LOGIN133 Decker reached the hospital faster than anyone thought possible. He didn’t drive. He ran. The moment Lotty’s fear ripped through the bond, everything else disappeared. The council meeting. The reports. The pack. The voices calling after him. None of it mattered. Only her. Only them. By the time he hit the hospital doors, his eyes were already gold, his wolf too close to the surface. Nurses scattered out of his path. Warriors straightened. One poor orderly dropped an entire tray of supplies and wisely decided not to pick it up until the Alpha had passed. “Where is she?” Decker demanded. Garrick stepped into the hallway before anyone else could answer. “Alpha.” Decker didn’t slow. Garrick moved in front of him. That was almost suicidal. “Move.” “No.” The word froze the hallway. Decker’s aura slammed outward so hard the lights flickered. Garrick held his ground. Barely. “She’s being prepped.” Decker’s face went white beneath the rage. “Prepped for what?” Tomas appeared bes
132 Three months transformed the region. Not through war. Through peace. The old regional council was gone. In its place, the newly formed Allied Council met every month, rotating between pack territories. Every pack sent three representatives, an Alpha, a Luna, and either a Beta, healer, or archivist. It wasn't perfect. Arguments still happened. Disagreements still filled meeting halls. But they happened openly. Nothing was hidden behind sealed doors anymore. Edgewater Falls had become a full member of the alliance. The first time Adam signed an alliance treaty beside Decker instead of across from him, every wolf in the room paused. Years of hatred ended with the stroke of a pen. The irony wasn't lost on anyone. The packs began sharing patrols along disputed borders. Young warriors trained together. Healers exchanged knowledge. Trade routes reopened. For the first time in generations, wolves traveled through neighboring territories without wondering if they would return home. Th
131 For the first month, the pregnancy had been easy to hide. Loose sweaters. Heavy jackets. A careful choice of clothing. Most wolves already suspected, but there was still enough uncertainty to keep anyone from saying anything publicly. By the second month… That became impossible. Werewolf pregnancies moved much faster than human ones. Five to six months from conception to birth. Twins moved even faster. Lotty stood in front of the bedroom mirror one morning, turning slightly to the side. Her hands rested naturally beneath the small curve of her stomach. There was no denying it anymore. She was showing. Not dramatically. But enough that every wolf in Dark Mountain would recognize exactly what it meant. She smiled softly. "Our boys." Behind her, Decker looked up from the chair where he was pulling on his boots. He crossed the room without saying a word. His hands settled gently over hers. "Our sons are making themselves known." She leaned back against his chest. "I think it's t
130 By the time the Alphas left the regional retreat, the place no longer belonged to the council. Not really. A consolidated guard force remained behind. Warriors from every pack, working in rotating teams to watch over the council members, guard Elara, and protect the archives while every hidden record was copied, cataloged, and reviewed. No single pack controlled the evidence. That had been the final decision before departure. No more secrets held by one set of hands. No more sealed rooms. No more history buried where only the powerful could reach it. The ride back to Dark Mountain was quiet. Lotty leaned against Decker’s side, one hand resting over her stomach. Their sons. She still wasn’t used to thinking that. Sons. Two boys. Decker had barely let her out of arm’s reach since Alden told them. At first, she thought it was sweet. By the time they reached Dark Mountain territory, it was becoming a problem. “You know I can walk from the car to the packhouse,” she murmured when
129 By morning, the summit no longer felt like a summit. It felt like the beginning of a trial. The Alphas gathered once more in the central hall, but the mood had changed. The old regional council members sat along the far wall under guard, not at the front of the room where they had once belonged. Their robes looked less official now. Less powerful. More like costumes. The prophecy pages sat copied and sealed in folders before every Alpha.The evidence of council manipulation sat beside them. No one could pretend anymore. Morgan was the first to speak. “The regional council cannot continue as it is.” No one looked surprised. Even Rasmus, seated with the remaining council members, closed his eyes as if he had expected the sentence. Malric leaned back in his chair. “You want to dissolve it.” Morgan’s gaze moved calmly to him. “I want to replace what has failed.” Calder gave a dry laugh. “Pretty words for the same thing.” “Then let me be clear,” Morgan said. “Yes. The current r
128 The evening meal ended much differently than anyone would have expected when the summit first began. No shouting. No accusations. No threats of war. No council records slammed onto tables. Just tired wolves who had spent days uncovering secrets that stretched back decades. For one evening, the Alphas agreed to stop digging. The archives would still be there in the morning. The council would still be fracturing. Elara would still be under guard. The prophecy would still exist. Tonight, they needed a few hours to breathe. So the Alphas drifted toward the retreat's study while the Lunas disappeared into the moonlit gardens. Decker watched Lotty leave with Selene, Rowan's Luna, and several others. The sight still surprised him. A few months ago, Lotty had been an outsider to most of these wolves. Now the Lunas naturally gathered around her. Not because of the prophecy. Not because of the twins. Because they genuinely liked her. The thought settled warmly somewhere inside him. Un
40 The next two days passed in a blur of long hours and hard decisions. Nothing about the truce was perfect, but it was real. Adam and Decker worked side by side, sometimes agreeing, sometimes clashing, but never once crossing the line into hostility. There were moments, brief ones, where Lotty w
39 The candles had burned down to stubs. Dinner sat half-cleared on the small table, forgotten. The room still carried the faint warmth of what had almost happened, something soft, something intimate, but now it was overshadowed by the sharp edge of reality. Blood had replaced romance. War had in
36 The meeting room in the packhouse had once been a formal dining hall. Now it has become something else entirely. The long wooden table at the center held maps instead of plates, territory markers instead of candles. Old scars carved into the wood hinted at past arguments, past decisions that ha
26 The packhouse finally grew quiet. The kind of quiet that only came after a long day of tension, arguments, interrogations, and planning. Warriors rotated through night watch, the low murmur of voices fading as patrols settled into their posts around the property. Inside Lotty’s room, the light







