Chapter 25: My Loyalty, My Strategy
Adam pushed his chair back, the heavy legs scraping against the polished floor as he rose to his feet. "I guess we are done here," he said.
"Are you just going to let them walk out?" Kaleb demanded, his voice cracking as he looked wildly around the table. "She confessed to breaching my vault!"
"You should also leave while you still have the use of your legs," Elder Rowan countered, his ancient aura flaring with cold disgust. "Otherwise, we might rethink our decision to let you settle this treason within the family."
Kaleb’s jaw hardened into iron. He whirled around, but Rhea and Adam were already moving toward the exit, their strides perfectly matched. The sight of them together made the blood boil in his veins.
"You’d better be ready, because war is coming!" Kaleb barked after them, his chest heaving. "And anyone who supports them won’t be excluded from my wrath!"
Instead of offering a reply, Adam reached out, pressing the flat of his palm against the small of Rhea’s back. They kept walking, their boots crunching rhythmically against the stone.
Behind them, Kaleb’s knuckles cracked as his inner wolf surged violently to the surface, his fangs pushing against his lips. But before he could leap across the floor, Kat scrambled up and threw herself in front of him.
"No, Kaleb! Don’t!" she begged, her scent souring with panic as she clutched her swollen stomach.
Kaleb’s eyes blazed a lethal, uncontrollable gold. With one swift, brutal shove, he clipped her shoulder to push her aside, but before his boots could track another step, the collective, crushing pressure of the Elder Alphas hit him like a physical wall.
"Move, and we will have no choice but to execute the sanction here and now," High Elder Magnus’s voice cut through the air, thick with old alpha power.
Kaleb froze, his chest heaving heavily as he watched the heavy iron doors swing shut behind his Adam and Rhea. "This is not going to end well," he growled, the feral resonance of his wolf bleeding heavily into his human vocals.
Out in the cool, moonlit corridor, the crisp night air rushed to greet them. Adam’s jaw remained a rigid, hard line as they walked toward the courtyard, though his hand lingered protectively at the curve of her spine.
"Don’t pay any mind to his empty threats," Adam rumbled, his deep baritone cutting through the mountain quiet. "He’s a dog barking behind a fence."
Rhea let out a soft, humorless laugh and shook her head, the silver in her eyes slowly receding. "You forget that I was bound to him for years. I know the exact cadence of his madness."
Adam tilted his head down, a slight frown marring his rugged features as he listened.
"That is how Kaleb acts when he is cornered and terrified," Rhea continued, her small smile fading into a cold, grim mask. "He is drowning in fear, but his pride will force him to keep his word. He will bring the war he promised straight to BloodVeil’s doorstep."
The corner of Adam’s mouth twitched, a dark, dangerous amusement flashing in his amber eyes as he looked forward. "I will be waiting to tear his throat out."
Adam’s gaze dropped to her shoulders. A slight frown pulled at his features as though he had noticed the tension she couldn’t quite hide. He stopped near the shadows of the stone archway, turning his massive frame to face her.
"How do you feel?" he asked softly, his voice dropping lower.
Rhea looked up, meeting his gaze. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, her hand flattening against her side where the phantom ache of her loss still lingered.
"They know something," she whispered, her voice trembling with a mother’s grief. "Kaleb and Kat, they know something about my son."
"They are going to use your desire to know against you," Adam said, his voice calm, vibrating through the quiet corridor. He stepped closer, his frame shielding her from the biting mountain wind, his scent enveloping her. "I fear you will walk right into their trap."
"You think Eli is my weakness?" Rhea asked, looking up at him.
Adam remained silent.
Rhea shook her head. "No. He’s the reason I survived." Her throat tightened. "If my son is alive, I’ll find him." Her silver eyes hardened. "And if someone took him from me, I’ll make them regret it."
Still, Adam remained silent.
—
Half an hour later, their heavy boots crunched across the threshold of the BloodVeil packhouse. The air inside was thick with the scent of burning cedar and the restless, defensive pheromones of a pack preparing for blood.
Adam didn’t even slow his stride as he whirled toward his Beta. "Bernard. Gather the executive war council in the inner chamber immediately. My nephew is bringing his war to our borders. We need to be ready."
Bernard bowed his head, his own wolf surging at the command. "Yes, Alpha." He turned on his heel and vanished into the shadows of the corridor.
Another thirty minutes passed before the heavy oak doors of the war room groaned open as Rhea stepped into the chamber, the cool air hitting her face. Her sharp gaze instantly darted to the massive table dominating the center of the room before sweeping over the hardened, scarred faces of the enforcers gathered around it.
The moment she approached, Bernard instinctively reached out, his hand moving to cover the classified maps laid out across the wood.
"Leave them be," Adam’s voice rumbled from the head of the table, cutting through the sudden, hostile tension.
"Alpha," one of the elder war strategists hissed, his nostrils flaring as he cast a deeply suspicious glare at Rhea. "She is an Ironfang wolf. Born and bred."
Rhea let out a slow breath, refusing to shrink under their collective alpha pressure. "I know you have every reason not to trust me," she said, her voice steady. "But the truth is that I am the one who brought this war to your gates after a decade of fragile peace. You have to let me help you end it."
The men tracked her movements with narrowed, cautious eyes, their dominant scents spiking with resistance.
"Women do not belong in the BloodVeil war chamber," one of the scarred veterans growled, slamming his fist on the table. "Our laws are absolute."
"That isn’t the only issue," another strategist snapped. The older wolf rose from his chair, his gray eyes narrowing on Rhea. "She had unrestricted access to Ironfang’s military structure. Every defense they possess, every contingency they rely on, every border trap hidden in those mountains."
He jabbed a finger toward her. "And now she wants access to our war room?"
Low growls of agreement rippled around the table.
"He is right," another enforcer said.
"How do we know she won’t do the same to us?"
"How do we know this isn’t a trick?"
"For all we know, she and her mate intentionally brought this war here."
"She should be locked in a cell until this conflict is over."
The room erupted into overlapping accusations. Spy. Traitor. Ironfang wolf. Security risk.
Rhea stood perfectly still beneath the barrage. Then she exhaled. "Are you finished?"
The chamber fell silent.
Her silver eyes swept across the room. "Everything you just said is correct." Several wolves blinked. "But I did not steal from my mate, I designed Ironfang’s defenses and no one can blame me for taking back what is mine after they nearly killed me."
She stepped forward. "I know where every hidden supply cache is buried," she said, taking another step. "I know which mountain passes can support an army." Then another step. "I know which walls are real." Her gaze hardened. "And which walls are traps."
Nobody spoke.
"You are afraid because I know Ironfang better than anyone in this room." She nodded once. "You should be."
The strategist who had first challenged her scoffed. "Then why shouldn’t we imprison you?"
Rhea drew a slow breath. "You are afraid of the wrong thing."
The scarred veteran frowned.
Rhea looked around the room, meeting each gaze in turn. "BloodVeil gave me shelter when my own pack left me for dead. You treated me with more honor in a handful of days than Ironfang has shown me in years."
Her eyes hardened. "I do not expect your trust. I have not earned it. But I am prepared to give everything I have to the pack that saved my life." Her gaze shifted to Adam for a brief moment before returning to the council. "My knowledge. My strategies. My loyalty."
The chamber fell silent.
"If Ironfang comes for BloodVeil, then they come for me as well."
