Chapter 79 Recovery Plans
RYAN'S POV
I had not slept since Nathan died. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him bleeding out on the gallery floor while Lisa watched in horror and I could do nothing to save him. The funeral rites were tomorrow and Nathan's family was grieving, this all event made my chest ache with guilt and helplessness. Pack members kept looking to me for answers I did not have, for leadership I could not provide when my own world was crumbling around me.
Daniel had been handling arrangements and keeping the pack stable while I fell to pieces in my office. He organized patrols, managed territory disputes, dealt with the endless stream of condolences from other packs. He was being the Alpha I should have been but could not manage because every breath felt like I was dragging broken glass through my lungs.
Marcus Krane's forces had withdrawn temporarily and called a ceasefire during the mourning period because even he understood some lines you did not cross. Challenging someone during funeral rites was considered deeply dishonorable in wolf culture and would turn every pack against him. But the challenge remained like a sword hanging over all of us and everyone knew it. Lisa still owed him a response to the marriage contract her mother signed and time was running out faster than any of us wanted to acknowledge.
Emma appeared in my office doorway looking worse than I felt and that was saying something. Dark circles shadowed her eyes like bruises, her hair was pulled back messily, and her clothes looked rumpled like she had been wearing them for days without changing. She carried a stack of papers clutched against her chest like they contained something precious or terrible.
"I need to tell you something about Dante Moretti and what he might be planning with Lisa." Her voice was rough from crying or lack of sleep or both.
I was so exhausted I could barely lift my head from where it rested in my hands. "Emma, I cannot deal with more betrayals right now. Please just let me grieve in peace for one night."
"He has a ritual." Emma crossed the room quickly and put papers on my desk that were covered in her handwriting and printed research from sources I did not recognize.
"One that could turn Lisa human permanently. Strip her wolf completely, free her from the prophecy and everyone's expectations and the entire supernatural world. I found references in supernatural archives I have been digging through obsessively since Nathan died because I needed to do something useful instead of drowning in guilt."
My blood went cold and I finally looked at her properly through eyes that burned from exhaustion. "You think Lisa would actually consider becoming human? Giving up her wolf nature entirely?"
"I think Lisa has been pushed past her breaking point and I think we are all responsible for it." Emma's voice cracked and tears started falling down her cheeks in steady streams. "Nathan died because of her, at least that is how she sees it even though we know it was not her fault. Adrian betrayed her with his secret engagement that broke her trust in everyone. You and I both failed her in different ways by not being honest sooner about things that mattered. She might actually consider giving up her wolf entirely to escape all of this pain and politics and prophecy."
She wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand and her next words hit me like a physical blow to the stomach. "The ritual requires a willing sacrifice. Someone who loves the silver wolf unconditionally has to die for the conversion to work. The magic demands a life in exchange for freedom. And if she does this, if she asks for a volunteer to die so she can be human and free and able to raise her baby in peace, you will say yes without hesitation. Will you not?"
I did not answer because she was right and we both knew it. If Lisa asked me to die so she could escape her destiny and raise our baby away from pack politics and prophecies and people who wanted to use her, I would do it gladly. I would give my life without hesitation or regret if it meant she could finally be happy and safe.
The bond between us pulled tight in my chest and I was so sure that losing her to humanity would hurt worse than dying. But I would do it anyway because I loved her more than I loved breathing and her happiness mattered more than my existence.
Before Emma could press further or make me admit the truth out loud in words that would make it real, Adrian stormed into my office without knocking. He looked furious and desperate all at once like someone had ripped his world apart and shown him the truth hiding underneath. His eyes were wild and his chest heaved like he had been running for miles.
"Where is she? Where is Lisa?" Ha started demanding.
I stood slowly and felt my wolf rise defensively even though I was too tired to actually fight anyone. "Why do you care so much? I heard you are engaged to Alpha Catherine of the Northern Pack. That the whole courtship with Lisa was just political strategy to secure an alliance before anyone else could claim her."
Adrian's face darkened with rage I had never seen from him before and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Who told you that lie? Who is spreading this poison?"
"Does it matter if it is actually true?" I shot back and felt some of my own anger finally breaking through the numbness that had wrapped around me since Nathan died.
Adrian slammed his hand on my desk hard enough to make Emma jump and papers scatter. "It is not true and whoever told you that is trying to isolate Lisa from everyone who actually cares about her. Someone is systematically destroying her support system and turning us all against each other with carefully placed lies."
He pulled out his phone with shaking hands and showed me text messages between him and Catherine. Pages and pages of conversations that were clearly just friendship with no hint of romance or engagement anywhere. They talked about pack politics and trade agreements and mutual friends but nothing intimate or romantic.
"I was engaged to Catherine two years ago through an arrangement our parents made when we were children," Adrian explained quickly while I read through the messages. "I broke it off a year ago because I could not stop thinking about Lisa and it was not fair to Catherine to stay engaged when I loved someone else. We remained friends because we grew up together but there is nothing romantic between us and there has not been for over a year."
I studied the messages carefully and felt sick because they were obviously genuine. Adrian was telling the truth and someone had been manipulating all of us with carefully placed information designed to turn us against each other and leave Lisa alone and vulnerable.
"I came here because I just got word from my contacts in the human supernatural trade network." Adrian's voice dropped and became deadly serious in a way that made my wolf go on high alert. "Dante Moretti is not who he claims to be. His real name is Dante Ashford. He is Viktor's younger brother and everything he has done, collecting the artifacts, building the safe house, offering Lisa freedom, is all part of Viktor's plan. He has been setting this up for months or maybe even years, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
My blood froze in my veins and the room tilted sideways while my vision narrowed to a single point. "Viktor is alive? How is that possible? We saw him die in the challenge with Lisa's father."
"And he has Lisa right now in a location none of us can trace." Adrian grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise mortal flesh. "We need to find her immediately. Before she does something irreversible, trusting a man who has been manipulating her from the very start."