CHAPTER 95

CHAPTER 95

Zeena’s POV

I didn’t know if saying we needed to dispose of Elliot’s body had been the most logical thing to say. It had sounded decisive at the time, which was probably why Andre and Laura hadn’t questioned it. But the more I thought about it, the more it felt like every option carried its own kind of problem.

Burning him on pack lands didn’t make much sense. Fire drew attention, and the scent would linger long after the flames died. If the council came sniffing around, it would be the first thing they’d notice.

Burying him here wasn’t any better, that felt like inviting trouble straight into Stormfang and asking it to stay –and leaving him lying there…well we weren't that dumb.

Andre leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table as he stared at the floor for a moment.

“The borderlands make the most sense,” he said eventually. “Outside the territory.”

Laura and I nodded at almost the same time. That was already where both our thoughts had gone.

But that didn’t solve the real problem.

Scent.

The moment we moved the body, the trail would start. Wolves didn’t just follow trails either–they read them. Every step, every turn, every pause said something.

And if the trail led back here…

Well.

I didn’t even want to think about that.

We sat in Ryder s office for a while, going over the same problem again and again as the sky outside slowly darkened toward night. Andre said dawn would be the best time to move–cooler air, fewer patrols, less chance of anyone noticing anything unusual.

But that still left us with the same question.

How do we move him without leaving ourselves behind?

Laura shifted in her chair, breaking the silence.

“What about the new pack members?” she said. “We could use them.”

Andre looked up.

“They don’t smell like us yet,” Laura continued. “Most of them came from packs far away. If someone tracks the scent, it won’t lead back here.”

I thought about it for a second. Then the word slipped out before I could soften it.

“No.”

Laura raised an eyebrow.

“No?"

“They’re new,” I said quickly, already cringing at how sharp I sounded. “Which means if the council starts asking questions, they’ll be the first ones they look at.”

Laura frowned slightly.

“If anything goes wrong,” I continued, “it won’t be the wolves who’ve lived here for years getting questioned. It’ll be them.”

Andre nodded slowly.

“And if they crack,” he added quietly, “the council learns we were willing to sacrifice our own to protect ourselves.”

Laura leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

“Fair.”

Silence settled over the room again, everyone drifted back into their own thoughts, turning the problem over and over.

Andre cleared his throat after a moment.

“We mask the scent instead.”

I frowned slightly, trying to picture how that would even work. Masking the scents?

Then something shifted in my mind. I snapped my fingers suddenly.

“Or… we don’t.”

Both of them looked at me.

“We don’t mask it,” I said. “We change the narrative.”

Laura tilted her head.

“Whose?”

“Elliot’s.”

Andre’s jaw shifted as he thought about it.

“What do you mean?”

I opened my mouth, then stopped. How do I put this…?

“We’d shift–”

I paused, frowning as the words came out wrong.

“No… that’s not what I mean.”

I dragged a hand through my hair, trying to organize the idea forming in my head.

“We make him smell like himself instead,” I said finally. “If that makes sense.”

Laura sat forward slightly.

“But that won’t erase us.”

“It doesn’t need to,” I said, glancing between both of them. “If he’s found and all they smell is Stormfang, the council comes straight back here. No questions.”

Andre nodded slowly.

“But if the trail leads away…”

“Or nowhere,” I cut in, feeling a strange flicker of excitement as the idea started taking shape. “Or everywhere. Just him.”

Laura tilted her head.

“Like he ran.”

Andre nodded slowly.

“Injured,” he said.

“Panicked,” I added.

“The council won’t ask who hid the body,” I continued. “They’ll ask why Elliot ended up alone.”

No one spoke for a few seconds as the idea hung in the air between us.

Laura was the first to speak again.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “How do we actually do that?”

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temple as I thought.

“Maybe a body of water?” I said after a moment. “There’s one that leads toward the western ridge, right?”

Andre rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

“That would be too obvious Zeena,” he said. “Nothing would realistically take him that way.”

He shook his head slightly. Something could, we never can tell– was what I wanted to retort before Andre beat me to it again.

“I like the idea though. We just need something believable.”

I slumped back in my chair, dragging a hand through my hair again.

Gods.

This might sound selfish, but I really wished I wasn’t the one carrying the weight of this right now.

Ryder should have been here instead. He would’ve known exactly what to do without sitting here second-guessing every possible move.

Laura suddenly straightened in her seat.

“The stream,” she said.

Andre and I both looked at her.

“The one that runs toward the human town,” she continued. “We could say he was chasing something. Or someone.”

Andre nodded slowly.

“Yeah… that could work.”

He leaned forward again, the plan clearly forming in his mind now.

“It’s close to Stormfang, but not a direct line back here,” he said. “Not a home run.”

Laura nodded.

“And we use the water route both ways.”

I looked between them.

“Will that work?”

Andre shrugged slightly.

“Well,” he said, “we won’t know unless we try.”

He clapped his hands together and pushed himself to his feet.

“We do this ourselves,” he said. “No extra wolves.”

Laura stood as well.

Andre looked at both of us.

“Be ready before the first cock crow tomorrow.”

Laura and Andre left the room together after that, already discussing routes and timing under their breath.

I stayed behind for a moment as the room now felt too quiet. My eyes drifted to the empty chair at the head of the table.

Ryder’s chair.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to look away.

Tomorrow we’d move a dead council wolf through the dark and hope the story we created held long enough to fool the council.

And somehow, I was the one responsible for making sure it worked.

Gods help us all.