Chapter 13 — The Secret That Destroyed Two Children
1527 Words
Elias was eleven years old when Avana first found him sitting alone behind an abandoned stone house on the northern edge of the Silver Fang territory.
The place had been abandoned for years. Most wolves avoided it because they believed restless spirits wandered through the ruins after sunset.
Avana didn't believe those stories.
She was only ten years old.
She had lived with her uncle, Beta Rowan, ever since her parents were killed in a rogue attack when she was six. Rowan was one of Alpha Victor's most trusted advisers, and everyone in the pack respected him.
To Avana, he was simply Uncle Rowan.
She had no idea that adults could wear kindness like a mask.
That afternoon, she wandered through the forest after finishing her chores when she noticed a boy sitting beneath the old oak tree behind the abandoned house.
His shirt was torn.
Fresh blood had dried above his eyebrow.
His right hand was clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
He looked angry.
No...
He looked completely alone.
Avana stopped a few feet away.
"Who hurt you?"
The boy immediately looked up.
His gray eyes were cold despite his young age.
"Go away."
Avana frowned.
"I asked you a question."
"And I answered it."
She glanced at the empty space beside him before walking over and sitting down.
Elias stared at her.
"What are you doing?"
"Keeping you company."
"I don't need company."
"You look like you do."
He rolled his eyes.
"You don't even know me."
"I can fix that."
He sighed.
"You talk too much."
"So people keep telling me."
For the first time, the corner of his mouth almost lifted.
That was how their conversations began.
The next day, Avana returned.
Then the day after that.
Sometimes she brought bread she had secretly stolen from the kitchen.
Sometimes she brought apples.
Sometimes she brought nothing except endless conversations.
Little by little, the lonely boy who hated everyone stopped telling her to leave.
Then Elias started waiting for her.
Neither of them knew that their friendship would one day destroy them both.
Months before they met, Elias's life had fallen apart.
His father, Gabriel Hale, had served as the Silver Fang Pack's chief accountant.
Every tribute collected from neighbouring territories, every payment made to the soldiers, and every piece of silver that entered or left the treasury passed through Gabriel's hands.
Then he discovered something he was never supposed to find.
Millions of silver coins meant to feed the pack and strengthen its defences had disappeared.
The money hadn't been stolen by outsiders.
It had been stolen by wolves within the Silver Fang Pack.
Even worse, someone had secretly been selling the pack's patrol routes and border defenses to rival packs.
Gabriel quietly began gathering evidence.
Instead of confronting the Alpha immediately, he created a record that no one could destroy.
A small black leather ledger.
Inside it were names, secret payments.
Meeting dates.
Amounts of missing money.
Hidden symbols identifying the traitors.
It was enough to expose everyone involved.
One name appeared again and again.
Beta Rowan.
Avana's uncle.
But before Gabriel could reveal the truth, the conspirators struck first.
They forged evidence accusing Gabriel of treason.
Within two days, he was arrested before the entire pack.
The Alpha believed the false evidence.
Gabriel was imprisoned.
His family lost everything.
Their house was confiscated.
Their reputation was destroyed.
Other children were warned never to speak to Elias because they believed the blood of a traitor was cursed.
Only Elias knew the truth.
The night before his arrest, Gabriel had hidden the black ledger beneath a loose stone inside their old house.
After the soldiers dragged his father away, Elias secretly retrieved it.
His father had left him one message.
"If anything happens to me, never let this fall into their hands."
Elias obeyed.
He hid the ledger beneath his clothes wherever he went.
He trusted no one.
Until he started seeing Avana as his friend.
Several months later, they sat beneath their favourite tree behind the abandoned stone house.
Elias looked around to make sure they were alone.
Then he carefully pulled a small black leather book from beneath his shirt.
Avana blinked.
"What's that?"
"My father's ledger."
She instinctively reached for it.
He immediately pulled it back.
"Don't touch it."
"Why?"
"Because people have already tried to kill for it."
Her smile disappeared.
"What's inside?"
"The truth."
"What truth?"
"My father never betrayed the pack."
She stared at him.
"Then why don't you give it to Alpha Victor?"
Elias shook his head.
"Because the wolves who framed my father are people the Alpha already trusts."
He opened the ledger just enough for her to see rows of numbers, names, and strange coded symbols.
"I don't understand everything."
"But you know enough."
He nodded.
"If the wrong people find this, they'll destroy it."
"What will you do?"
"I'm leaving Silver Fang."
Her eyes widened.
"When?"
"As soon as I find someone outside this territory who will listen and help."
"You can't go alone."
"I have to."
"I'll come with you."
Elias let out a soft laugh.
"You are ten."
"So?"
"You have never even left the territory."
"I'll still help, even though I live with my uncle in the Silver Fang territory."
He looked at her for a long moment.
"Why?"
She answered without hesitation.
"Because you are my childhood friend."
Something inside Elias softened.
No one had stood by him since his father was arrested.
No one except Avana.
He closed the ledger.
"Tomorrow evening."
"What?"
"I will be leaving tomorrow."
"I will meet you."
"At the old woods near the western border."
"I promise."
"You won't tell anyone?"
"I swear."
Elias believed her completely.
That evening, Avana returned to the Beta's residence.
The front door was already open.
Three warriors stood inside.
Her uncle, Beta Rowan, was waiting.
His expression was unusually calm.
"Where have you been?"
" Just walking."
"With whom?"
"No one."
Rowan slowly walked toward her.
"Avana."
She lowered her gaze.
"You've been meeting Gabriel Hale's son."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"I..."
Before she could answer, another man entered the room.
It was Marcus, the captain of the Beta's guards.
"We confirmed it," Marcus said quietly.
"You and Elias have been meeting behind the abandoned stone house."
Rowan dismissed the guards.
When they were alone, he knelt in front of Avana.
His voice became gentle.
"I need you to tell me something."
She remained silent.
"Does Elias have his father's ledger?"
Her eyes widened.
She hadn't said a word.
How did they know?
"I don't know."
Rowan sighed.
"Avana... listen carefully."
She looked up.
"The wolves searching for that ledger aren't working for me."
"They aren't?"
He shook his head.
"If they reach Elias first, they'll kill him."
Fear flooded her chest.
"No..."
"I'm trying to protect him."
"You promise?"
"I give you my word."
Avana wanted to believe him.
He was her uncle.
He had raised her.
He had bandaged her knees after every childhood fall.
He had read her bedtime stories.
He had never lied to her.
Or so she believed.
"Where is Elias going?"
She bit her lip.
"I promised."
"I know."
"But every minute you stay silent brings
him closer to death."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I don't know exactly."
"But you know where he'll be tonight."
Avana breathing became uneven.
She remembered Elias smiling.
She remembered the trust in his eyes.
She remembered her promise.
"I..."
Her uncle waited patiently.
Finally, she whispered.
"The old woods near the western border."
The moment the words left her mouth…
She wished she could take them back.
Rowan immediately stood.
"Marcus!"
The captain rushed inside.
"Move now."
The warriors ran out of the house.
Avana's eyes widened.
"You promised!"
Rowan grabbed her shoulders.
"I am trying to save him."
"No!"
She struggled desperately.
"You said you wouldn't hurt him!
"I won't if we reach him first."
She tried to run after the warriors.
Rowan held her back.
"Uncle, please!"
She screamed until her voice became hoarse.
But the warriors had already disappeared into the forest.
As the last rays of sunlight vanished behind the mountains, Elias reached the old woods.
The black ledger rested safely beneath his shirt.
A small smile touched his lips.
Avana would come.
She always kept her promises.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty minutes.
Then thirty minutes.
Two hours later, darkness had swallowed the forest whole.
The smile faded.
Elias slowly rose to his feet. Every sound in the woods suddenly seemed too loud.
"Avana...?" he called.
Only silence answered.
His chest tightened.
His hand instinctively covered the black ledger beneath his shirt.
"Avana..." he whispered. "Was this your plan all along? Did you send me here so someone else could take the ledger?"
Then—
A twig snapped deep within the old woods.
Elias spun toward the sound, his heart pounding.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
The forest fell silent again.
His eyes narrowed.
A cold chill raced down his spine.
"If that isn't you, Avana..." he said, his voice low and steady
"then who's hiding in the dark ? Come out and show yourself.”
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