THE ALPHA THEY TRIED TO ERASE

Chapter 8: The Name They Buried

Lucas POV

The council chamber had never felt smaller.

Lucas Voss stood at the head of the long black table, staring at the documents spread before him.

Aariana Calder's return had changed the balance of power overnight.

But the boy had changed something else.

Wren.

Lucas had repeated the name several times since yesterday.

He could still picture the child standing in the corridor, chin lifted, shoulders squared with an odd confidence for someone so young.

There had been something familiar about him.

Not merely his face.

His stance.

The way he watched people before speaking.

The way his eyes narrowed whenever someone tried to tell him something he did not believe.

Lucas had seen those traits in himself.

He had also seen them in Aariana.

That should have been enough to dismiss the thought.

Instead, it had kept him awake.

The chamber doors opened.

Council members entered one after another.

At the center of them was High Councillor Marcus Vale.

Lucas's jaw tightened.

Vale had served the Voss family for decades. He had been present during Lucas's father's reign and had remained beside Lucas when he became Alpha.

He was respected.

Trusted.

And now Lucas knew at least one person in this room had lied to him five years ago.

He did not know who.

Yet.

"Alpha."

Vale took his seat.

"The succession hearing begins tomorrow."

"I know."

"The council recommends that Aariana Calder be questioned about her claim."

Lucas looked up.

"Her claim is legitimate."

Vale's expression remained calm.

"That remains to be determined."

Lucas pushed one of the documents across the table.

"Her Alpha status has been recognized by Blackridge Pack."

"That does not give her a blood claim to Voss territory."

"No."

Lucas tapped another page.

"But her son does."

Silence.

Several council members exchanged glances.

Vale's fingers stopped moving.

Lucas noticed.

Interesting.

"The boy's name is Wren Calder," Vale said carefully.

"I know."

"His father has never been identified."

Lucas leaned back.

"That is what concerns me."

Vale's eyes sharpened.

"Why?"

"Because five years ago, I was told Aariana betrayed this pack."

No one answered.

"I was told she had chosen another man."

Lucas's voice remained controlled.

"I was told she had abandoned her marriage and fled."

Vale folded his hands.

"Those were the facts available at the time."

Lucas stared at him.

"No. Those were the facts you gave me."

The room became completely silent.

One councillor shifted uncomfortably.

Vale did not.

"Alpha, I understand your emotions."

"This isn't about emotion."

Lucas stood.

"It is about evidence."

He pulled a folder from beneath the documents.

"The original betrayal report."

He opened it.

"Signed by Councillor Vale."

Vale's face remained unreadable.

Lucas continued.

"The report claims Aariana was seen meeting an unknown male outside the eastern boundary."

"Correct."

"The witness who supposedly saw her was named Elias Thorn."

"Yes."

Lucas placed another paper beside the first.

"Elias Thorn died three months before the report was filed."

A councillor gasped.

Vale's expression finally changed.

Only slightly.

Lucas saw it.

That was enough.

"So either a dead man submitted your evidence," Lucas said, "or someone forged his name."

Vale's voice hardened.

"Be careful, Alpha."

"I am being careful."

Lucas stepped closer.

"I have spent five years believing my wife betrayed me."

The word wife felt strange now.

Aariana had never stopped being his wife in his mind, even after the council annulled the marriage.

He had simply convinced himself that she had chosen to leave.

"Five years," he continued. "I carried the shame of believing I wasn't enough to keep her."

His hand tightened around the folder.

"And now I find out the evidence against her may have been fabricated."

Vale stood.

"The past is irrelevant."

Lucas laughed once.

It held no humor.

"The past is exactly why she's standing in our territory now."

Vale's eyes narrowed.

"You invited this by allowing her to enter."

"No."

Lucas's voice dropped.

"You invited it when you erased her."

The chamber doors suddenly opened.

A guard entered.

"Alpha."

Lucas turned.

"What?"

"The boy."

His chest tightened.

"Wren?"

The guard nodded.

"He is waiting outside."

Lucas frowned.

"Why?"

"He says he has something for you."

Lucas looked toward the doors.

Before he could answer, Wren walked inside.

He carried a small wooden box.

Aariana's son looked at the council without fear.

Several men stared at him.

Wren ignored them.

His eyes went directly to Lucas.

"I found this."

Lucas crouched slightly.

"Where?"

"In the old records room."

Every councillor in the chamber went still.

Lucas glanced at Vale.

The councillor's face had gone pale.

"What did you find?" Lucas asked.

Wren held out the box.

"This."

Lucas took it.

The box was old, scratched, and sealed with a faded Voss crest.

His pulse quickened.

"Where did you get the key?"

Wren pointed toward the hallway.

"It was inside a broken desk."

Lucas opened the box.

Inside lay a small bundle of papers.

At the top was a marriage certificate.

Lucas recognized the handwriting immediately.

His own.

His name.

Aariana Calder's name.

Their secret marriage.

His fingers trembled.

The council had told him the original document was destroyed when the marriage was annulled.

But it was here.

And beneath it was another document.

Lucas unfolded it.

His eyes moved across the page.

Then stopped.

A birth record.

Mother: Aariana Calder.

Father: Lucas Voss.

Child: Wren Calder.

The room disappeared.

For several seconds, Lucas could hear nothing.

Not the council.

Not the guards.

Not even his own breathing.

His son.

The boy standing in front of him was his son.

Wren looked up at him.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Lucas couldn't answer.

He looked toward Vale.

The councillor had gone completely still.

"You knew."

It was barely a whisper.

Vale said nothing.

Lucas stood slowly.

"You knew."

Vale's silence was an answer.

Rage burned through Lucas's chest.

"How long?"

Vale finally spoke.

"Alpha, there are matters of the council that were handled for the protection of this pack."

Lucas slammed the birth record onto the table.

"You stole five years from me."

Vale's expression hardened.

"We protected the succession."

"From my own son?"

"From instability."

Lucas stared at him.

Then he looked at Wren.

The child was watching him with confusion, unaware of the weight of the papers in Lucas's hands.

Lucas's voice became dangerously quiet.

"Who ordered it?"

Vale's eyes shifted.

Just once.

Toward the older councillor seated at the far end of the table.

Lucas followed his gaze.

The man lowered his eyes.

Lucas understood.

This conspiracy went deeper than one forged report.

Someone had planned Aariana's removal.

Someone had hidden his son.

Someone had spent five years deciding what Lucas was allowed to know about his own life.

And now Aariana was back.

Lucas closed his hand around the birth record.

He looked at Wren again.

His son.

Then toward the chamber doors.

"Aariana needs to hear this from me."

Vale stepped forward.

"Alpha, I strongly advise against—"

Lucas cut him off.

"Your advice is no longer welcome."

He walked toward the door.

Behind him, Vale spoke one final time.

"If you tell her the truth, you will destroy this council."

Lucas stopped.

He turned his head.

"Good."

Then he looked at the birth record in his hand.

"And tomorrow, I'm going to find out exactly who tried to erase my family."