The compound was too quiet.
Elara felt it immediately—the wrongness of it, the tension in the air. Wolves should have been moving through the darkness, patrolling, watching. But the paths were empty. The buildings dark.
Where is everyone?
Kael's hand on her arm pulled her into the shadows beside the kitchens. The strike team pressed against the wall, hearts pounding, senses stretched.
"This is wrong." Cassian's whisper was barely audible. "Even at night, there should be guards. Sentries. Something."
Dace's eyes scanned the darkness. "Maybe they're all at the main gate. Expecting the attack there."
"Maybe." But Kael's voice was grim. "Or maybe Marlena knows we're coming."
Elara reached through the bond, feeling for threats, for danger, for anything that might explain the eerie silence. Her awakened senses stretched outward—and found something.
Life. Many lives. All concentrated in one place.
"The great hall." She pointed toward the largest building. "They're all in the great hall. I can feel them."
"For what?" Lyra's hand tightened on her sword.
"Let's find out."
---
They crept through the shadows toward the great hall.
Light spilled from its windows—torchlight, firelight, the warm glow of gathered wolves. As they drew closer, sounds began to emerge. Voices. Movement. And beneath it all, a single voice rising above the rest.
Marlena.
"...the so-called queen thinks she can return here? Thinks we'll welcome her with open arms?" The elder's voice dripped with contempt. "She's a human girl who bewitched our Alpha. Nothing more."
Murmurs of agreement from the crowd.
Elara's blood heated. Bewitched. Nothing more. The same words they'd always used to dismiss her.
Kael's hand found hers. Squeezed.
Ignore her. She's trying to provoke.
I know. But it's working.
Through a crack in the shutters, they could see inside.
The great hall was packed—hundreds of wolves, standing shoulder to shoulder. At the front, on the raised dais where Kael had once sat as Alpha, Marlena held court. She'd dressed herself in furs that might once have belonged to the Alpha's family. A mockery of authority.
Beside her stood a wolf Elara didn't recognize—tall, scarred, with eyes that held the flat emptiness of a killer. Her champion? Her enforcer?
"And when this queen arrives," Marlena continued, "we'll show her what Blackthorn does with pretenders. We'll—"
The door burst open.
---
Bran's diversion had begun.
From the main gate, the sounds of battle erupted—howls, screams, the clash of steel. Exactly as planned. Exactly what they needed.
But Marlena didn't flinch.
She smiled.
"Ah. Right on time." She raised her voice. "You hear that, Blackthorn? Our guests have arrived. Shall we welcome them properly?"
The crowd surged toward the door—
And stopped.
Because Elara stepped through the side entrance, Kael beside her, the strike team fanning out behind them.
"Hello, Marlena." Elara's voice carried across the sudden silence. "I hope we're not interrupting."
---
Chaos.
That was Elara's first thought as the hall erupted. Wolves shouted, shifted, reached for weapons—but Marlena's voice cut through it all.
"STOP."
The command was absolute. Years of authority, of manipulation, of control. The wolves froze.
Marlena descended from the dais, her flint-grey eyes fixed on Elara.
"So." Her voice was silk over steel. "The little human returns. And she's brought her pets." A dismissive gesture at Kael, at the strike team. "How brave. How foolish."
Elara didn't back down. Didn't flinch. Didn't give her the satisfaction.
"I'm not human anymore, Marlena. You know that." She let her power flicker—just a hint, just enough to make the marks on her arms glimmer beneath her sleeves. "The seal is broken. The wolf is awake. And I've come for what's mine."
"Yours?" Marlena laughed—a sharp, ugly sound. "Nothing here is yours, girl. This pack is mine now. These wolves follow me."
"Follow you out of fear." Elara's voice was calm. "Not loyalty. Not love. Fear. And fear is the weakest bond of all."
Marlena's eyes narrowed. "Pretty words. But words don't win—"
"She destroyed the master."
The voice came from the crowd. A young wolf, barely more than a pup, staring at Elara with wide eyes. "We heard the stories. The runners brought word. She killed the master with her own power. Saved hundreds of wolves."
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
Marlena's face tightened. "Lies. Propaganda. The master was a myth—"
"I saw it." Another voice, older. "My cousin fought at the palace. He was there when her light destroyed the darkness. He saw it."
More murmurs. Louder now. Spreading like fire through dry grass.
Elara felt the shift—the moment when fear of Marlena began to war with hope of something better.
Now, she thought. Now's the time.
She stepped forward, away from Kael, away from protection, into the center of the hall.
"I'm not here to punish." Her voice carried to every corner. "I'm not here for revenge. I'm here to offer a choice."
Silence.
"The old ways are over. The master is dead. The Silver Crown is restored." She looked around at the faces—some hostile, some curious, some desperately hopeful. "Any wolf who wants to join us—who wants to be part of a new kingdom built on loyalty rather than fear—is welcome. No punishment. No retribution. Just... a new beginning."
She met Marlena's eyes.
"Anyone who chooses to follow her instead—" She let her power flare, just for an instant. Silver light blazing from her skin. "Will answer to me."
---
The hall held its breath.
Then, slowly, wolves began to move.
A few at first—the ones who'd clearly been waiting for this moment. They crossed the floor to stand behind Elara, their faces bright with relief. Then more. Then a flood.
Marlena watched, her face hardening with each defection.
"Traitors," she spat. "All of you. When I'm done with—"
"You're done." Kael stepped forward. "It's over, Marlena. You lost."
"The girl hasn't won yet." Marlena's eyes glittered with madness. "Kill them."
Her champion moved.
Massive. Fast. A blur of fur and teeth lunging toward Elara—
Kael intercepted.
Wolf met wolf in mid-air, crashing to the ground in a tangle of fury. The hall erupted again—but this time, wolves weren't fighting each other. They were watching. Waiting to see which way the battle would turn.
Elara's heart hammered. Through the bond, she felt Kael's focus—his determination, his strength, his absolute refusal to lose. But the champion was huge. Experienced. Dangerous.
I'm coming, she thought.
No. Stay back. Protect yourself.
I can help—
You ARE helping. By being here. By being their hope. Trust me.
She trusted him.
But watching him fight—watching him bleed—was the hardest thing she'd ever done.
---
The battle seemed to last forever.
Kael and the champion tore at each other, wolves in their element, primal and savage. Blood sprayed. Fur flew. The crowd pressed back, giving them room, giving them space.
And then, suddenly, it was over.
Kael's jaws closed around the champion's throat.
One moment, the massive wolf was fighting. The next, he went still. Submitted. Rolled onto his back, throat exposed, admitting defeat.
Kael released him. Stepped back. Shifted.
Naked, bloody, magnificent, he faced Marlena.
"Your champion yields. Your wolves have chosen." His voice was ice. "It's over."
Marlena stared at him. At Elara. At the crowd of wolves who now stood firmly behind their queen.
For one terrible moment, Elara thought she'd fight anyway. Thought she'd force them to kill her.
Then something in the elder's face crumbled.
"You've destroyed everything." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Everything I worked for. Everything I built."
"You built it on cruelty." Elara approached slowly. "On fear. On the suffering of others. That's not a foundation worth preserving."
Marlena's eyes met hers.
And for just a moment, Elara saw something beneath the hatred. Grief. Loss. The memory of a woman who'd once been different, once been better, before power corrupted her.
"Take her." Elara's voice was quiet. "She'll be judged fairly. Given a chance to answer for what she's done."
Wolves moved to obey.
Marlena didn't resist.
---
As they led her away, Kael reached Elara's side. Bloody. Wounded. Alive.
"You did it." His voice was rough. "You won."
"We won." She touched his face. "Together."
Around them, the great hall filled with cheers.
The queen had come home.
And Blackthorn—for the first time in months—had hope.
---
End of Chapter 23🐺