Chapter 171 CHAPTER 171
Chapter 171 CHAPTER 171
Silas’s POV
“Luna Alexa is in Eclipse,” Kael said.
I felt both apprehension and relief. Relief came first. At least Alexa had been found. But it was quickly overshadowed by the uneasiness tightening in my chest. If she was in Eclipse, then there was a reason, and whatever that reason was, I doubted it was good.
“Is she fine?” I asked. “Have you been able to speak with her?”
“Yes,” he replied. “We only met briefly during dinner a few minutes ago. But, Alpha Silas…” His voice lowered, and I could hear the hesitation in it. “There seems to be something odd about Luna Alexa.”
I frowned.
“Odd?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”
“Uhp…” He hesitated again. “She seems not to have recognized us.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“I wasn't sure if she was pretending not to know us or if she genuinely didn't recognize us,” he explained. “But from the way she behaved, it seemed more like she really didn't recognize us.”
The news was upsetting, to say the least. Yet, strangely, it also made a little sense.
The last time Alexa and I had spoken, she had told me she was preparing to meet her wolf. Since then, I had not been able to reach her. Every attempt to contact her had failed, leaving me with nothing but unanswered questions.
A cold fright settled over me. It was possible that something had gone wrong during the process. And if that was true, I was beginning to regret encouraging her to meet her wolf in the first place.
“What about her behavior?” I asked. “Did she seem normal otherwise?”
“She seemed calm,” Kael said. “But there was something distant about her. Almost like she was looking at strangers.”
A muscle twitched in my cheek.
“I want you to observe her closely,” I said, pressing my phone tightly against my ear. “Don't let her know you're watching her. Find out what has happened to her and let me know as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Alpha Silas,” he replied immediately.
“And Matthias?” I asked. “Where is he?”
“I haven't seen Matthias since we had dinner,” he replied. “We both retired to our separate rooms after dinner.”
I nodded slowly, and my mind remained fixed on everything he had told me.
“Make sure you keep a close watch on my brother. You know how Matthias can quickly be up to no good.”
“Yes, Alpha Silas.”
“And I need you to update me on Alexa tomorrow. Find out everything you can. Talk to her and let me know if there is really a problem or not.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
The call ended after that.
I lowered the phone and sat back in my chair, staring at the dark screen for several seconds. My thoughts kept circling around Kael's words.
Alexa hadn't recognized them. I desperately hoped he was wrong. Perhaps she had recognized them but was only pretending not to, knowing that acknowledging them could blow their cover. That explanation made far more sense than the alternative.
Still, the uneasy feeling in my chest refused to disappear.
About an hour later, I received Horace Chandler and Beta Volmer in my study.
The two men entered quietly, and I watched them take their places across from my desk. Chandler's opinion about the whole matter seemed to have changed drastically since he had witnessed the exchange between Alpha Marcus and me.
I was glad he had been there to see it with his own eyes.
Now, if the matter was brought before the council, it would not be difficult for him to convince them that Eclipse Pack was not the problem and that my stance earlier had been right. He had witnessed Marcus's hostility himself. No one could accuse him of relying solely on my account.
“What do we do now?” Horace asked.
He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly in front of him.
“If what Alpha Marcus had said that day was what he really planned on doing, then we need to take the necessary action.”
Beta Volmer nodded.
“I agree with you, Horace. We need to act before he strikes.”
I watched the two men carefully before answering.
“The plan is to return the weapons we got from their pack. That way, we know we do not owe them anything. And if Alpha Marcus attacks us, then we have good reason to attack them back.”
Silence followed.
Neither man looked convinced.
Horace was the first to speak. He shook his head firmly.
“If we return the weapons, then we'll be left with almost nothing to defend ourselves. We need to have them with us, either as defense or offense. We cannot return them, Alpha Silas.”
I pondered Horace's arguments, and I could see the sense in them. Returning the weapons to Marcus would be like handing Twilight back over to him. We needed to have something on our side to ensure that we could stand against them if he eventually carried out his threats.
The meeting eventually came to an end. Beta Volmer left, but I asked Horace to wait behind.
He lingered by the door before turning back toward me.
“I want to apologize for not trusting you during the last council meeting,” he said.
“It's nothing,” I replied, walking over to the cabinet and pouring him a cup of wine. “I'm glad you were able to witness it firsthand. I wouldn't have believed it if I had been told either.”
He accepted the glass and took a slow sip, his expression thoughtful.
“This potentially changes everything,” he said.
“Yes,” I replied, setting my own glass down. “And it's up to you to convince the council that this fight is not between Eclipse and Twilight.”
He nodded, but his expression remained troubled. He lowered the glass and placed it carefully on the table.
“What we need,” I continued, “is to have a reconciliation team go to Eclipse to see if we can work together and unravel over two decades of erroneous history.”
Horace considered the suggestion for a moment.
“A reconciliation team might be a good idea, Alpha Silas,” he said. “But I hope it is not what will trigger Eclipse to attack us.”
I studied him. Neither of us needed to say what we were both thinking.
If Marcus had truly been planning an attack, then a reconciliation team could either become the first step toward peace or walk directly into the middle of a brewing conflict.
“Neither do I,” I finally said.
Horace gave a solemn nod before leaving the study.
Once the door closed behind him, silence settled over the room.
I remained there for a few more hours, alone with my thoughts. I thought about Eclipse and I thought about Twilight. And most of all, I thought about the fragile line separating the two packs.
More than two decades of resentment could not simply be erased with a conversation. Too many stories had been passed down, too many grievances repeated until no one remembered where the truth ended and the lies began.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed a hand over my face. Whatever happened next, I had to be careful. One wrong move could turn suspicion into hostility, hostility into violence, and violence into a war neither pack could easily stop.
By morning, I had made up my mind. I didn't wait for Kael's call. I called him first. The first attempt went unanswered. I tried again. Nothing. A third call. Then a fourth.
Each unanswered attempt deepened the knot forming in my stomach. Kael was supposed to update me about Alexa, and more importantly, he was supposed to keep an eye on Matthias. His silence was beginning to feel like an answer in itself.
Nearly two hours later, my phone finally rang.
I answered immediately.
“Kael?”
“We have a problem, Alpha Silas,” he announced.
The urgency in his voice made me sit upright.
“What happened?”
“I found Matthias outside the inn, badly wounded and lying half-dead.”
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“He's alive, but barely. I don't know who did this to him.” His breathing was uneven, as though he had been running. “And, Alpha Silas, our cover has been blown.”
A cold sensation traveled down my spine.
“They know,” he continued, his voice dropping, “that we are from Twilight.”
I rose from my chair so quickly that it scraped against the floor.
“They know you're from Twilight?” I repeated.
“Yes, Alpha Silas.”
I stared toward the window.
The plan had been simple. Observe Alexa. Keep Matthias out of trouble. Learn what was happening inside Eclipse without drawing attention to themselves. Now Matthias was lying wounded outside an inn, and their identities had been exposed.
Everything had changed overnight.
“Is Matthias conscious?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
“Then get him somewhere safe. Don't leave him alone, and don't confront anyone until I know exactly what happened.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I ended the call, but I remained standing.
My wolf surged awake beneath my skin, reacting to the danger before my mind had fully caught up with the words.
The reconciliation team I had been considering only hours earlier suddenly felt like a distant thought.
If Eclipse already knew Twilight was there, then the question was no longer whether we could quietly investigate what was happening.
The question was who had discovered us and why they had chosen to leave Matthias alive.