Hated By The Alpha Bound To Me (Completed)

Chapter 48 - Questions Without Answers

The days following Marina's confession passed more quietly than Elara expected.

Elara didn't see Marina around the pack and suspected she was keeping herself out of sight.

Thorne seemed different, relieved that the spy had finally been found.

Some of the tension had disappeared from his shoulders. He spent less time buried in reports and more time moving through the territory. The constant edge she'd grown accustomed to seeing had faded.

Which was exactly why she knew something was wrong when Nyra appeared in her room before sunset.

Her friend didn't bother with greetings.

She stepped through the open window and immediately began pacing.

Elara watched her for several seconds.

"That bad?"

Nyra stopped.

"Possibly."

That immediately got her attention.

"What happened?"

"I found your councilwoman."

Andrea.

Elara straightened.

"And?"

Nyra folded her arms.

"I don't want you meeting her."

The response didn't catch her completely off guard. Andrea had approached her with answers far too easily, and the secrets she readily offered had left Elara uneasy from the start.

"What did you find?"

"I found enough to know I don't trust her."

Elara stared.

A dozen arguments immediately surfaced.

Andrea had approached her openly.

She had shared information without hesitation.

And she had been right about the missing records.

"Why?"

Nyra's expression hardened.

"Because something about her is wrong."

That wasn't an explanation, but Elara trusted Nyra with her life.

"Okay, maybe start with what happened."

A frustrated breath escaped Nyra.

She moved deeper into the room. Elara noticed how her eyes swept over the door, the window, and every possible exit. Her head tilted slightly as she listened for movement beyond the walls.

Whatever she had discovered, she wasn't taking chances.

"I watched her for four days."

Elara remained silent.

"When she leaves the archives, she checks every street before crossing."

Elara frowned.

That wasn't unusual.

Nyra continued anyway.

"She never takes the same route twice."

A deeper crease formed between Elara's brows.

"She changes direction whenever someone falls in behind her."

The unease in Nyra's voice was impossible to miss.

"She notices things."

"What things?"

"Everything."

The answer came immediately.

She counted them off on her fingers.

"People."

"Exits."

"Blind spots."

"Who enters a room."

"Who leaves."

Her hand dropped.

"Archivists don't move like that." She pursed her lips. "The council doesn't move like that either. They always have guards nearby."

Elara understood what Nyra was trying to say.

Council members walked through life expecting protection.

Andrea behaved like someone expecting an attack.

The thought sent a chill through her.

Elara thought back to the day she met Andrea in the hallway.

The easy smile.

The calm conversation.

The woman who appeared far more interested in records than politics.

None of it matched what Nyra was describing.

"Maybe she's cautious."

"No."

The certainty in Nyra's voice surprised her.

"I've spent my life around cautious people."

That was difficult to argue with.

Nyra herself was living proof.

"Then who do you think she is?"

A long silence followed.

Finally, Nyra exhaled.

"I don't know."

The answer bothered Elara more than any theory could have.

Nyra always had theories.

Always had explanations.

Seeing her without either felt wrong.

Elara looked away briefly before returning her attention to her friend.

"What about the records?"

That at least shifted the conversation toward something solid.

"The missing documents are real."

Elara's attention sharpened.

Nyra nodded.

"Andrea wasn't lying about that."

Relief eased some of the tension from her shoulders.

"So she found something."

"Several things."

Nyra moved toward the desk.

"There are references to reports that no longer exist."

Elara remembered Andrea saying the same thing.

"One report is referenced repeatedly in council records from the years leading up to the war."

"What was it?"

"That's the problem."

Nyra met her gaze.

"Nobody knows."

The answer made no sense.

"It vanished."

"Completely?"

Nyra nodded.

"Council members quoted it. Decisions were made because of it. Entire discussions reference its conclusions."

Yet the report itself no longer existed.

Elara's stomach tightened.

"Someone removed it."

"I think so."

Nyra glanced toward the closed door.

"And I don't think it was the only one."

Silence filled the room.

Outside, voices drifted across the territory as pack members returned home for the evening.

Neither woman paid attention.

"What do we do now?"

"Nothing."

Elara blinked.

"Nothing?"

"Not until I know more."

"Andrea asked me to meet her."

"I know."

"The meeting isn't for another week."

"Good."

Nyra's gaze hardened.

"Keep it that way."

Elara folded her arms.

"You're ordering me now?"

"No."

Some of the tension left Nyra's expression.

"I'm asking you to trust me."

That gave her pause.

Nyra rarely asked for anything.

"Why?"

For the first time since arriving, uncertainty crossed her friend's face.

Not fear.

Concern.

The kind Nyra rarely showed.

"The information checks out."

Elara waited.

"The missing records are real."

She waited.

Nyra's jaw tightened.

"But Andrea doesn't act like someone who accidentally stumbled onto a secret."

Elara bit the inside of her cheek.

"You think she's lying?"

"No."

She rubbed her temples.

The conversation was beginning to give her a headache.

"I think she's telling the truth."

A knot formed in Elara's stomach.

"Then what's the problem?"

Nyra held her gaze.

"Just not all of it."

Andrea had offered answers.

Now Elara found herself questioning every part of that conversation.

Silence stretched between them.

Outside, the last rays of sunlight painted the room in shades of gold and amber.

Inside, Elara couldn't shake the feeling that the mystery surrounding the missing records had just become far more complicated.

She released a slow breath.

"Did you find anything about Draven?"

Nyra hesitated.

The hesitation immediately caught her attention.

"I found one report regarding his death."

Elara straightened.

"And?"

Nyra's expression became guarded.

"It stated that Draven died from poisoning."

Elara's stomach dropped, she knew that but hearing it confirmed again brought up a rush of emotions she didn't know how to deal with.

"Draegon was mentioned several times throughout the report."

Nyra crossed the room and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Elara, I think Draegon was connected to your brother's death. Just as you suspected."

The words struck like a physical blow.

Her pulse hammered against her ribs.

Having a suspicion about something is one thing, finding that there is a link between her brother's death and Draegon, that was entirely somehting else. She thought about Draven, his laughter, his smile, the way he would joke around in training with her and most of all Draven promising that nothing would ever happen to her, he just never promised her that nothing will ever happen to him, she missed him terribly.

"The problem is that the council was never able to prove how." Nyra continued. Unaware of where Elara's thoughts had drifted.

Elara had to swallow a few times before she was able to push her sadness away.

"Nyra." she whispered. "Get me the information I need, and get back here as soon as you can." Nyra nodded and with a gentle pat on Elara's shoulder she dissapeared through the window, leaving no trace of her ever being there behind.