I pulled out my notebook, though I didn’t really need it. I’d memorized every detail. “I’ve been running tests for the last few days, cross-referencing the results with every bit of information I have access to.”
“And?”
“It’s not a curse. It’s more like…” I searched for the right words. “A key that was turned. Something was buried there deliberately, possibly a long time ago. I believe it was triggeredor disturbed within the past few years. That this is causing whatever’s interfering with their ability to shift.”
He stilled.
“The magical signature in the water points to old wolf magic. But it’s wrong somehow. Incomplete. Like a pack seal has been broken. I know it sounds?—”
“A pack seal.” His voice came out flat.
“Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“My father mentioned them once. Old magic, used to bind packs to their core essence.” He gripped the railing. “If someone broke a seal…”
“The residue might look like what I’m finding. There’s magic involved in it. That much is certain. But this feels like an absence, something that should be there but isn’t.”
Silence stretched between us. I watched his profile, the way his jaw worked as he thought through the implications.
“The northern pack,” he said. “Their territory borders that creek.”
My stomach dropped. “You think they broke a seal?”
“I think someone did, whether they meant to or not.” He turned to face me. “This helps, more than you know.”
“I still don’t have all the answers.”
“You’ve raised questions. That’s more than I had yesterday.”
“What about you?” I asked. “How are the treaty negotiations going?”
His expression darkened. “They’re not.”
I waited.
He pushed away from the railing, pacing a few steps before stopping and turning back. “I’m king of all the wolf packs in this region. But several of the packs beneath me have been feuding for generations. The northern pack with us especially. They’re the oldest, most traditional of the group. Their alpha, Bastian, has never fully accepted my authority.”
“Because you were young when you took over?”
“Because my father died before he could properly establish our line’s dominance. I had to prove myself through strength rather than inheritance.” He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all directions. “The treaty is supposed to formalize peace between their pack and mine, but the northern alpha is using the negotiations as leverage.”
“To challenge you.”
“If the treaty fails, I look weak. If I concede too much to get it signed, I also look weak.” Frustration bled through his voice. “I’ve been trying to solve it through dominance. Showing strength. That’s not working.”
I considered that, turning the problem over in my mind. Political maneuvering wasn’t my area of expertise, but people were predictable in certain ways. Most wanted power, recognition, and security.
“He doesn’t want the treaty,” I said.
Feral’s head snapped toward me.
“He wants to be seen making you need him,” I said, working through it out loud. “If he signs, he’s acknowledging your authority. But if you have to negotiate and compromise, even ask for his cooperation, that puts him on an equal footing.”
“You’re suggesting the treaty itself doesn’t matter to him.”
“The process matters. The visible power it gives him.” I met his eyes. “Give him a role in enforcing it rather than signing it. Make him responsible for maintaining the peace between the packs. He gets authority, you get the treaty, and everyone saves face.”
He stared at me.
