Emilia stepped inside, her forehead creased with worry. "Brother, you have to see this."
I walked behind her into the long corridor with torches flickering lights that cast their shadows on the stone walls. The blood in my veins turned to ice the second I walked into the war chamber
A map of our territory lay open on the table, red markers signifying several disturbances along the borders. My Beta, Marcus stood beside me with a grim face "It's happening again" he said softly. "Rogues are trespassing on our lands but it's more than just the rogues this time. Somebody else is pulling the strings"
I clenched my fists and my jaw tightening. "Ava," I hissed.
Emilia shook her head. "I don't think so, this is bigger than Ava. Sure, she's desperate but these attacks? They're calculated. Strategic. Someone else is in charge here."
A deep growl rumbled in my chest. "Then we need to find out who. Now."
Marcus nodded and with a tone of voice that implied "surely, there is more" he went on. We captured an outlaw near the eastern frontier. He was conveying a message: one thing, it is not Ava's, but rather from the person who claims to be the right ruler of our lands. A person known as 'The Forgotten One'.
A chill crawled up my spine. "The Forgotten One?"
Marcus unrolled a piece of parchment and pushed it across the table. The message was brief but it cast a dark ominous over my spirit.
'The past never stays dead Alpha. You took what was mine and now I'm coming to take it back'
I sucked in a quick breath, my mind spinning. Who exactly was this person? What did he/she/they want? And how did they come to know about Hailey and the children?
One thing was clear, this fight was not over yet. And the worst was still to come.
.................
Vickson's POV
The storm roared outside with equal fury, and the wind howled like a cry from some forsaken spirit. I stood at the window, fists clenched, watching night swallow the wood beyond my property. My pulse raced but not on account of the storm. No, something deeper, more ominous had taken hold of me.
Emilia had just spoken words that turned my entire world upside down.
"Ava isn't dead."
I spun around sharply, my gray eyes meeting hers. "What did you just say?"
She swallowed hard. "She's alive, Vickson. And she's not alone."
My breath hitched as anger and disbelief fought inside my head like a wild storm. I had expelled Ava—made it clear that if she ever came near my pack again, I would personally see to her execution. And yet here Emilia was, telling me the impossible.
"How do you know that?" My voice had dropped to a dangerously low tone, the Alpha within me barely restrained.
Emilia stepped forward hesitantly, her face contorted with doubt and fear. "I got a tip from a mole in the Shadowfang Pack. That person claims Ava has partnered with someone way more dangerous than we ever thought."
My stomach tightened. "Who?"
She exhaled slowly. "An Alpha who wants more than just power. He wants revenge. And he wants Hailey."
A chill shot through me all of a sudden. I had fought battles, conquered foes, and dealt with betrayals—nothing had prepared me for this, though. Hailey.
The thought of her sent a sharp pang through my chest. I had only just started to rebuild what we had lost. She was finally letting me back in, her memories slowly surfacing. Our children-our quadruplets-were beginning to know their father. And now this?
"Who is he?" I demanded, my body rigid.
Emilia hesitated before whispering, "Alpha Maddox."
The name sent a shockwave through my body. Maddox was the name spoken in fear, a rogue Alpha whose power was only rivaled by his cruelty. The man whose pack had been destroyed years ago by my ancestors when they tried to seize what was not theirs.
A man with every motive to want me dead.
"Ava has promised him Hailey in exchange for a seat beside him when he takes your throne," continued Emilia. "She told him that Hailey is your greatest weakness. That if he has her, he has you."
I exhaled slowly and deliberately, trying to cage the anger rising in me. "She's mistaken."
But the moment I said it, I realized it was a lie. Hailey was my Achilles' heel, always had been, and Ava knew that.
The storm outside was cracking with such a loud roar as if it were mirroring the storm inside me. I needed to do something—quickly.
"Where is she now?" I whispered to Emilia.
She looked directly into my eyes, a look that sent a shiver of something through me. "She's already here."
Emilia's POV
The wind screamed through the heavy timber slicing my cloak as I crouched low behind the solid trunk of a centuries-old oak. My pulse raced in my chest reminding me that time was short. I'd narrowly escaped from Ava's men the previous night, and now I knew for sure they were still on my trail.
My brother had no clue I was so close. No clue that I'd finally gathered enough evidence to take Ava and Luna down for good. But getting that information to my brother was another challenge altogether. If Ava found out I was alive and fighting her, she would do anything to make me disappear for good.
I clutched the small leather pouch hanging from my waist all the tighter. Inside it was the stolen correspondence that outlined every deal, every threat, and every crime Ava and her mother had committed. The truth about how they had framed Hailey, how they had manipulated Vickson into rejecting her, and how they had used me as a pawn to control him.
A sharp rustle nearby froze me in my tracks. My breath quickened, and with it the feeling of another close by. I dared not breathe too loud. Then, a twig snapped.
I turned quickly, only to find myself looking at a man I had hoped never to see again—Damon, Ava's favorite assassin.