Chapter 56 It's getting weird
Watching Maya drive away with Adrian was the hardest thing Elara had ever done, harder than exile, harder than borderlands survival, harder than everything combined.
Adrian's face pressed against the window as the car disappeared down the driveway and Elara felt like something vital had been ripped from her chest.
"He'll be safe," Kai said quietly beside her.
"I know," Elara said. "But knowing doesn't make it easier."
They went back inside where the estate felt too empty without Adrian's laughter and constant questions.
"What now?" Elara asked.
"Now we focus on the regional council meeting," Kai said. "Four days to prepare your bloodline presentation."
"I can't think about land claims right now," Elara said.
"Then don't think about land," Kai said. "Think about securing Adrian's future, that's what this is really about."
He was right and Elara forced herself to focus on documents and legal precedents while her heart ached for her son.
That afternoon Reese appeared with updates on the security situation.
"I've identified seventeen of the forty people on Darius's assassination list," she said. "Twelve have withdrawn their bids after receiving counter-offers, five are still active."
"Who are the active five?" Kai asked.
Reese displayed photos on her tablet—three men and two women, all looking capable of extreme violence.
"These are professionals," she said. "Not motivated by money alone, they have grudges against either you or Silvercrest pack."
"What kind of grudges?" Elara asked.
"Family members exiled or killed during Darius's reign," Reese said. "They see you as extension of Silvercrest authority and want revenge."
"So killing me becomes personal for them," Elara said.
"Exactly," Reese confirmed. "Which makes them more dangerous than mercenaries because they won't back down for money."
"Can you eliminate them?" Kai asked.
"Eliminate as in kill?" Reese asked. "That's not my specialty."
"Eliminate as in neutralize the threat," Kai clarified.
"I can try," Reese said. "But these five are good at staying hidden, it'll take time to locate them."
"We have four days," Kai said.
"Then I'll work fast," Reese said and left.
Elara spent the evening reviewing bloodline documents with the pack lawyer who seemed increasingly confident about her case.
"The evidence is overwhelming," he said. "You have clear lineage back six generations, you have property deeds from when Whitmores controlled those territories, and you have testimony from pack elders who remember the original holdings."
"What's Derek's counter-argument?" Elara asked.
"That Whitmore family abandoned the territories when they couldn't maintain them," the lawyer said. "Which technically allows other packs to claim under abandonment laws."
"My grandparents died," Elara said. "That's not abandonment."
"Legally there's a distinction," the lawyer said. "If heirs don't claim property within certain timeframes, it can be ruled abandoned."
"How long is that timeframe?" Elara asked.
"Ten years," the lawyer said. "Your grandparents died thirty years ago."
"So technically the territories have been abandoned for twenty years past the legal limit," Elara said.
"Which is why Derek thinks he has a case," the lawyer confirmed. "But there's a loophole—if you can prove you were prevented from claiming through no fault of your own, the timeframe resets."
"I was exiled," Elara said. "That prevented me."
"And exile was based on false charges," the lawyer said. "Which means you have legitimate claim to reset the timeframe."
"So it comes down to whether the regional council accepts that my exile was unjust," Elara said.
"Essentially yes," the lawyer agreed.
"What are our chances?" Elara asked.
"Seventy percent in your favor," the lawyer said. "But council decisions are influenced by politics as much as law."
"Meaning?" Elara asked.
"Meaning if enough council members have connections to Derek or Darius, they might rule against you regardless of legal merit," the lawyer said.
"That's corrupt," Elara said.
"That's pack politics," the lawyer corrected. "Why do you think Darius maintained power for thirty years? He had leverage on everyone who mattered."