Chapter 233
For the first time in days, it was quiet.
No flames.
No shouts.
No plans being scrawled over maps stained with blood and betrayal.
Just the soft crackle of the fireplace in Roman’s quarters, and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he lay beside me. His shirt was off, a fading bruise on his shoulder catching the light, and his arm draped lazily over my waist.
“You’re awake,” I murmured.
“Barely,” he muttered. “But if I’m dreaming, don’t wake me.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “We both smell like smoke and iron.”
He cracked one eye open. “Don’t ruin it.”
I shifted, turning to face him. In the half-light, he looked less like the Alpha the world feared and more like the man who knew how to quiet my storms. My Roman. The one who kissed my forehead without reason. The one who still got angry when I skipped meals.
“How long do we have?” I asked softly.
He sighed. “An hour. Maybe two before someone knocks. Or someone gets stabbed. Or Halrick tries to swallow a spoon and declare martyrdom.”
I snorted. “He really does love the dramatics.”
“Please don’t say that. It makes me think he’s going to monologue again.”
We both laughed quietly.
For a moment, there was peace.
But even in peace, guilt crept in. I closed my eyes. “Nessa’s pushing herself too hard.”
“She’s trying to live up to you,” he said gently.
“I don’t want her to.” I looked at him. “I want her to live past me.”
Roman didn’t speak for a moment. Then: “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You don’t know that.”
His voice dropped. “I know I would burn down the world before I let it happen.”
Something in me softened, folded inward. I reached up and brushed his jaw with my fingers.
“I just want us to have a day,” I whispered. “Not a war. Not a mission. A day.”
“We will,” he promised. “After this.”
I nodded.
But we both knew “after this” had become a moving target.
By midday, I was back in the strategy hall.
Nessa stood by the long table, arms crossed, watching the trackers pin new markers onto a fresh map. She looked tired—no, not tired. Sharpened. Like a blade that had been through one too many fires and had stopped asking why.
“You called for me?” I asked.
She nodded. “Roman said you wanted to expand the watch grid.”
“I did,” I said. “But I also want to expand something else.”
She tilted her head.
“Your role.”
That caught her off guard. “You want me on the council?”
“No. I want you just below it. You’d be our internal lead—liaising between the pack’s training unit, our warriors, and Roman and me directly. Quietly. You’d see everything, hear everything, and help us catch what others miss.”
She blinked. “Why me?”
“Because you already do it,” I said simply. “You already watch who trains hardest. You know who’s lagging. You saw the slashed tent before anyone else. You listen.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not a leader.”
“You’re just not loud,” I corrected. “There’s a difference.”
She swallowed. “What if I mess it up?”
“Then you learn. That’s what I did. And I had no one to guide me through it.”
Nessa looked at the map. Then at me.
“I’ll try,” she said.
I smiled. “That’s all I need.”
But just as I turned to leave, Wyatt stormed in.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, breathless. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Let me guess,” I muttered. “Someone tried to poison the stew again?”
“No,” he said. “Worse. We caught Jared sneaking messages to one of Halrick’s old runners.”
I froze.
Jared. One of our guards. Young. Loyal. Or so we thought.
Nessa’s face went pale. “I just saw him yesterday. He was helping reset the perimeter lights.”
“He’s not talking yet,” Wyatt continued. “But he had three coded messages tucked in his boot. He was heading for the forest’s north trail.”
My stomach turned.
“We need to question him ourselves,” I said. “Now.”
Down in the holding cellar, the air was cool and damp.
Jared sat behind silver bars, his eyes red but defiant. He didn’t flinch when I approached. Just sat straighter.
“Luna,” he said. “Didn’t expect you so soon.”
“Why, Jared?”
He tilted his head. “Why not? You think everyone’s bought into this... new vision of yours? Training women. Questioning Elders. Shifting the pack’s structure.”
I stepped closer. “I think people want a pack that doesn’t eat its own.”
He scoffed. “You think this is unity? You’ve turned brothers against brothers. You weakened the bloodlines.”
I stared at him, trying to remember the boy who once offered to help rebuild the infirmary in his spare time.
“How long?” I asked.
“Since the fire,” he said flatly. “Maybe longer. It didn’t matter until you started winning.”
Nessa appeared behind me, her voice shaking. “You were my friend.”
“You were a fool,” Jared snapped. “Following her like she’s the moon itself.”
I turned to the guards. “Strip him of his rank. Isolate him. Until we know how deep his involvement goes.”
As they dragged him away, Jared shouted one last thing.
“She won’t save you. She’ll get you killed.”
Nessa didn’t look at him. She just stared at the ground.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “He made his choice.”
“But he was like family.”
“So was Halrick,” I whispered. “And still, here we are.”
That night, the torches burned lower. The halls fell quieter.
But peace didn’t settle.
Instead, it lingered like a held breath.
Nessa sat across from me in my quarters, barely touching her food.
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said. “Keep going.”
“I don’t,” I admitted. “I just don’t stop.”
She laughed bitterly. “That sounds like a terrible plan.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
We shared silence for a few seconds.
Then she asked, “Do you think he’s right?”
“Who?”
“Jared. That I’ll get hurt.”
I met her eyes. “Yes.”
She blinked.
“You’ll get hurt,” I said. “And you’ll cry. And you’ll want to give up. But you won’t. Because you’re becoming someone wolves will follow. Even if you don’t believe it yet.”
Her eyes glistened.
“Besides,” I added, “you’re stuck with me.”
She gave me a tired smile. “Good.”
We didn’t speak after that.
Sometimes, the quiet said enough.
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