Chapter 29
Nicolas POV
The Great Hollow roared with tension. Flickering torchlight danced across the obsidian walls as the Alphas and Elders of the Two Great Packs filled the ancient chamber. Each clan bore its symbol, each Alpha their pride, but none louder than the hush that followed any whisper of the massacres. The air was thick with the scent of distrust, of wolves too long restrained, of fear buried beneath tradition.
I stood among them—cloaked in the colors of the Royals Pack, black and gold—and yet, I felt wholly out of place. I didn't belong in the center of this storm, not when my chest was already a battlefield of its own. I hadn't looked at her. Not once.
Viona.
She sat just across from me, her hair braided in the warrior style of her people, her eyes fixed on the speaker at the center of the floor—Alpha Jason, her dad—as he detailed the latest loss: a scouting party slaughtered in the outskirts of the forest. Three of the five are barely identifiable.
But I didn't hear Alpha Jason's words. My heart was pounding too loud. Every time I glanced toward the curved council row, every time I felt her presence so close—Viona, proud princess of the Levites, my betrothed—my eyes darted away, pretending focus. Pretending loyalty.
Because if I looked too long... she would know. She'd see it, if only she doesn't already suspect I'm intentionally avoiding her gaze, but what can I do? The guilt. The hesitation. The truth I hadn't dared to speak since the feeling first bloomed inside me. I might have feelings for someone else, precisely Flora Smiths.
Not Viona. Not the girl chosen by alliance, by honor, by years of strategy between their packs. Someone is wrong. Someone not in this room. And it is tearing me apart.
I suddenly noticed the gaze of the Young Alpha of the Light Pack on my fiancée; anger and jealousy burned through me like I’m very familiar with them. I stared daggers at him, a piercing gaze too hard to ignore. It wasn't hard to detect the source of my gaze as I was almost beside him.
"Nicholas Jones Smiths," he called me out loud and clear. For some reason, it felt like a challenge was about to take place. My already angry expression turned to one of pure hatred.
"It's been a while since we last met. How long was it again...?" he pretended to be deep in thought. At this point, everyone's attention was already on us.
"Yeah... during your engagement party."
"Oh... then you already know I have a fiancée...?"
"Yes... of course, I'm glad Young Alpha Nicolas remembers that too." He smiled politely; anyone with a brain would know he was insinuating something else. 'What did he know? How much did he know?'
''Who else knows?' My mind was a mess. I went into full panic mode internally but kept a nonchalant facade as much as I could.
"Is Young Alpha Mirage something?" I glared at the bastard who spoke. I know him. He's in the Royals Fraction; I can get rid of him. I believe it'll teach others to mind their own business.
The Council continued. Accusations flew across the circle. Some packs demanded war. Others demanded proof. A few whispered still of a traitor among them, of the vampires playing puppeteer behind blood-soaked veils.
But I said nothing. Alpha Darius spoke enough for them both.
"Our pack has suffered attacks too," Darius growled, his voice cutting through the murmurs. "Though not as loudly as some would like to pretend. Make no mistake—this is not just about one massacre. It is about the extinction of our race."
"Then why not unite?" Alpha Jason spoke clearly now, his voice steady and sharp. "The vampires have aligned themselves with our enemies, spilling wolf blood without shame, without fear. No more hiding, no more waiting. Tonight, we declare war—not just for the Hills Pack, but for every clan bled dry by their treachery. We strike not as scattered packs, but as one."
I flinched at his voice. It was the first time I've heard him speak with such authority in the chamber that night. I found myself deeply motivated. The older I grew, the less I feared my father. Deep down, I still seek his approval, but I cannot let myself be pushed and controlled by his words.
It wasn't long before the council meeting was adjourned and everyone returned home perfectly. It was shocking that Alpha Jason offered to go to war with the vampires. The entire room roared in agreement, but everyone knew he was just offering himself as the scapegoat for another cause, to measure up the vampires' military prowess if it is not something to either get away or completely hide/change.
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