Chapter 33 Was It You All Along?

Chapter 33 Was It You All Along?
Magnus’s POV
“Come to Rivenhall Dominion. Bring your equipment.”
I cut off the mind-link with someone, then leaned back into my chair behind the desk, settling into a relaxed position. One hand propped up my chin while the other rested silently against the cold, dark wood.
I didn’t look at Evra.
But I knew she was sitting there, reading.
I could feel it. Stable. Calm. Completely different from a few moments ago, when she had nearly lost control just because of one touch.
Now… it was as if nothing had happened.
And that was exactly what made her even more dangerous.
My eyes dropped to the file I had left open earlier.
Black Hollow Pack.
I pulled it closer.
These papers weren’t just random documents. This was a summary of their financial condition—the part they had allowed me to see.
Which meant… this wasn’t the full truth.
I opened the first page. Numbers greeted me immediately. Revenue declining. Food reserves thinning. Territorial distribution shifting drastically over the last six months.
I stopped at one section.
Sale of hunting grounds — 37% of eastern territory.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
That wasn’t a small decision.
That was the kind of decision made out of desperation.
And usually… decisions like that never stood alone.
I turned to the next page, which contained pawn contracts. Several assets had already been put up as collateral to other parties. Not all of them through Rivenhall.
Interesting.
That meant Kael had already tried to hold things together… even before coming to me.
And he had failed.
I closed the file slowly. My fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
And everything I was seeing now… was starting to form something much bigger than just a resource crisis.
This had already entered the stage of systemic collapse.
I lifted my gaze.
Evra was still sitting where she was, flipping through the pages of the book in her hands.
I watched her for a few seconds.
Then I finally spoke.
“Evra.”
She looked up right away. “What?”
“In your opinion…” My voice was flat, but enough to cut through the silence. “…what should I do with Black Hollow’s loan contract proposal?”
Evra looked at me for a few seconds.
She didn’t answer immediately.
Good.
Because that meant she wasn’t speaking carelessly.
“Actually…” she said at last, her voice quiet, “…there are two advantages you could take from this situation.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“Explain.”
Evra shifted a little in her seat. Not nervous. Not hesitant.
“First,” she said, “you could take over Black Hollow’s territory according to whatever loan contract agreement you make with them, if the future I saw earlier really happens.”
I didn’t interrupt.
She continued.
“If they fail to pay—and from what I saw… they will fail—that territory will legally fall into your hands.”
Reasonable.
“And the second?” I asked.
“Their territory is strategic,” she answered. “Their hunting routes are wide, even if they’ve narrowed now. But the location is still valuable. You could resell it to another pack… with the guarantee of Rivenhall’s protection and stability.”
Now I looked at her more closely.
Evra didn’t just see destruction.
She saw… opportunity after destruction.
“More than that,” she continued, “you could also buy back the land they already sold for a lower price. Because once Black Hollow collapses… no one will really have a stronger claim to that territory than you.”
I leaned back slightly.
Observing. Calculating.
She was right.
If everything unfolded the way she had seen it… then this wasn’t just a crisis.
It was… a highly profitable investment.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Then,” I asked quietly, “what are the disadvantages if I accept their contract?”
Evra didn’t answer right away.
For the first time since this conversation had started… she looked like she was genuinely weighing it.
“A lot,” she said at last.
I raised one brow.
“Be specific.”
Evra took a slow breath.
“First… you’ll be legally bound under supernatural law to a pack that’s already on the edge of collapse.”
She paused for a moment.
“If that collapse happens while the contract is still active… there’s a possibility of backlash within the agreement system.”
I understood exactly what she meant.
Blood contracts. Energy bonds.
If one side fell in an unnatural way… the impact could spread.
“Go on.”
“Second,” she said, “you would become the last party to officially interact with them before that collapse happens.”
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
“That could look like involvement.”
I didn’t move.
But my mind caught the direction immediately.
Accusations. Inter-pack politics.
And in a world like this… perception was often more dangerous than facts.
“And the third?” I asked.
Evra didn’t answer immediately.
But when she did… her tone dropped slightly lower.
“If there’s another party already planning that collapse…” she said quietly, “…you could end up stepping into their game… without realizing it.”
Silence.
That sentence hung in the air.
And for the first time since she started speaking… I felt something different.
Not just analysis.
But… a warning.
I looked at her for a few seconds longer, then shifted my gaze away. My fingers tapped against the desk again.
She saw possibilities.
I saw structure.
And if the two were combined…
I stopped thinking the moment a knock sounded at the door.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Lorian stepped inside with calm movements, carrying a gray case in one hand.
His gaze swept across the room immediately.
Me and Evra.
Then it returned to me.
“Alpha.”
I gave a single nod.
Lorian walked closer and placed the case on the long table at the side of the room. The lock opened with a soft click as he pressed the hidden mechanism on the side.
The lid lifted slowly.
Inside… it wasn’t just equipment.
It was a system.
A high-level data analysis setup. A specialized interface. An encrypted network that could only be accessed by Rivenhall’s inner circle.
A laptop… but not one made for ordinary humans.
Lorian began powering it on. A dim blue light spread across the screen.
“What data do you want accessed?” he asked without turning around.
I rose from my chair and walked over.
“Black Hollow.”
His hand paused for a moment above the panel. “Specific?”
“Everything.”
I was standing beside him now, my gaze lowering to the screen as the startup interface began to appear.
“I want their government structure. Their resource distribution system. Their trade routes. And every piece of financial data they didn’t report to me but you can still pull.”
Lorian nodded. “Including the hidden data?”
I kept my eyes on the screen. “Especially the hidden data.”
His hands moved faster now. Several windows opened. Code ran. Access points pushed into external networks.
“Also find every pawn contract,” I continued. “Territory sales. And transactions that were never officially recorded.”
“Understood.”
The room was filled once again with the soft sounds of the system working.
Click. Scroll. Process.
I stood still, waiting.
Evra said nothing.
She only watched.
And a few minutes later… Lorian stopped.
His hands were no longer moving. The screen in front of him was now filled with messy layers of data.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then finally spoke.
“Magnus…”
I didn’t answer.
“Black Hollow…” He paused for a moment, like he was choosing the right words. “…has far more problems than what’s visible on the surface.”
I looked at the screen, then at Evra, who was already looking back at me.
'You really are extraordinary, Evra. Everything you said about Black Hollow was frighteningly accurate.'