Chapter 11
1122 Words
The spark of war
The dawn broke harshly over the Shadow Pack lands and a storm of boots echoed in the palace corridors, guards moving at a fierce pace, and their voices tight with fear. Suddenly the doors slammed open, with torches burning, the wolves tried prowling in their half-shifted forms.
But when they got into the house, Aria was already gone.
The news quickly reached the great hall, and this made Alpha Draco’s face turn cold. He sat in silence, his hands clasped so tightly that the veins bulged in his skin. The council whispered around him, with their words mixed with disbelief and dread.
Minutes later, the heavy doors groaned open, and the sound of approaching steps froze the air.
Hugo Blackwell entered like a shadow descending from hell. His presence filled the chamber before his voice even spoke. His eyes, looking sharp and merciless, swept the hall until they landed on Draco.
“Where is she?” Hugo’s tone started as calm, but almost too calm, and that calmness was worse than a roar.
Draco rose from his seat, and his shoulders became stiff. “Hugo, we have just discovered…”
“Spare me.” Hugo’s voice cut him down like a blade before he could finish his statements. He stepped forward, his furcoat trailing across the stone floor. “The girl is gone? Your daughter…My promised mate. Do not speak to me of discovery instead of betrayal.”
The council felt heat rising in their bodies, no one dared to meet Hugo’s eye.
“My daughter would not betray me,” Draco said carefully, though his throat felt dry. “She is strong-willed, yes, but this is unlike her.”
Hugo burst out a short and sharp laughter. “Unlike her? You think I do not know what happened in the forest? She saved him.” His lip curved. “The most wanted enemy of our generation. She put her hands on him, but then she chose him over her own blood. And you call that unlike her?”
Draco’s heart sank. “She is young… she does not understand…”
“She understands enough to spit in my face,” Hugo snapped, his calm tone slipping, as his anger rose like a wave. “And do you know what I see in this? I see weakness, Draco. I see disloyalty. You promised me her hand to keep peace between our packs, and now she runs. Runs to whom? To him? To Thorne’s son?”
The name burned across the room. Even the guards stiffened at it.
Draco swallowed hard. “You cannot know that.”
“I do not need proof,” Hugo growled in a low and dangerous voice. “I need only the scent of treachery. And it reeks in this hall.”
Draco’s fists trembled at his side. “I will find her, and she will be returned to you. I promise this alliance will not break.”
Hugo leaned closer to Draco, his breath hot with anger. “And you think I will wait? You think I will sit idle while your daughter warms the bed of my enemy? No, Draco. I will not be made a fool, because I will take blood for this.”
The council erupted into protest, voices clashing. “Alpha Hugo, this is madness!” one elder cried. “There is no proof she is with Thorne’s heir!”
Hugo turned on him with a glare so fierce the elder fell silent, trembling.
“Madness?” Hugo’s voice rumbled now, shaking the hall. “Madness is allowing rogues to live. Madness is letting my warriors bleed while children play at love in the shadows. Madness is weakness. And I will cut the weakness from this land.”
Draco stepped forward, his voice cracked through the tension. “If you wage war on Thorne’s pack, you will destroy us all. The Breach is forbidden and it will tear the land apart.”
Hugo’s smile was cold. “Says the man that his wife got killed by the same pack…”
“Do not talk about my wife.” Draco turned in anger pointing his finger at Hugo.
“And what will you do?” Hugo challenged him chest to chest. “You all are a bunch of cowards. I don't know what my father saw in this pack that he derived so much interest in letting you all live.” he hissed. “But as for me, if the land will tear, then let it tear.”
Outside the hall, wolves gathered, drawn by the rising heat of their Alphas’ voices. The tension rippled like fire through dry grass.
Inside, Hugo’s fury coiled tighter. He struck the table with his fist, the wood splintering under the blow. “I will not wait for your daughter’s return. She chose her side when she vanished into the night. And I will answer her choice with war.”
Draco’s chest heaved. His voice dropped to a plea. “Hugo, listen to me. If my Luna were here, she would tell you…” He stopped himself, pain cutting his words short.
But Hugo sneered. “Your Luna is gone, Draco. You are alone. And you will bend to me, as you always have.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Draco stared at the man before him. Once, Hugo had been the most trusted ally, and their packs had stood together. But now Draco saw the truth: Hugo wanted domination, not unity. His daughter was only the excuse.
Draco lowered his gaze, hiding the fire in his eyes. “If you do this… if you strike Thorne’s pack… you will unleash something you cannot contain.”
“Then let it burn,” Hugo said, his voice like ice.
The council disbanded in fear, their whispers chasing them into the corridors. Draco remained in the hall long after Hugo stormed out, with a heavy thought, he sank into his chair.
Above, the banners of Shadow Pack swayed in the morning breeze. But in the streets below, wolves muttered uneasily. Rumors had spread that Aria had fled, and Hugo had been betrayed. Therefore War is coming.
That night, as the moon climbed high, Hugo’s army began to march. The earth trembled beneath their boots, their banners snapping in the wind. The Breach had begun.
And in the silence of her mountain cave, Aria felt the tremor ripple through her bones. She pressed her palm against the cold stone, her wolf howling inside her. The world she had tried to escape was coming to find her.
She closed her eyes, and for the first time since she fled, fear carved into her chest.
War is coming.
- Writer
