CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE MAP OF SHADOWS
1242 Words
"Alpha! You have to see this!"
The cry sliced through Greenwood like a knife.
I opened the door straight away. Movement was already filling the hallway. The warriors were rushing toward the center hall.
Others were coming out of their quarters with expressions of surprise on their faces.
This is happening again. And suddenly my stomach twisted in knots.
Not too long ago, Kieran had just left me standing outside my room.
And now, Greenwood is acting as if something else has happened.
I stepped into the hallway. "Ana." I spun around.
Lysa was rushing up to me.
Her eyes were wide. "Have you heard that?"
I nodded. "What is going on?" "I don't know."
But for the first time since I knew her, she looked scared.
Warriors kept rushing by us. "Did they find something?" one of them said.
"They found something on the dead body," another responded. Body? ohh. The intruder.
My heart was racing.
Lysa cast her eyes in the direction of the hall.
"We have to go." I paused. But then followed her.
The hall was already packed with wolves.
There were warriors lining the sides of the hall, elders in the front, and even the healer present.
Even Ronan, who looked tired from his injuries, had come. The atmosphere had changed considerably since the last meeting.
Less fear and more suspicion. Kieran occupied the center. There was a table which had been dragged to the middle of the hall.
There were some items on top of it. All eyes focused on them. I walked closer. Lysa kept up with me.
A warrior took a few steps forward. "Found these after a thorough inspection of the intruder's body."
A chorus of murmurs went on... Kieran raised his hand again. The mutters stopped.
"Report!" Kieran said with a really deep voice
Alpha a warrior called as he stepped forward, "The body was examined before removing it."
The warrior placed a piece of parchment on the table.
He carefully unfolded it. The warriors froze mid-step. It was a map. But not one showing the nearby territories.
And certainly not border paths. It was of Greenwood. My heart skipped a beat. Everything was mapped out.
The healers' quarters. The council hall. The storage places. The barracks. The living quarters.
Absolutely everything.
Growls sounded around the room. The warrior pointed at some symbols on the map. "These are the patrol paths."
Another murmur started. "Those are the shifts."
The hall went silent again.
By the looks of everyone around me, they knew precisely what it meant.
The intruder did not just come just to gather information. He came on his own to do what he wanted.
"One elder spoke up." "How accurate is it?" The warrior looked grim. "Very."
The response carried more weight than any amount of words. Because accuracy translated to knowledge.
And if the map was accurate, there must have been a collaborator. No other possibility crossed my mind.
The warrior put his hand in a bag. "There's something else." He dropped the thing on top of the map.
A token.
Wooden and bearing the seal of Greenwood.
More than a few warriors gasped.
I wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean.
From the way those around me reacted; Well that really should matter too much.
This token was important. Very important.
An elder gaped. "No." Another drew near.
"That cannot be."
The warrior shook his head again. "Hidden inside the intruder's clothing."
The murmur spread quickly through the chamber.
Kieran didn't say anything. He just stood there observing, listening and measuring.
Eventually he raised his voice. "Enough." Silence followed instantly. Kieran took the token.
Twirled it, Looked at it. Then laid it down again.
No emotion showed in his face. Somehow, that only made everything worse. "This token is genuine."
No one moved. everywhere became quite almost like no one could breathe.
A Greenwood token. not forged. its real. Ronan spoke up for the first time. "Then this means somebody helped him."
All heads turned towards Ronan. No one disputed him. Judging by the faces in the hall, I doubted that anybody could.
It was definitely apparent that somebody had helped the intruder. Somebody who was from Greenwood.
A chill crept up my spine. The man's words echoed through my mind.
There is someone inside here who is already making moves behind Kieran's back.
Back then, I didn't really believe anything. But now I wasn't so sure.
The elder slammed his staff on the floor. "We have to identify the traitor now." Another one nodded.
"Everybody should be questioned." "No." Kieran's voice cut them off. Silence descended again in the hall. He gazed at the pack.
"If there's a traitor inside Greenwood, our panic will only help them." He Paused.
"We continue with discipline." His eyes narrowed.
"But not fear." The warriors stood at attention.
The tension hung heavy in the air, but the shouting gradually subsided.
It was something I've noticed about Kieran before.
He just knew how to get in there and make sense out of everything.
Kieran looked at the assembled group. "Until this gets sorted out, Greenwood is on high alert."
His gaze swept the room. "If you have information, pass it along." No one said anything. No one moved. Silence lingered.
And then Kieran continued: "If anyone within Greenwood is working against us..."
He paused long enough for the meaning to sink in. "They will be held accountable." No further explanation was necessary.
Everyone knew what that meant. The room gradually dispersed. Yet the mood stayed uneasy.
Conversations broke out instantly. Hushed, wary and cautious.
Surveying my surroundings, I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone really knew whom to believe anymore.
With people starting to depart, my attention returned to the map. Something seemed off.
Neither the patrol routes nor the marks disturbed me. It was something more… My gaze sharpened.
Then I saw it. On the bottom margin of the map. A tiny symbol. Almost unnoticeable.
A marking belonging to no one from Greenwood.
I approached it, looking for a closer view.
Just as I was, a warrior grabbed the map from me and rolled it up. "You don't have the right to view that" he said and left with an angry look.
just like that It was gone. And although I couldn't say why, there was something about the symbol that stayed with me.
Something very significant. Very, very important...
suddenly the warrior who took the map from me uttered words that made everyone in the room go numb.
Alpha Kieran. "Token records have been examined." The room became still. The warrior's expression didn't change.
"Go on." "Yes, Alpha," he continued.
"The Greenwood token; taken by the intruder was not stolen."
A collective murmur spread through the group.
"The Greenwood token was signed out three days ago."
Everyone held their breaths and remained silent.
My heart dropped.
Because it meant that someone from inside Greenwood had willingly handed it to him.
"My question is," Kieran said, his tone neutral,
"who signed it out?"
The warrior looked down at the wooden record he carried. For the first time, he hesitated.
And everyone seemed to hold their breaths in unison. And then he lifted his head. "Alpha..."
He sounded distressed.
"... it was signed out under your authority."
Complete silence filled the room. Everyone's eyes focused on Alpha Kieran.
Everyone, including me. Did you do this? I asked myself silently. Kieran He...
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