock the door.
"Are you hurt?" I knelt in front of Maya, taking her hands in mine. They were ice cold, trembling with adrenaline and fear.
"No. Just shaken." She managed a weak smile. "Thank you for coming. For getting us out of there."
"You scared me." I pulled her close, breathing in her scent, reassuring myself that she was safe and whole. "When I felt the danger through our bond, when I heard the guards—"
"I know. I'm sorry." She pressed her face against my shoulder. "We were just looking around, trying to clear my head, and then we found the blood and the hidden compartment and—"
"Show me what you found."
Kade opened the first folder, spreading documents across the table. Medical records, dozens of them, each detailing injuries that made my blood run cold. Broken bones, internal bleeding, burns, trauma patterns consistent with repeated abuse. And every single record bore Marcus's signature as the authorizing pack Alpha.
"He documented everything." Owen's voice was tight with anger. "Every person he hurt, every injury he inflicted, all catalogued like some kind of research project."
I scanned through the records, my wolf growling with fury at each new revelation. Some of the victims I recognized—pack members who'd left Silverclaw years ago, people I'd assumed simply relocated for work or family reasons. Now I understood they'd been running, escaping Marcus's systematic cruelty.
"This is evidence of systematic abuse." I looked at Kade. "You photographed all of this?"
He held up his phone. "Every page. I also backed everything up to cloud storage before we left that room, just in case Marcus tries to confiscate the device."
"Good thinking." I turned to the crumpled paper Maya still held. "What's that?"
She smoothed it out on the table with shaking hands. A birth certificate, yellowed with age, listing parents I didn't recognize and a birthdate that matched Maya's. "He had this hidden with the medical records. Different parents than what I've always known. Scientists, according to Marcus."
I studied the certificate carefully. The names meant nothing to me, but the document looked legitimate—official seals, registration numbers, all the proper marks of authenticity. If this was real, it meant everything Maya knew about her origins was a lie.
"Marcus claims all the people in those medical files share genetic modifications like mine." Maya's voice was barely above a whisper. "That there are dozens of modified wolves, and they're all becoming dangerous. He says he was studying them, trying to find a way to suppress the modifications before people got killed."
"Do you believe him?"
"No." The word came out firm and certain. "I lived under his control for five years. Whatever he was doing, it wasn't protection. It was torture disguised as research."
I pulled her close again, letting her draw strength from my presence. "We have enough evidence to bring to the Council. Witness testimony from Leo, documentation of abuse, questions about your true origins—it's enough to start an investigation at minimum."
"Marcus won't let it get that far." Owen moved away from the window, his expression troubled. "He'll try to discredit the evidence, claim we stole and falsified documents. Without multiple witnesses willing to testify against him, it's our word against his."
"Leo said he'd vouch for us." Maya looked up at me. "Why would he do that? Why would he turn against his own father?"
"I don't know." I thought about the young man who'd stood beside me in that hallway, who'd openly defied his Alpha and father in front of half the pack. "But whatever his reasons, it took courage. Marcus won't forgive that betrayal easily."
A knock at the door made us all freeze. Owen moved toward it cautiously, his hand resting on the door handle. "Who is it?"
"Message from Alpha Marcus." A servant's voice, nervous and high-pitched. "He requests your presence at a pack dinner tonight. All visitors are required to attend. Eight o'clock in the main dining hall."
Owen looked at me, silently asking what I wanted to do. This was obviously a trap of some kind, another move in Marcus's game. But refusing would make us look weak, would give Marcus ammunition to claim we were afraid to face him.