Chapter 290

Piper sat across from me in the council room, her arms crossed tight to her chest, her eyes locked on the table. Warrick had walked in after her; he rested against the wall, his jaws clenched. The tension was heavy in the air, tangible, but I had to have answers, and I had to have them now.

“If you’re sure about what you heard, then tell me,” I said, firm yet low so as not to alert anyone outside the room.

“Yes,” Piper said, her voice even. “The message Calla sent is not about destabilizing us; it is to do with Dane. They are targeting him, and they think he is a weak link because of his impulsive decisions.”

Warrick finally broke the silence, sharp with exasperation. “If there is a plot against Dane, why isn’t he taking this seriously? Why are we here talking instead of taking some action?”

I leaned onto the table and let out a sigh. “Because running headfirst into every problem is what got us here in the first place. I need solutions, not more chaos.”

Piper seemed to hesitate before she spoke again, glancing between Warrick and me. “Rowan and Lila. They’re just with each other day in and out. I really don’t think that’s all right.”

Warrick raised an eyebrow. “Rowan? Again? Piper, is this about the pack, or is it about you not happy to see him with her?”

Piper’s face flushed. “No, I’m not jealous. I’m just… cautious. We all know Rowan’s past… I don’t want him manipulated again.”

“Enough,” I cut in, my hand rising. “This isn’t about Rowan or Lila right now. Our focus needs to be on Dane and the pack’s safety.”

Piper fisted her hands and muttered under her breath, “Easier said than done.”

Almost immediately, Dane and the other council members entered. I stood at the head of the table, looking around the faces of my people, with whom I’d earned a familiarity over the years. Today, trust felt like it was going to break any moment.

“We have an option,” I began, my voice elevating above the murmur of the council. “We can negotiate with the rival pack and take a portion of the land in contention or go to an all-out war to take it all.”

Dane was on his feet in an instant, scraping the chair against the floor as he rose. “Negotiation is a weakness, Aurora. You think they’ll respect us taking scraps from their table?”

“They’ll respect us if we keep our pack intact!” I fired back, the irritation welling in my stomach.

Trajan interrupted me with a steady but firm voice. “Both ideas have some credibility, but rushing into a war without an afterthought of what that can bring upon the people is unthinking.”

Dane laughed. “While standing by and doing nothing is unmanly.”

The room erupted into a cacophony of arguments, members taking sides, voices raised and overlapping. Some supported Dane’s ambition, stating the pack needed to reclaim its legacy. Others backed my proposal, saying that saving lives was more crucial than land.

I raised my hands for silence. “Enough! We’ve been through this before, and I am tired of going in circles like children. If we can’t come to a decision, then I will make the decision myself. Is that understood?”

The room fell silent. The tension in the air was thick. Dane’s glare burned into me, but I refused to back down.

“We will do this next time… we all need to rest and calm our minds,” I breathed softly.

Dane was the first to stride off, and after some time, the council room was empty.

All I heard from Dane were different crazy words, unforgiving; gaze set in defiance. Day by day, he became more and more unreachable; what is to happen with my pack next, I do not know.

I sighed and stepped out, heading to my room. Perhaps a cool bath will calm the voices in my head.

The murmur of voices down the hall drew my attention. I halted, pressing my back against the cool stone wall to listen.

“You really think Dane’s plan will work?” a voice whispered, low and cautious.

“He’s confident,” said another. “He thinks that’s the only way to prove strength. They’ll never even see it coming.”

“He’s been planning it for weeks,” said the other, “a single ambush. It’s a risk, but if he manages to pull it off, then he’ll have proved Aurora’s been holding him back too much.”

I strained harder, trying to make out more. “But what if it gets denied? The way Aurora has been, he’d surely land with a slap if she knew this behind his back.”

There was a pause, and the silence hung in the air with tension.

“She doesn’t need to know,” the first voice said decisively. “Dane’s doing what needs to be done. If we keep second-guessing him, we’ll never move forward.”

My breath caught. Dane was going to ambush alone? Without the sanction of the council?

At once, my chest tightened with disbelief and anger. Hadn’t we just been through this? The very idea of acting without unity had been the central issue of our meeting, and now this?

I inched closer, rounding the bend just in time to see the two wolves conclude their conversation and start walking away. Their words echoed in my brain, each syllable a painful thrust of betrayal.

“Dane’s doing what needs to be done.”

No, I thought, my hands fisting automatically at my hips. He’s doing what he thinks needs doing, and that’s a totally different thing altogether.

Now, the halls were empty but for my quickening footsteps. I made my way straight for our quarters, a stew of anger just below the surface.

It was time for Dane and me to have it out. And this time, I wasn’t leaving until I’d been heard. If he seriously planned to sneak around behind our pack’s backs, then he was risking more than his life; he was risking ours.