Chapter 24: Unraveling Threads
The air in Rowan’s office hung thick with frustration and unspoken tension. Papers were strewn across the desk, a map of the territory pinned open beneath his hands, red markings circling where the rogues had most recently gotten too close.
It had been a week since the last attack. A week of silence. Too quiet.
His wolf paced in the back of his mind, snarling every time Rowan considered the Elders’ growing demand—that Giselle be exiled or worse. Their logic was rooted in tradition and fear, but Rowan wasn’t willing to let fear dictate his actions. Not when it came to her.
“She’s not the problem,” Rowan growled to himself, knuckles whitening as he pressed into the table’s edge.
A knock at the door broke his thoughts. His Beta, Kalen, stepped in with a grim look on his face.
“You’re late,” Rowan muttered without looking up.
Kalen didn’t respond right away. The silence that followed made Rowan glance up, catching the tension in his Beta’s shoulders. He straightened, alarm prickling down his spine.
“What is it?”
“I’ve been looking into the scout rotations the day of the last rogue attack,” Kalen said, stepping forward and laying a folder on the desk. “Everything matches up. Every warrior was where they were supposed to be. Except one.”
Rowan’s jaw clenched. “Who?”
Kalen hesitated before answering. “Sylah.”
The name dropped between them like a stone. Rowan frowned, trying to suppress the gut reaction that rose at the mention of her name.
“What about her?” he asked carefully.
“She was reassigned that day,” Kalen said, flipping open the folder to reveal a neatly typed log sheet. “But the change wasn’t authorized by you or me. It was signed off by Elder Malric.”
Rowan’s brows knitted together. “Malric?”
Kalen nodded. “That’s not even the strangest part. The assignment placed her far from the ridge, but we have a scout report that she was seen less than a mile from the ridge that morning. Near the perimeter.”
“She was off patrol duty.”
“Exactly.”
The growl that slipped from Rowan’s throat echoed in the quiet room. His wolf lunged forward in his mind, ears pinned and fangs bared. ‘She was there. She knew something.’
Rowan exhaled sharply and dragged a hand through his hair. “I want her watched. Quietly. I want to know where she goes, who she speaks to, and what the hell she was doing near that ridge.”
Kalen nodded once. “Already on it.”
Rowan looked down at the map again, the markings blurring as thoughts crowded his mind. Giselle had been locked away for something she didn’t do. The Elders were using the lull in attacks as ‘proof’ of her guilt. And yet here was a warrior—one favored by the Elders themselves—lurking near the border without authorization.
“How convenient,” Rowan muttered.
“You know the Elders won’t take this lightly,” Kalen said. “Especially if they think we’re accusing one of their chosen.”
Rowan’s laugh was humorless. “Let them be angry. I’m already tired of playing their game.”
Kalen crossed his arms. “They called for another meeting tomorrow. I suspect they’re going to push harder for your final decision on Rhea.”
Rowan scoffed. “They want me to mark her, declare her my Luna, and cast aside my mate like she means nothing.”
“She’s not nothing.”
Rowan’s gaze lifted to meet Kalen’s. “She’s everything.”
A tense pause passed between them before Kalen nodded. “I’ll tighten patrols around the cells with warriors we can trust. Just in case.”
Rowan exhaled. “Thank you.”
When Kalen left, Rowan sank into his chair, the weight of responsibility pressing down hard on his shoulders. He knew time was running out. His wolf snarled in frustration, echoing his own rising anger.
‘They’d rather see our mate suffer than admit they’re wrong,’ his wolf growled.
‘I won’t let them take her,’ Rowan vowed silently. ‘Even if I have to tear this whole place down.’
\---
Later that evening, Rowan found himself at the edge of the pack’s training field, watching the sun dip below the treetops. The golden hue of twilight shimmered through the canopy, casting long shadows over the compound.
He stood still for a long time, breathing in the forest, listening to the wind. He couldn’t help but think of her—trapped inside, cut off from the world, her wolf craved. He knew what it was doing to her. The spark that lit her eyes had dimmed. And every day she was locked away, a piece of her broke off.
His thoughts were interrupted when another mind-link hit him like a slap.
Elder Malric’s voice, cold and clipped: ‘You will join us at first light. We expect your answer.’
The link snapped shut without a chance for Rowan to reply.
His fists clenched.
They were going to demand he choose. Giselle or the pack. Duty or destiny. But Rowan was done choosing between two halves of himself.
He had until tomorrow morning to figure out exactly what happened out there on the border that day and present it to the Elders, and he wouldn’t waste a single moment of that time.
But Rowan already knew that if it came down to it, he would choose his mate over his pack that has turned their back on him. Being Alpha would mean nothing if he didn’t have his mate by his side.
Plans began to form in his head, a way for him to get his mate and her family away from his pack and to his sister’s pack if necessary. With that thought in mind, he set off to have everything ready for his morning meeting.
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