KAEL
Kael barely made it to the records room before his hands started shaking.
Ember's words echoed in his head. Her voice breaking as she described watching Seraphina kill her mother. The tears on her face that looked too real to be fake.
She was lying. She had to be lying.
Rogues were trained manipulators. They knew how to twist truth into weapons. How to make Alphas doubt themselves.
That was all this was. Manipulation.
Kael yanked open the filing cabinet so hard the drawer nearly came off its hinges. He grabbed every folder marked Blackthorn. Ten years ago. The conflict that killed his father.
The official report sat on top. Kael had read it dozens of times over the years. A territorial dispute. The Blackthorn Alpha attacked Silvercrest borders without provocation. His father led the defense. Died heroically protecting his pack.
Minimal casualties on both sides. Honorable combat. Clean resolution.
Kael spread the papers across the table and started reading.
The first page looked normal. Date of conflict. Location. Initial casualty count.
Then he noticed something odd.
The date was listed as March 15th. But the witness statement from his father's Beta said the attack happened on March 18th.
Three days difference.
Kael frowned and flipped to the next page. Another witness statement. This one said March 20th.
That made no sense. How could the same battle happen on three different dates?
He kept reading. His frown deepened.
The casualty count changed between pages. First it said twelve Blackthorn wolves killed. Then twenty-three. Then the number was crossed out entirely with no replacement.
Entire sections were missing. Pages numbered 7 through 12 just gone. The report jumped from initial contact to aftermath with nothing in between.
Where was the middle of the story?
Kael's chest tightened. He grabbed another folder. This one contained individual witness statements from Silvercrest warriors who participated.
He read the first statement. A wolf named Marcus described a quick skirmish at the border. Blackthorn wolves retreating after minimal fighting.
The second statement from a different wolf described a full assault. Hours of combat. Blackthorn wolves fighting to the last.
They could not both be true.
Kael's hands shook as he kept reading. Every statement contradicted the others. Some said the fight lasted minutes. Others said it went all night. Some said his father died early in the battle. Others said he died at the very end.
Nothing matched.
It was like reading five different battles instead of one.
And nowhere in any of the reports was Seraphina mentioned. Not once. Like she was not even there.
But Ember said she was. Said she led the massacre personally.
Kael wanted to dismiss it as lies. Wanted to believe the official records his pack kept for ten years.
But the records did not make sense. Dates wrong. Numbers changing. Entire sections missing.
Someone altered these files. Removed pages. Changed details.
Why would anyone do that unless they were hiding something?
Dawn light filtered through the window. Kael did not remember the night passing. He was surrounded by papers. Notes scribbled on scraps. Timelines that did not match.
His head pounded. His ribs ached from where Ember cut him. The mate bond pulled at his chest, reminding him she was just downstairs. Close enough to reach.
Close enough to ask more questions he was terrified to hear answered.
Footsteps in the hallway made him look up.
Ronan stood in the doorway. His Beta took in the scene with growing concern. Papers everywhere. Kael looking half wild with exhaustion and doubt.
"You have been here all night." Ronan's voice was careful. "The pack is worried. Lyanna keeps asking when the execution will happen."
"The records are wrong." Kael's voice was rough from not speaking for hours. "Look at this. Dates do not match. Witness statements contradict each other. Entire pages missing."
Ronan moved closer. Picked up one of the folders. Scanned it quickly.
"Records get messy during conflicts. Wolves remember things differently. That does not mean anything."
"It means someone altered them." Kael stood abruptly. His chair scraped against the floor. "Someone went through these files and changed details. Removed information. Why would they do that?"
"Kael." Ronan set the folder down. "You cannot seriously believe her. She is a rogue. A murderer. Of course she is going to lie and say Seraphina was the villain. It is basic manipulation."
"Then explain the records." Kael shoved papers across the table. "Explain why nothing matches. Why dates are wrong. Why casualty counts change on every page."
Ronan was quiet for a moment. Then he sighed.
"Even if the records are incomplete, that does not prove Seraphina did what Ember claims. You are looking for evidence to support what you want to believe."
"What I want to believe?" Kael's voice rose. "I want to believe my mate was innocent. That the rogue in my cells is lying. But the evidence is not supporting that."
"The mate bond is clouding your judgment."
"Stop saying that!" Kael's Alpha power flared. The windows rattled. "I am investigating. I am looking for truth. That is what a good Alpha does."
Ronan held his ground. "A good Alpha does not let emotion compromise his duty. You made a blood oath, Kael. To the Moon Goddess herself. You swore to bring Seraphina's killer to justice."
"And what if Seraphina deserved it?" The words came out before Kael could stop them.
Ronan's expression hardened. "You do not mean that."
"I do not know what I mean anymore." Kael dragged his hands through his hair. "I thought I knew Seraphina. Thought I knew what happened ten years ago. Now I am finding holes in every story I was told."
"So what, you are just going to believe Ember instead? A rogue who spent ten years killing Alphas?"
"I want Seraphina's personal journals." Kael's voice was steady despite the chaos in his head. "Every single one. She kept detailed records. If something happened at Blackthorn, she would have written about it."
Ronan's face went carefully blank. "Her chambers were cleaned out after she died. Most of her belongings were given to Lyanna."
"Then get them from Lyanna. I want those journals on my desk within the hour."
"Kael, you are letting the bond cloud your judgment. You are looking for reasons to keep Ember alive when you should be planning her execution."
Kael's hands curled into fists. "Get me the journals. That is an order."
Alpha command leaked into his voice. Undeniable. Absolute.
Ronan took a step back. His expression shifted to something like hurt.
"I have been your Beta for ten years. Your friend for twenty. I have never questioned your leadership." Ronan's voice was quiet. "But this is wrong, Kael. You are compromising everything for a mate bond that should not even exist."
"I know what I am doing."
"Do you?" Ronan met his eyes. "Because from where I stand, you are about to destroy your pack for a rogue who rejected you. Who will never accept you. Who wants you dead."
The words hit harder than Kael expected. Because Ronan was right. Ember made her position clear. She hated him. Hated his bloodline. Hated everything he represented.
The mate bond did not change that.
But it also did not change the inconsistencies in the records. The missing pages. The contradicting statements.
Something happened at Blackthorn. Something bad enough that someone went through great effort to hide it.
Kael needed to know what.
"Get me the journals." His voice was firm. "I will not ask again."
Ronan stared at him for a long moment. Then he nodded once and turned to leave.
He paused at the door. "You are making a mistake. One that will cost you everything."
Then he was gone.
Kael stood alone in the records room surrounded by evidence of lies. His whole world was cracking. Everything he believed about his father's death. About Seraphina's character. About the pack's honor.
What if it was all built on blood and deception?
What if Ember was telling the truth?
A sudden pressure in his mind made him wince. Someone linking him urgently through the pack connection. One of the border guards.
Kael opened the link reluctantly.
The guard's voice was tense. Worried.
"Alpha, Ironclaw Pack just arrived at our borders. Fifty armed wolves. Dorian Ashford is demanding to see you immediately."
Kael's stomach dropped. "Why is he here?"
"He says he has jurisdiction over the rogue prisoner. That Ember Blackthorn killed Ironclaw wolves too. He is demanding extradition."
Of course he was. Dorian probably heard about Kael bringing Ember back alive instead of delivering her corpse. Saw weakness. Opportunity.
"Tell him I will meet him at the border in twenty minutes."
"Alpha, he is not asking politely. He has an army with him. This looks like a prelude to war."
Kael's jaw clenched. "I said twenty minutes. Keep them at the border. Do not let them cross into our territory."
He severed the link before the guard could respond.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
His pack was demanding Ember's execution. His Beta thought he was compromised. The records proved someone was lying about Blackthorn. And now a rival Alpha was at his borders demanding the mate Kael could not bring himself to kill.
Everything was falling apart.
The mate bond pulsed in his chest. Still there despite Ember's rejection. Still tying him to the woman who might be the victim instead of the villain.
Kael looked at the papers scattered across the table. Evidence of deception. Of altered truth.
He thought about Ember's face when she described watching Seraphina kill her mother. The raw pain in her voice. The tears that looked too real to fake.
What if she was not lying?
What if the Luna he mourned for three years was actually a monster?
Kael needed those journals. Needed to see Seraphina's own words. Needed proof one way or the other before he made a decision that would destroy everything.
But first he had to deal with Dorian.
The rival Alpha who smelled blood in the water. Who would use Kael's hesitation as ammunition to start a war.
Kael straightened his shoulders. Pushed down the exhaustion and doubt. Became the Alpha his pack needed.
He could fall apart later.
Right now he had a territory to protect and a mate to keep alive long enough to find the truth.
Even if that truth destroyed him.