Chapter 160 – Lines of Loyalty
Mara
Alpha Vaughn of Hollowrock requests a private word the morning after the feast. Making it clear that he wishes to speak to me alone.
No fanfare. No guards posted in front of the door. Just a note delivered by one of his wolves, the handwriting neat enough to make me raise a brow. Hollowrock has always had a streak of civility about them, which is a rarity among Alphas.
I go because someone has to listen without snarling. Someone has to weigh words instead of splitting them in half with teeth. And I’m that someone, whether I like it or not.
The meeting place he chose is a hunting lodge on the edge of our borders, empty except for Vaughn and the fire he’s already built.
He’s a broad man, hair silvering at the temples, with the kind of steady gaze that doesn’t flinch when wolves bare their throats or their claws.
He stands when I walk in. A show of respect he doesn’t need to give me. We’re both Alphas in rank, but he’s the Alpha of his pack, which means he’s at the top of the hierarchy. And we’ve known each other all our lives.
“Mara Vale.” He inclines his head. “Thank you for coming.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I say dryly, shrugging out of my cloak. “Let’s hear what you dragged me out here to whisper about before you start making this sound like a favor.”
That earns me a twitch of his mouth, not quite a smile. Vaughn isn’t a man who smiles easily. He has a surprisingly level temperament for an Alpha.
“I’ll be blunt,” he says. “Most of the surrounding packs are leaning toward Silvercrest. Some have already pledged warriors. Others are keeping their oaths deliberately vague, waiting to see which way the wind shifts.”
I sit, stretching my legs out toward the fire. “So you called me here to tell me you’re a coward like the rest?”
“No,” Vaughn says, steady as stone. “I came to tell you Hollowrock won’t bend. Not to Alaric. Not to Silvercrest. My pack remains loyal to Blackthorn. But you need to prepare for the idea that we may be the only pack that does.”
That pricks something warm in my chest, though I don’t let it show. Loyalty these days is rarer than honesty.
“Then why not tell Ronan yourself?” I ask. “You’re not defecting. Or are you afraid he’ll take out his temper on the messenger and you think I’m gentler?”
“I think you’re practical,” Vaughn replies. “Your brother… he has many strengths, but diplomacy isn’t one of them. Especially where his Omega is concerned.”
I snort. “Tactfully put. You mean he loses his shit when someone dares to insult Eli and this goes way beyond that?”
His silence is answer enough.
I lean back in the chair, studying him. Vaughn is careful, cautious in a way that makes sense for a man responsible for more than his own pride. He measures words the way Ronan measures threats. But I’m not patient enough to sit through hemming and hawing.
“Let me save you the trouble of circling the issue,” I say. “You came here to imply that Eli is a liability. That Silvercrest will use him as leverage. That my brother is a fool for tying his future, his pack, his power to one Omega. And you don’t want to say that to his face because you’re not suicidal.”
Vaughn exhales through his nose. “Something like that.”
“Well,” I say, folding my arms, “You’re half right.”
His brows lift slightly.
“My brother is a lovesick fool for Eli,” I continue, voice sharp. “But if you think that’s foolishness, you’re wrong. You imagine his love blinds him. That it weakens him. What you don’t understand is that Eli is his true mate. Not chosen, fated. Eli isn’t a weakness, Vaughn. He’s frequently a pain in the ass, but he makes Ronan stronger.”
The Alpha doesn’t interrupt. That’s one thing I appreciate about him, he listens, even when the words aren’t what he wants to hear.
“Silvercrest thinks they can take whatever they want,” I say, heat creeping into my tone. “Territory. Wolves. Power. They’ve spent years treating other packs like property, like toys to pass around until they break. And when they do they simply buy new ones. Eli isn’t theirs. He’s Ronan’s mate. And Ronan is his. They belong to each other without any doubt. There’s no space between where one begins and the other ends.”
The words come out sharper than I expect, edged with something protective I didn’t realize I was carrying. Maybe because I’ve watched it happen up close. Watched Eli claw his way into my brother’s life and watched Ronan, gods help him, let himself be changed. For the better.
I shake my head, snorting. “So yes, Ronan is a lovesick fool. But he’s right to be. Eli is the only thing Silvercrest can’t break or buy. And that means Silvercrest will never break him either.”
Vaughn studies me for a long moment. The fire pops between us, loud in the quiet. Finally, he says, “I won’t disagree. I trust your observations and you’ve spent more time with them than I have.”
“Good,” I say briskly, standing. “Because I don’t have the patience to argue. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but that boy saved my life. He blindly rushed in on his own when traitors had me cornered. He may be an Omega, but has the guts of ten Alphas.” No need to add he has the attitude of several more.
I pull my cloak back around my shoulders. Vaughn rises too, offering me a nod that feels heavier than words. “Tell your brother Hollowrock stands with him. Whatever comes.”
I pause at the door, looking back. “I’ll tell him. But between you and me, don’t underestimate him. Or Eli. If Silvercrest thinks they can pry them apart, they’re going to learn just how wrong they are.”
The cold air outside hits me like a slap, sharper than the fire’s warmth had been. My boots crunch against frost as I walk back toward Blackthorn’s borders, cloak snapping in the wind.
The conversation replays itself in my head, but I don’t linger on Vaughn’s worry. I linger on my own. On the truth I hadn’t voiced, even to him.
War is inevitable. Father always said as much, and for once, he wasn’t just being full of shit. The only question left is how many we’ll lose before it’s done.
I think of Ronan, of the way his entire body shifts when Eli so much as breathes wrong. I think of Eli, brash and reckless, walking into every fire as if he can’t be burned. Together, they’re a storm no one can contain. But will that be enough?
Hollowrock may stand with us. Others won’t. The balance is already tipping, and Silvercrest is waiting to push.
I breathe out hard, a cloud of frost curling around me. The vow I made to myself years ago resurfaces. Protect Ronan at any cost, even when I don’t like him. Eli complicates that vow in ways I can’t untangle. Protecting one means protecting the other.
Eli is pack now. The Alpha’s consort, and for all intents and purposes my brother-in-law. I love the little bastard just for being him, outside any of that. So I broaden the scope of my vow.
Trouble is already coming for us, all we can do is face it head-on. The way we always have.