Chapter 57 When Wolves Choose Sides
Chapter 57 When Wolves Choose Sides
ELARA POV
I was so close, close enough to smell him and close enough to hear the lie in his breathing.
The corridor behind the council wing was dark and narrow, lit only by a single torch that flickered as if it, too, sensed the danger curling through the keep. I’d followed the sound of hurried footsteps which was too careful to be casual, and too quiet to belong to anyone innocent. A shadow moved ahead of me.
I slowed my steps, letting my heartbeat steady, letting the mark beneath my skin guide me. It pulsed faintly, not burning warning. Whoever this was, they knew the keep and they turned sharply into the archive passage. So I followed.
The scent hit me then, ink, parchment and fear.
“Stop,” I said softly. The figure froze just for a second, that was all I needed to confirm it. A member of the Southern Pack. One of ours.
“You don’t have to run,” I continued, stepping closer. “I already know what you’ve been doing.”
The torchlight flickered and for a heartbeat, his face was half-lit. A council aide, someone who sat behind Caius during deliberations and someone who poured wine, carried messages, listened.
A spy hiding in plain sight. His eyes widened.
“You don’t understand” The mark flared violently, the corridor shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling as power surged through me, instinctive and furious. I reached out not to hurt him, but to hold him.The air warped and then I felt pain.
A sharp crack against my skull. I staggered, vision blurring, and when I refocused, he was long gone.
A hidden door slammed shut at the far end of the passage, magic sealing it as footsteps vanished into the depths of the keep.
I pressed a hand to my head, breathing hard. I had almost had him, almost exposed the rot poisoning the South from within. Footsteps thundered behind me. “Elara!”
Kaelan’s voice strong and terrified. He caught me before I could sway again, hands firm on my arms, eyes blazing with concern and barely restrained fury. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I lied, my pulse still racing. “But he escaped.” His jaw tightened. “Who?”
“A council aide,” I said. “Someone who is close. He’s been feeding the North everything.”
Kaelan closed his eyes briefly, like the truth was a weight he’d been carrying already. “They’ve arrived,” he said and my blood chilled.
The horns sounded minutes later deep, resonant and ancient. Northern horns. They echoed across the valley like a declaration carved into bone.
From the keep’s highest balcony, I watched them arrive. The Northern Pack did not come quietly. They came in glory.
Silver armor gleamed beneath the sun, etched with runes of authority and conquest. Banners snapped in the wind white and steel, emblazoned with sigils of power older than most packs dared remember.
At their center rode three Alphas, wolves carved from command and arrogance, flanked by Council Elders cloaked in ceremonial black.
And behind them were enforcers who were not just marching but also waiting. My stomach twisted. “They want us to kneel before they even speak,” Liora whispered beside me.
Darius stood rigid, jaw clenched. “They’re daring us to blink.”
Kaelan stepped forward, positioning himself subtly in front of me. “I won’t,” he said quietly.
The courtyard filled with wolves Southern warriors lining the stone walls, council members gathering with rigid expressions, whispers hissing like sparks on dry grass.
Caius descended the steps last. Alpha of the South, he stood unbowed. Selena at his side, eyes sharp, spine straight, her presence alone a challenge.
The Northern delegation dismounted. One of the Elders stepped forward, his voice smooth and cold. “Alpha Caius,” he called. “We come under the banner of peace.”
No one moved. Caius inclined his head slightly. “Then speak.”
The Elder’s gaze slid deliberately past Caius and went traight to me. “Our request is simple,” he said. “The marked one, Elara of Ashborne blood, you know she belongs to the North.”
Murmurs rippled through the Southern crowd.
“She is dangerous”
“The curse”
“She’ll bring war”
My chest tightened. Kaelan growled low, a warning threading through the sound. “She belongs nowhere but where she stands,” he said. “And you will not touch her.” The Elder smiled thinly. “You speak boldly for a stripped Alpha.”
That did it. Kaelan stepped forward but Caius raised a hand. “Enough,” Caius said. All eyes turned to him.
“The South will not surrender Elara,” Caius continued calmly. “She is under my protection.”
The Elder’s smile vanished. “Then you declare yourselves in rebellion.” Caius didn’t flinch.
“No,” he said. “I declare compromise.”
A stunned hush fell. Kaelan turned sharply. “Caius”
The Alpha met his gaze. “I will give you what the North truly wants,” Caius said. “Control, stability. A symbol.”
My heart stuttered. Caius turned fully toward the Northern delegation. “I will release Kaelan back to the North,” he said. “Restore his title. Let him answer to your laws again.”
Shock slammed into the courtyard.Kaelan froze. “What?” he breathed.
“And in return,” Caius continued, voice like stone, “Elara remains here. Safe and untouched.”
For a heartbeat there was silence. Then laughter the type that was harsh, derisive and dangerous. The Elder sneered. “You think we want the disgraced Alpha?”
Who chose a mate over his title?
My blood roared in my ears. “We want the girl,” he continued. “And if you deny us”
He leaned forward slightly.“ We will spill blood until the mark answers.”
Kaelan surged forward then, fury ripping through him like wildfire. “I dare you,” he snarled. “Step one foot closer and”
The Northern Alphas shifted, eyes glowing.
War hovered breathing down our necks. Caius’s voice cut through it all. “This meeting is over,” he said. “Leave. Or you will not do so peacefully.”
The Northern delegation mounted their horses slowly, deliberately. “This land will drown in its choices,” the Elder said coolly. “Prepare yourselves.”
They turned and rode away, the horns sounded again.
This time, a promise.
The Southern council erupted the moment they were gone. “You would give away an Alpha?” one elder shouted.
“For her?” another snarled, pointing at me. “You risk everything for a marked girl!”
“She is Ashborne,” Caius snapped. “And she is our responsibility.”
“She is a liability!”
“She will bring destruction”
I felt it then. The divide, the fear and beneath it the hatred. I stepped back instinctively. Kaelan’s hand found mine immediately. “Don’t listen,” he murmured. “They’re wrong.”
But I knew the truth, the South was cracking and somewhere within it, the traitor I’d almost caught was watching and waiting.
The North had made its move and now so would I, because if they wanted my legacy they would choke on the truth first.