Shadows among wolves

The laughter inside the Great Hall slowly returned.

Musicians resumed playing.

Goblets clinked.

Servants moved between the tables, refilling cups and replacing empty platters.

To everyone else, the interruption had passed.

Only three people remained uneasy.

Lyra.

Kael.

And Lady Selene.

Kael's eyes never left the stone pillar Lyra had pointed toward.

Nothing.

No movement.

No shadow.

No hooded figure.

Yet the uneasy feeling twisting inside his chest refused to disappear.

His instincts had saved his life too many times to ignore them now.

Without drawing attention, he looked toward Rowan.

The captain immediately understood.

A tiny nod.

That was all it took.

Rowan quietly excused himself from the table and disappeared into the crowd without a single noble noticing.

Lyra watched him leave.

"He's searching, isn't he?" she asked quietly.

Kael didn't deny it.

"You saw someone."

"I know what I saw."

"I believe you."

She looked at him in surprise.

"You... do?"

"You've had no reason to lie."

The answer caught her off guard.

Since arriving at Blackthorn Keep, nearly everyone had doubted her.

Yet the one man with every reason to question her...

Didn't.

She lowered her voice.

"Thank you."

Kael simply nodded.

Across the table, Jer watched the exchange with obvious curiosity.

He leaned closer.

"You know..."

"What?"

"I've never seen Kael trust someone this quickly."

Kael looked at him.

"I can still hear you."

"I know."

Jer grinned shamelessly.

"I wanted you to."

Several officers nearby hid amused smiles behind their goblets.

Even some of the younger warriors chuckled quietly.

The older council members looked far less amused.

One elderly noble cleared his throat.

"This is hardly the time for jokes."

Jer shrugged.

"It never seems to be."

The man frowned.

"You take nothing seriously."

"I take food seriously."

Jer reached for another piece of bread.

"And tonight's bread is excellent."

Lyra couldn't stop herself from laughing.

The tension around the table eased, if only for a moment.

Lady Selene noticed something unexpected.

The girl's laughter was changing the atmosphere.

Warriors who had spent the entire evening staring suspiciously at Lyra were beginning to smile instead.

Even servants passing the table seemed more relaxed.

Hope.

It spread far faster than fear.

Perhaps...

That was what frightened their enemies most.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, Rowan returned.

He walked calmly behind the Alpha's chair and leaned down just enough that only Kael could hear.

"We searched the hall."

"And?"

"Nothing."

Kael remained expressionless.

"The corridors?"

"Empty."

"The kitchens?"

"Every servant accounted for."

"The towers?"

"No sign of an intruder."

Rowan hesitated.

"There is one thing."

Kael looked at him.

"Speak."

"Several guards reported feeling watched."

Lyra looked up.

"What?"

Rowan hadn't realized she'd heard him.

He continued carefully.

"None of them actually saw anyone."

"But..."

"They all reported the same feeling."

A cold silence settled over the table.

Kael finally spoke.

"Increase the night patrols."

"They're already doubled."

"Triple them."

Rowan blinked.

"Alpha..."

"You heard me."

"Yes, Alpha."

Without another word, Rowan disappeared once again.

Jer whistled softly.

"Someone's in trouble."

"No," Kael replied.

"Someone is planning something."

Dinner continued, but the mood had changed.

The music no longer sounded cheerful.

Conversations became quieter.

Several nobles glanced nervously toward the entrance every few minutes.

Rumors traveled faster than wildfire inside Blackthorn Keep.

By sunrise...

Every servant would know the Alpha believed another assassin had entered the fortress.

Lyra barely touched the rest of her meal.

Her appetite had vanished.

She kept replaying the image in her mind.

The hood.

The stillness.

The feeling of being watched.

It had been real.

She knew it.

Yet no one else had seen it.

"What if..." she whispered.

Kael looked toward her.

"What if I'm wrong?"

He answered immediately.

"You're not."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because the assassin at the temple chose today for a reason."

"The Council?"

"The Moon Crest."

"The gathering of every Alpha."

He shook his head.

"None of it happened by chance."

Lyra stared down at her hands.

"So someone planned everything."

"For a long time."

A shiver ran through her.

Whoever wanted her dead...

Had been waiting.

Not for days.

Not for weeks.

Perhaps...

For years.

When the meal finally ended, nobles slowly began leaving the Great Hall.

Some bowed respectfully to Kael.

Others deliberately ignored Lyra as they passed.

A few openly stared.

One elderly woman paused beside Lyra.

She studied her quietly for several seconds.

Then smiled.

"Do not let old wolves teach you to fear your own howl."

Before Lyra could ask what she meant...

The woman continued walking.

Jer laughed.

"That's Lady Miriam."

"Does she always speak in riddles?"

"Only when she's making sense."

Lyra blinked.

"That doesn't help."

"I know."

He offered his arm dramatically.

"Come."

"I'll show you how not to get lost."

Lyra smiled despite herself.

For the first time since arriving at Blackthorn Keep...

She almost felt like she belonged.

Jer led Lyra through the western corridors of Blackthorn Keep instead of returning directly to the Moon Wing.

"You'll get lost sooner or later," he said cheerfully. "Might as well start learning the Keep now."

Lyra looked around as they walked.

The fortress seemed endless.

Every corridor branched into two more. Stone staircases wound upward into towers and downward into shadowed passageways. Ancient tapestries covered the walls, each depicting battles, Alphas, and wolves beneath the full moon.

"It's like a city," she murmured.

Jer grinned.

"It practically is. Nearly two thousand people live inside these walls."

Lyra stopped walking.

"Two thousand?"

"Soldiers, servants, healers, blacksmiths, cooks, scholars, stable hands... and a few nobles who think they're more important than everyone else."

She laughed.

"You shouldn't say that."

"I never said it to their faces."

"You definitely have."

"...Once or twice."

Lyra shook her head.

"I believe that."

As they continued walking, servants greeted Jer warmly.

Unlike the stiff respect shown to Kael, people smiled naturally at him.

"You know everyone."

"I try."

"And everyone seems to like you."

Jer shrugged.

"I've found life is easier if people smile when they see you."

Lyra lowered her eyes.

"I don't think many people smile when they see me."

"They will."

"You sound very sure."

"I am."

She looked at him curiously.

"Why?"

"Because you're not pretending to be someone you're not."

Before Lyra could answer, they reached an older part of the fortress.

The polished stone gave way to darker walls marked by age.

The torches burned lower here.

The air felt colder.

Jer slowed.

"We don't usually come this way."

"Why not?"

He pointed ahead.

A pair of enormous oak doors stood at the end of the corridor.

Heavy iron chains crossed them from top to bottom.

A massive silver lock hung in the center.

Dust coated the floor in front of them.

No footprints.

No sign that anyone had entered for years.

Lyra frowned.

"What's in there?"

Jer's playful expression disappeared.

"The old royal quarters."

She looked at him.

"Royal?"

He nodded.

"Long before Blackthorn became the strongest Pack, the royal family lived in this part of the Keep."

"What happened to them?"

"No one really agrees."

"I've heard a dozen different stories."

"Some say they were betrayed."

"Some say they were murdered."

"Others believe they disappeared."

"And the elders don't like anyone asking questions."

Lyra couldn't take her eyes off the doors.

Something about them...

Felt familiar.

A strange warmth spread across the back of her neck.

The same warmth she'd felt when the Moon Crest awakened.

She took one slow step forward.

Jer immediately noticed.

"Lyra?"

She didn't answer.

Her heartbeat quickened.

It felt as though...

Something on the other side of those doors was calling to her.

Almost without thinking, she reached out.

Her fingertips hovered just above the cold iron chain.

"Lyra."

Jer's voice sounded farther away now.

She barely heard him.

A sudden pulse of heat shot through the mark on her neck.

She gasped and stumbled backward.

The warmth vanished instantly.

Jer caught her before she could fall.

"Are you all right?"

She blinked several times.

"I..."

She looked back at the chained doors.

"I don't know."

"You looked like you were in a trance."

"I felt..."

She hesitated.

"It sounds ridiculous."

"Try me."

She swallowed.

"It felt like someone was waiting for me behind that door."

Silence.

Jer's smile disappeared completely.

"Don't tell anyone you said that."

Her eyes widened.

"Why?"

"Because if the Council hears you..."

He glanced around the empty corridor before lowering his voice.

"They'll start asking questions neither of us can answer."

A distant bell echoed through the fortress.

Jer forced another smile.

"Come on."

"We've wandered far enough."

But as they walked away...

Neither of them noticed the tiny crack beneath the old doors.

For just a heartbeat...

A faint silver light escaped through it.

Then disappeared.

Far above them, in the highest tower of Blackthorn Keep, Kael stood alone on the balcony outside his study.

Snow drifted across the mountains.

His eyes remained fixed on the fortress below.

Something wasn't right.

The assassin at the temple hadn't acted alone.

Someone inside Blackthorn Keep had helped them.

He was certain of it.

Behind him, Rowan stepped onto the balcony.

"The patrols have been tripled."

"And the gates?"

"Closed until sunrise."

Kael nodded.

"No one leaves."

"No one enters."

Rowan hesitated.

"There is something else."

Kael turned.

"What?"

"We're missing one guard."

The Alpha's expression hardened.

"Missing?"

"He was assigned to the eastern wall."

"When the shift changed..."

"He was gone."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Search the entire Keep."

"We already have."

"And?"

Rowan's face darkened.

"We found blood."

A freezing wind swept across the balcony.

Neither man spoke for several moments.

Finally, Kael asked,

"How much?"

"Not enough to know whether he's dead."

Before either of them could say another word...

A howl split the night.

Long.

Sharp.

Filled with warning.

Every wolf inside Blackthorn Keep fell silent.

Kael's heart sank.

That wasn't an ordinary howl.

It was the signal every Blackthorn warrior feared.

An enemy had been found inside the walls.