Chapter 19 The Law that is challenged
The tunnel had a strong odor of charred flesh and damp rock. As I emerged into the daylight, my legs nearly caught on to something beneath me.
Still, I pressed on. I knew that if I paused, I would end up collapsing. No one stopped me; it seemed they understood my need to walk out independently.
Vince stayed by my side, but he kept his distance. My mother trailed a few paces behind. Rafael was already speaking on his phone, he was switching languages and for some reason I could not hide this feeling that he was hiding something.
Once outside, the atmosphere in the compound became unsettled. The eastern walls had split open during the night, deep fissures running through the stone, something had clawed its way out from within. Strangers lingered at the edge of the property.
Wolves.
They stood unnaturally still, observing, but did not attack. They are waiting, unsure of their own identities.
One of Vince’s enforcers rushed toward us. His expression was strained, he hadn’t slept in days.
“Report,” Vince commanded.
“Fourteen packs sent messengers at dawn,” he replied. “They’re not coming for war.”
“Then what do they seek?”
“Confirmation.” His eyes briefly darted to me. “They want to know if the shift actually occurred. If she genuinely altered the structure.”
Vince remained silent for a moment.
I stepped in. “Yes,” I said. “Tell them it happened.”
The man hesitated, glancing at Vince, who nodded slightly.
The enforcer departed immediately.
Rafael ended his call and positioned himself in front of us. “There’s more at play,” he said.
Vince sighed. “There’s always more than one issue.”
“No,” Rafael insisted. “This one is already in motion.” He turned his phone towards us. “Three eastern packs broke formation less than an hour ago. They’re rejecting the change, deeming it illegal.”
I halted. “How many?”
“Four hundred, possibly more if others join in.”
My mother spoke softly behind me. “That was too quick.”
Rafael shook his head. “They were already prepared. This didn’t start this morning. Someone had them poised to react.”
The implication sank in.nSomeone had anticipated my actions before I did.
Vince’s jaw tightened as he turned to my mother. “You said your signal reached every pack.”
“It did,” she confirmed.
“Then whoever orchestrated that resistance received the same message as everyone else and still managed to respond in under an hour.”
I noticed a subtle shift in her expression.
“You knew,” I confronted her.
Her gaze held mine steadily. “I suspected.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No,” she acknowledged. “It isn’t.”
My hands formed fists without my realizing. The marks on my skin were calm but I still felt a presencen had always been there.
But I could still feel the consequences of their actions.
“Who?” I pressed.
Before she could respond, a deliberate voice interrupted the silence of the compound.
“Isabella Hart.”
Every part of me tensed.
Rafael froze. “That’s not possible.”
Vince had his weapon drawn.
I acted before anyone could stop me. Two guards positioned themselves at the gate.
I glanced at them once They stepped aside. I didn’t question why; I didn’t care but approached the gate and peered through the iron bars.
A man stood in the street outside. He wore a dark coat, his hands relaxed at his sides, a scar along his jaw that I had only heard described.
Marco Romano.
He was alive and unscathed, his skin was clean. He had never been buried.
He smiled when he spotted me. “You changed my law,” he said. “I’ve come to reclaim it.”
Rafael’s voice dropped behind me. “Don’t open that gate.”
“I wasn't planning to,” I replied.
Marco tilted his head slightly.
“You think metal and stone determine who’s allowed in?”
“I believe you’re still outside,” I responded.
That sparked a change in his expression and he became curious.
“Your mother told you I was dead,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
“She relayed the same to your father.” His gaze shifted past me. “Elena.”
My mother remained still.
Marco’s focus returned to me. “Ask her when she first found out I survived and ask her what she chose to do with that information.”
My throat tightened, and I avoided looking back.
“What do you want?” I inquired.
“To rectify what you’ve broken,” he answered simply. “That structure you created, it’s already fracturing. Three packs demonstrated that this morning.”
“They’ll be dealt with.”
“By whom?” His tone remained calm. “DeLuca? He no longer commands authority. You stripped it from him. Your Beta?” He turned his gaze toward Rafael. “You have no territories and allies.” His eyes locked onto mine. “You have no army.”
“I have the law.”
“Law only functions when someone upholds it,” he replied. “You’ve built something without a core. No crown, no power backing it.”
“That was deliberate.”
“I know.” He moved closer to the gate. “And it’s going to cost lives."
His words didn't sound like a threat; he sounded like he had already done it and that nsettled me more than anything else.
“There’s another way,” Marco proposed. “You don’t have to dismantle what you’ve created. You need to anchor it.”
“To you.”
“To someone who understands what power truly is,” he said. “Not just what it could be, but what it has always been.”
Vince stepped beside me. “She doesn’t need a king,” he stated.
Marco glanced at him. “Then she needs an army. Do you still have one?”
A long silence fell, even Vince hesitated to respond. Marco reached into his coat and withdrew a sealed envelope. He slid it through the gate, letting it drop in the dust at my feet.
“My father gave me that before I was born,” I said slowly.
Marco nodded once. “The original compact. Before any revisions.” He took a step back. “The version defining your true role in all of this.”
Then he turned and walked away, nothing here could restrain him. I picked up the envelope.
My name was inscribed on it and in my father’s handwriting.
Behind me, a shift in the atmosphere that caught my attention.
I turned to find my mother staring at the envelope as though she had already read its contents.
And in that moment, I understood that she had.