[ A small leap in ti: The next day ]
The sea was endless.
It glistened like a sheet of steel under the pale sun.
Wind whispered across the deck like the breath of a ghost.There was absolute silence except for the sound of starting an engine...roaring.
The vessel cut through the water with a low groan, leaving behind the shores of the Forgotten Lands...lands that had buried too many secrets, lands that had always demanded a price.
And Kieran?
He hadn’t said a word in over an hour.
Until now.
He snapped.
He lunged across the narrow corridor with a sudden roar and slamd Councilman Fenric against the wooden paneling, shaking him hard by the collar of his midnight blue coat.
"What do you an you don’t know where they took Vera?!" He snarled, pulling his lips back to expose his glistening fangs."She is my pack. I cannot leave her behind!!"
The Councilman’s head hit the bulkhead with a dull thud, but he didn’t flinch.
His voice remained dry. As if tired...uninterested.
"Alpha Kieran," he exhaled, "wasn’t it enough that I ca all the way here to save your sorry ass from those barbarians?"
He yanked one of Kieran’s wrists down, adjusting his collar with cold indifference.
"You now want to ddle with the laws of the Forgotten Lands too? Let remind you...if you have conveniently forgotten...I am a mber of the Werewolf Council, not God, you see!"
He turned to leave, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve.
But Kieran wasn’t done.
He grabbed Fenric again and this ti shoved him,harder,back against the wall, the fra creaking beneath the force of his fury... his unhinged force.
"You are not going anywhere until you answer properly," Kieran growled...his voice curling lethal. " Don’t try to play your little gas with . You were well aware of this racket, weren’t you? You knew about those girls... Yet the Council did nothing. You let it happen."
Fenric t his eyes calmly, lips drawn tight.The two of them glared at each other for a while. Then Fenric drew back with a long sigh!
" Yeah! You can put it that way if you want...we get intel...if that’s what you an by ’knew’," he admitted.
Kieran’s nostrils flared. His claws twitched.
"You bastard... "
" Mind your words Alpha! Having intel about anything doesn’t automatically convert to imdiately ddling with the ss..." Fenric held his ground, voice sharp, cutting through the heat between them, " You think you are the first Alpha to stumble into that foul market? You most definitely are not. You are just the first fool to go off script...without a back up plan. "
Kieran’s throat worked around a snarl.
" Whatever! They have been taking girls from our packs...girls with special powers nonetheless the less. This calls for an ergency All Alpha et," he said between his teeth. "I have already sent a mind link. We need to hold people accountable..."
"Ah, yes. Accountability." Fenric’s voice took on a mocking note as he straightened and dusted himself off again, almost elegant despite the bruises forming under his jaw. "Let’s talk about that."
He stepped forward.
"Shouldn’t we start," he said softly, "with the one who breached every existing treaty with the Forgotten Lands?"
Kieran stilled.
Fenric’s eyes narrowed. "You weren’t authorized to step foot on that side of the world. You weren’t cleared by the Council or assisted by any other pack. You didn’t have escort protection. And you sure as hell weren’t sanctioned to unleash a goddamn bloodbath on an auction floor crawling with foreign dignitaries."
"Dignitaries?" Kieran snarled, "They were trading lives! Lives they stole from our packs...lives that are under our protection..."
"I don’t care if they were trading their left testicle for salted goats!" Fenric snapped. "We had peace! A fragile one, but peace nonetheless. You have just set fire to decades of quiet."
Kieran looked away. His jaw clenched until it ached.
"We weren’t prepared for war before. And we are certainly not prepared for it now. Our borders are thin, Kieran. Half the packs haven’t even recovered from the plagued winters, internal conflicts,droughts...inflammation...and not to ntion inter pack fights. You Alphas don’t even look each other in the eye most of the ti...The council goes nuts getting you people sorted...but now...You just gave those bloodthirsty monsters an open invitation to co feast on our fragility..."
A heavy pause... that stretched too long.
Finally... "I don’t regret what I did."
"Well...You should.The old Kieran I knew, would...but it seems like the company you are keeping lately...has been feeding on your common sense..." Fenric scoffed.
"I did what I had to..." Kieran almost mumbled this ti. More to himself than Fenric.
"Spare the nobility." Fenric stepped closer, his voice colder now. "You are not an idiot, I know that much. You were just another rogue Alpha trying to write your own myth monts ago... But this story? It was going to cost more than just your reputation had the Council not stepped in."
Kieran’s voice dropped.
"So why did you leave Vera?"
Fenric blinked.
"Because soone had to pay a price to get you out...soone was willing to offer and maintain the peace...don’t worry. She isn’t dead. Soone offered to buy her..."
"You what..."
" A noble woman... A royalty wanted her as a servant... relax Alpha.Stop flexing. " Fenric casually squeezed Kieran’s arms...mocking. " I am not afraid of those muscles! "
" Yet, you did not have the right to take that decision... she was loyal to ... "
Fenric lifted a brow. "Really? Is that how you define loyalty these days? You exiled her. She was convicted, Kieran. Convicted of aiding in the attempted assault of your own mate..."
Kieran flinched.
A flicker of sothing crossed Fenric’s face.
"Tell , Alpha Kieran..." he said slowly, "what’s happening to your standards?You took in a rogue tribe,made a necromancer your father in law, you were willing to risk everything for a convicted rogue whom you had sworn to punish on sight...Are you alright,Alpha? Is everything fine with you? "
Kieran didn’t respond.
"Don’t you have enough warm holes to dig into? Why risk everything for a criminal?"
"Careful Fenric," Kieran muttered, voice grave.
"Oh no, I am being careful. You are the one acting like a rabid pup who’s lost his damn compass. What were you even doing here Alpha...with soone like Vera? Huh?"
No answer.
Kieran shoved past him, but the fire had gone from his grip.
He stumbled outside onto the open deck.
The Old Lands.The Forgotten lands.They were just a fading line on the horizon now. But it felt like a part of his soul had been carved from his chest and left there to rot...
He gripped the rail so hard the wood groaned beneath his hands.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to jump back into the water and swim to the shore.He felt like an utter failure.
The salt air stung his eyes. Or maybe it was sothing else.
He let the sea spray wet his face. Let the wind steal the rage from his chest.
" Autumn... " It was more than just a gasp... A sigh... a deepening emptiness...
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