“It becomes our business when your choices affect other territories.” Elena's voice was sharp. “If Silas is targeting you because of these entanglements, if the corruption in your wardsis tied to humans who don't understand what they're dealing with?—”
“The humans in my territory have nothing to do with Silas.” I let the authority bleed into my voice. The tone that reminded them who they were talking to. “Nate was transformed by the forest itself, through magic that predates pack bonds. Neither of them is responsible for a witch's century-old vendetta.”
Elena was quiet for a long moment. Then she moved to a desk in the corner, pulled out a thin folder.
“Everything we know about the attacks,” she said. “Which isn't much. There are patterns. Corrupted wolves showing up at territorial boundaries. Wards failing in ways that suggest insider knowledge. Attacks timed to when Alphas are away from their packs.”
I opened the folder, scanned the contents. Reports from packs that had been hit. Speculation about magical signatures. Notes about timing and coordination.
Nothing about Rafe specifically, though the description of attack patterns made my chest tight.
“One more thing,” Elena said. “Whatever he's doing, however he's building power, the magic that used to contain him doesn't work anymore.”
“Why not?”
“We don't know. But Daniel—” She met my eyes, and I saw genuine fear there. “There's something in the Evernight Forest. Something that's been sleeping for generations. The old Alphas sealed it away for a reason. If Silas breaks those seals?—”
“What happens?”
“We don't know.” Marcus's voice was grim. “But the stories our grandfathers told. Power that predates pack bonds. Magic that answers to rules we don't understand.” He paused. “Do not wake what sleeps, Daniel. Whatever else you do, don't let him wake what sleeps.”
My phone rang.
The sound cut through the tension like a knife, and I pulled it out expecting Evan with an update on patrol rotations. A report on the ward status. Something normal, something manageable, something that wouldn't make the world tilt sideways for the second time today.
Gideon's name lit up the screen.
“I have to take this.” I didn't wait for permission before answering. “Gideon. What?—”
“Daniel.” His voice was tight. Controlled. The kind of control that meant he was barely holding panic at bay. “You need to come back. Now.”
Ice flooded my veins. “What happened?”
“It's Michael.”
Two words. Just two words, and my heart stopped beating.
“He's hurt. Badly. Corrupted wolves attacked him in the eastern clearing. Alaric got him out, but Daniel—” Gideon's voice cracked. “He's bleeding and we can't stop it. The corruption is in the wounds, spreading faster than I can contain it. If you can't get back here in time?—”
“How bad?” My voice came out flat. Distant. Like someone else was asking the question while I stood outside my body, watching everything fall apart.
“Bad enough that I don't know if he'll survive if you don’t get here fast.” Gideon paused, and I heard fear in his silence. “He needs you.”
The world tilted.
Everything else. The Council. The politics. The accusations about Silas and protégés and hundred-year revenge. All of it became background noise against the roar of terror flooding through my system.
Michael. Hurt. Bleeding. Dying.
Mine.
“I'm coming.” I was already moving toward the door, documentation forgotten on the table. “Keep him alive, Gideon. Do whatever you have to do. Use every trick you know, every spell you've been hiding. But keep him alive until I get there.”
“I'll try. But Daniel—” He paused. “Hurry.”
The line went dead.
I turned to Elena and Marcus, saw them watching me with expressions that said they'd heard enough to understand. Head Alpha, abandoning a Council meeting to chase after a human. Putting one man ahead of the needs of an entire continent.
