Chapter 23 – The Whisper Beneath the Crown
Chapter 23 – The Whisper Beneath the Crown
Cassian POV
The walls of Moonridge were older than most of the wolves who ruled inside them.
Stone soaked in history. Floors that had carried the feet of alphas, traitors, and ghosts. Cassian had grown up running through these halls, but these days, even they felt foreign, like the fortress had grown new eyes and was watching him back.
He stood in his private study, staring at the scarred map spread across the center table. Patrol routes, border tensions, supply routes... all ink and parchment. All things he once handled with ease.
But maps didn’t show the kind of threat he was dealing with now.
This wasn’t about border raids or land disputes.
This was about the crown on Elira Tannis’s head, the look in Kael’s eyes when he thought no one was watching, and the way trust had started slipping through his fingers like water.
The door creaked open. Cassian didn’t need to turn.
Roran always knocked once, then walked in anyway.
“You’re brooding again,” Roran said, shutting the door behind him and dropping into the chair opposite.
“I’m thinking,” Cassian replied, still facing the map. “There’s a difference.”
“Not when you’re doing it with that expression. You look like you want to strangle someone and apologize for it at the same time.”
Cassian finally looked up, brow raised. “That specific?”
“I’ve known you too long,” Roran said, resting a boot on the edge of the table. “And I know that look means trouble.”
Cassian didn’t argue. He stepped back, folding his arms, leaning against the fireplace with a sigh that sat too deep in his chest.
“I need your help.”
Roran blinked. “That serious?”
Cassian nodded. “I want to stop the mating ceremony.”
Silence dropped between them like a blade.
Roran straightened slowly. “You mean with Elira?”
“No,” Cassian snapped. “I mean with the moon goddess.”
Roran gave him a dry look.
Cassian exhaled. “Yes. Elira. The Council’s already trying to push it faster. Verin’s practically licking Crescent’s boots. If they get what they want, I’ll be mated to a woman I don’t trust and bound to a future I didn’t choose.”
“And the pack?” Roran asked. “They’ve already seen her beside you.”
“That was a compromise. A placeholder. I never agreed to the full bond.”
Roran leaned forward, his voice dropping. “And now?”
Cassian hesitated. Then spoke the words that had been eating at him for weeks.
“I think Elira and Kael are having an affair.”
The words tasted like ash.
Roran’s eyes didn’t widen in shock. He just stilled, like a wolf scenting blood.
“I’ve seen them together. Twice. First at the east barracks, on the last day of the Council’s deadline. They didn’t see me. But they were close. Talking low. Too close.”
“And the second time?”
“During patrol,” Cassian said. “I joined unexpectedly. They were meeting at the edge of the ridge trail. No guards. No reason.”
Roran cursed under his breath, standing. “You sure?”
“I know what I saw.”
“Have you spoken to her?”
“I can’t accuse without proof. If I do and I’m wrong, it tears the council in half. If I’m right and have nothing but suspicion, it gives them time to clean their tracks.”
“And Kael?”
Cassian’s voice was quiet. “He was my brother. But lately… he doesn’t feel like mine anymore.”
Roran nodded, the weight of it sinking in. “So what do you want me to do?”
“Put someone on them. Discreet. Someone you trust like blood.”
“I have a few.”
“Pick the ghost.”
“Teylan?”
Cassian nodded.
Roran exhaled slowly. “Alright. I’ll speak to him. He’ll start tonight.”
“I want movements, meetings, any sign that backs what I feel.”
“And if we find it?”
Cassian looked up, and there was steel in his eyes. “Then we stop the mating ceremony. Strip Elira of her acting Luna role. Reveal them both for what they are.”
“It won’t be that simple.”
“It never is.”
Roran leaned back in the chair, tapping a finger against his knee. “You do realize if this is true, Kael and Elira aren’t just making a power play, they’re dismantling your legacy.”
“I know.”
“And if it’s not true?”
“Then I’m a paranoid bastard and I’ll deal with that shame in silence. But I’d rather be cautious than blindsided.”
Silence lapsed again.
Finally, Roran rose. “You’ve got me. All the way. But you need to prepare, Cassian. If we find proof, it won’t just be a scandal, it’ll be a war within these walls.”
Cassian nodded. “Then we fight it before it spreads.”
The air outside Moonridge tasted colder that evening. Cassian walked the ramparts alone, cloak billowing behind him, watching the torchlight flicker along the walls. Somewhere below, Elira was probably entertaining Crescent guests, smiling the way she did when she wanted to be underestimated.
Kael would be nearby. He always was.
Too nearby.
Cassian tightened his grip on the railing, jaw tense.
He didn’t hate Kael. That was the damn problem. Kael had been his friend. His Beta. His shadow in battle and war council. But power changed people. And lately, Kael moved like a man who was done standing behind anyone.
And Elira?
She’d never wanted to stand behind anyone to begin with.