Chapter 87: Divided Loyalties
Mariana’s POV
The war room was suffocating.
Not because of the heat from the fire that crackled in the hearth, nor the scent of blood still lingering on our clothes. It was the tension—the unspoken accusations, the quiet simmer of distrust that made the air heavy.
Alexander stood at the head of the table, his hands braced against the worn wood. His golden eyes swept over the gathered council members, his expression unreadable. But I knew better. I saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers curled slightly, as if resisting the urge to ball into fists.
The council was divided.
Even after all we’d fought for, after all we’d lost, there were still those who hesitated to follow him.
“We need to talk about what happened tonight,” Alexander said, his voice calm but firm. “Lucian didn’t come here for a random attack. He was testing us.”
Beta Garrick, one of the older council members, leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. “Testing what, exactly? Our patience? Our ability to lose more warriors?”
A murmur rippled through the room.
My jaw tightened. “He wanted to see how strong we are. How united.” I let my gaze sweep over them. “And from the looks of this room, he got his answer.”
Garrick’s lips pressed into a thin line. “We lost too many. And for what? A battle we weren’t prepared for?”
“Prepared for?” Eva scoffed. “What would you have had us do? Invite him in for tea?”
“Enough,” Alexander said, voice low but commanding. The room fell silent. He looked at Garrick, then at the others. “I know what you’re afraid of. That we’re still vulnerable. That we can’t afford another fight.” His eyes burned with conviction. “But we don’t have a choice.”
Garrick exhaled sharply. “And what if Lucian isn’t the only threat lurking beyond our borders? What if he has allies?”
The unspoken fear settled over us like a shadow.
If Lucian wasn’t working alone, then we weren’t just facing a rogue threat. We were facing something bigger. Something worse.
“We fortify the borders,” Alexander said. “Increase patrols. If there are more of them out there, we’ll find them before they find us.”
I nodded. “And the council needs to decide where it stands. Because if we’re not united, we won’t just be fighting Lucian.” My voice hardened. “We’ll be fighting ourselves.”
A long silence stretched in the room.
Then, slowly, one by one, the council members nodded.
It wasn’t full loyalty.
Not yet.
But it was enough.
For now.
The council left in uneasy silence, their footsteps echoing down the hall like the final beats of a war drum. Their agreement had been reluctant at best, and though Alexander had secured their cooperation for now, I knew better than to mistake silence for loyalty.
This wasn’t over.
Eva lingered near the door, her arms crossed. “They’re going to be a problem.”
I exhaled slowly, my fingers tracing over the edge of the war table. “They already are.”
Alexander rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion creeping into his expression. “We don’t have time for this.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “We have to make time. If even a fraction of the council is considering turning against us, we need to know. Now.”
His jaw clenched, golden eyes burning with frustration. Not at me, but at the situation. At the weight pressing down on him from every side.
“They won’t move openly,” Eva said. “Not yet. But there are whispers, Alexander. Some of them think you’re leading us into another war we can’t win.”
His gaze snapped to her. “And what do you think?”
Eva didn’t hesitate. “I think they’re fools. But fools have a way of becoming dangerous when they’re desperate.”
She wasn’t wrong.
A soft knock at the door interrupted us. A young scout stepped inside, eyes darting between us. “Alpha, there’s something you need to see.”
Alexander stiffened. “What is it?”
The scout hesitated. “It’s the eastern border patrol. They found something.”
The air in the room changed.
Alexander and I exchanged a glance before moving swiftly, Eva right behind us.
The walk to the gates was tense, warriors stiffening as we passed. By the time we reached the patrol station, a small group had gathered. Two guards stood near a body—no, a warning.
The corpse was barely recognizable, torn apart by something with claws far too large for any normal wolf.
But it wasn’t the body that made my stomach churn.
It was the symbol carved into the man’s chest.
A crude mark—one I had seen before. One I knew.
Eva inhaled sharply. “That’s Marion’s mark.”
A message.
A declaration.
I turned to Alexander, my heart pounding. “I thought we killed the last of them.”
His expression darkened, his voice low. “So did I.”
But the truth was clear.
We hadn’t.