THE COUNCILMAN'S SECRET
Sebastian’s POV
The sun was already low when I stepped out.
I took the back stairs from the estate, dressed in plain clothes—dark hoodie, old boots. No jacket with a crest. No guards.
Just me.
Like he asked.
I didn’t tell Evelyn I was going.
She had trained all morning and was now in the library with Reyna, reading old war logs Rowan gave her. I didn’t want to lie to her. But I didn’t want her to worry either.
I walked through the woods until I reached the fence, then crossed the old field where the land dipped.
Varrick’s note had said tonight.
No time. No place.
But I knew him.
He only ever met people at one spot—the chapel ruins.
It was an old werewolf gathering site, left to rot when the cities grew and packs stopped needing sacred places. Now it was half collapsed, covered in moss and vines.
Most wolves avoided it.
But not Varrick.
He liked old things. Especially broken ones.
I reached the edge just as the sky turned purple.
The trees were quiet. Birds gone. Wind still.
I stepped over a stone slab and saw him sitting on a bench made of crumbling rock.
Varrick.
Long black coat. Silver streaks in his dark hair. Sharp cheekbones. Pale, clear eyes that always looked like they saw too much.
He didn’t look at me when I approached.
“Alpha,” he said calmly. “You came alone.”
“Like you asked.”
He nodded, eyes still forward.
I sat across from him.
“I don’t have time for games,” I said. “Why the message?”
He took something from his coat.
A small black drive.
“Layla came to me,” he said. “Three nights ago.”
I didn’t blink. “Where?”
“Here.”
My pulse picked up.
“She was angry,” Varrick went on. “But not scared. Not yet. She asked me for a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“She wanted access to the old transfer list,” he said. “The list of royal vault contents—back when the previous king moved artifacts from the southern palace to the capital. Including cursed items.”
My stomach turned cold.
“What would she want with that?”
Varrick finally looked at me.
“She said she needed power. That she was done playing small.”
My fingers clenched.
“She’s trying to use dark magic?”
He shrugged. “Or sell it. Or unleash it. I didn’t ask.”
“You should’ve.”
“I did say no.”
That made me pause.
Varrick might have been cold, but he wasn’t reckless.
“And then?” I asked.
“She laughed,” he said. “And said she’d find another way in.”
He looked up at the darkening sky.
“That girl isn’t just angry,” he said. “She’s made peace with losing. And people like that? They don’t fight clean.”
I stared at him. “Why tell me now?”
“Because I think someone else on the council did give her access.”
My body went still.
“Who?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But she had names. Records. I saw them in her hand.”
He tossed the black drive onto the stone between us.
“That’s everything I had on those vault logs. Copies. In case.”
I picked it up slowly.
“If you’re lying—”
“I’m not.”
“And if this turns out to be real,” I said, “I’ll expect you to speak at the next council meet.”
He chuckled once.
“If she doesn’t burn us all first.”
Evelyn’s POV
I didn’t sleep well.
Maybe it was the late coffee.
Maybe it was something else.
Sebastian wasn’t beside me when I woke.
His pillow was cold.
The bathroom door was open.
I checked my phone.
No text.
It wasn’t like him to vanish.
I sat up slowly and looked out the window. The morning sun was just starting to rise over the east wing.
I threw on a robe and padded barefoot into the hallway.
No sound.
No scent.
Where was he?
Rowan caught me in the kitchen half an hour later, pouring too much milk into my tea.
“Rough night?” she asked.
“Sebastian’s gone.”
She frowned. “Gone where?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked down at her watch. “Soren said the guards were quiet all night. No reports.”
“That’s the problem,” I said. “He didn’t tell anyone.”
She paused. “You think something’s wrong?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
He hadn’t even left a note.
And that didn’t feel like nothing.
Sebastian’s POV
I got back just after sunrise.
The guards didn’t stop me—I came through the lower tunnel, the one built under the old servant quarters. No one used it now except the maintenance team.
But I’d kept the key.
I entered the estate through the wine cellar and came out near the second stairwell.
I was almost to my room when I felt her.
Evelyn.
She was standing in the doorway of the hall, arms crossed, her face pale and tight.
“Where were you?” she asked.
I didn’t answer right away.
She stepped closer. “I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“You didn’t mean to?”
Her voice cracked, just a little.
I took her hand gently and led her into the room.
“I got a message,” I said. “From Varrick.”
Her brows pinched. “Why would he—”
“He wanted to meet. Alone. He didn’t trust anyone.”
She looked hurt. “Not even me?”
“I didn’t want you near it if it was a trap.”
I opened the desk drawer and pulled out the black drive.
“He gave me this. He says Layla came to him.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
“When?”
“Three nights ago.”
“And you believe him?”
“I believe she’s trying to get her hands on something dark. Maybe cursed.”
She sat down slowly.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because she doesn’t care anymore. She’s cornered. And she’s smart enough to know she needs something bigger now.”
Evelyn was quiet for a long moment.
Then she said, “We need to check what’s on that drive.”
I nodded.
But before I could move, my phone buzzed.
A message from Dante.
Short. Sharp.
“You need to see this. Come to the vault. Now.”
Ten Minutes Later – Estate Vault Room
I rushed down the steps into the lower chamber, where the royal vaults were kept behind thick steel doors.
Dante and Soren stood by the panel, grim-faced.
“What is it?” I asked.
Dante hit the switch.
The vault door opened halfway, letting out cold air.
And then I saw it.
One of the cursed item crates was open.
Empty.
I stepped closer.
“This crate was sealed three months ago,” Soren said. “Nothing’s been moved since the last security audit.”
“Until last night,” Dante added. “Footage confirms it.”
He played the clip.
It showed a shadow slipping through the corridor.
The camera fuzzed.
And when it cleared—the crate was open.
I stared at the empty space.
“Which item was inside?” I asked.
Dante answered quietly.
“The blood charm.”
I went still.
“No,” I said. “That thing was supposed to be destroyed.”
“It wasn’t,” Soren said. “The council voted to lock it away instead.”
I felt Evelyn step up behind me.
“What’s the blood charm?” she asked.
I looked at her.
And for the first time in a long time…
I was afraid.
“It’s not just cursed,” I said. “It binds. Anyone who uses it can force a blood debt. It breaks will. Breaks pack ties. It’s one of the only things that can rewrite a bond.”
Evelyn’s face drained of color.
“You think Layla took it?”
“I know she did.”
And the worst part?
We had no idea what—or who—she was planning to use it on.