Bargaining Chip
1623 Words
Meanwhile… back at Crestmoon Pack.
The heavy wooden doors of the council hall groaned as they were pushed open once again. The tension in the air was thicker than before—so dense it seemed to cling to the stone walls themselves. Alpha Kadel sat at the head of the long council table, his posture rigid, his hands clenched tightly against the armrests of his chair.
Beta Stefan stood beside him, a sealed parchment clutched in his hands.
The moment Stefan broke the seal and read the contents aloud, the color drained from his face.
Silence fell for barely a heartbeat—Then the hall erupted.
“What madness is this?!”
"I knew he was the devil itself!"
“Draven BloodFall is asking for our throats!”
“Forty thousand harvested crops?! Does he want us dead?”
“This is worse than Carlo—far worse!”
Voices overlapped violently, council elders shouting over one another, fear and outrage twisting their words into chaos. Some slammed their palms against the table, others rose to their feet, their expressions pale with terror.
One elder snarled, “It would be better to bow to Carlo than to sell ourselves to the devil of BloodFall!”
Another shouted back, “Carlo will bleed us dry and still destroy us! At least Draven can stop him!”
“And what then?” an elder barked. “After Draven takes a third of our land and starves us for a year, what will remain of Crestmoon?”
“Nothing!” someone yelled. “Nothing but ashes!”
The accusations flew like arrows. They accused Draven of seeking Crestmoon’s downfall.
Some accused Alpha Kadel of even daring to consider such terms.
Others accused fate, tradition, and the Moon Goddess herself.
Through it all— Alpha Kadel remained silent.
His gaze was fixed on the letter in Stefan’s hands, but he wasn’t truly seeing it anymore. His mind churned relentlessly.
Forty thousand harvested crops?!. They could barely scrape together a thousand this year.
A third of Crestmoon’s land? Land his ancestors had bled to protect.
Yet if he rejected Draven’s terms… Carlo would invade.
Silverfang would burn Crestmoon to the ground. Women, children, elders—slaughtered or enslaved if Carlo decided to be merciful.
His jaw tightened painfully. If I refuse Draven, my people die.
But if he agreed… Crestmoon would survive.
Under the shadow of a greater tyrant.
A devil who never gave without taking far more in return.
Elder Peng finally raised his frail hand, and the hall fell quiet instantly.
Slowly, the aged elder rose to his feet, leaning heavily on his staff. His eyes, clouded by age but sharp with experience, rested on Alpha Kadel.
“My Alpha,” he said gravely, “this is not a choice between good and evil.”
He paused, letting his words sink in.“This is a choice between destruction now… and destruction delayed.” A murmur rippled through the hall.
Elder Peng continued, “If Carlo attacks, Crestmoon will fall within days. We are not prepared for war. Our warriors are not rested. Our resources are stretched thin.”
He turned slightly, his gaze sweeping the room. “But Draven BloodFall,” he said quietly, “is not a man who intervenes without purpose. His demands are crushing—yes. But he is not foolish.”
Alpha Kadel finally lifted his head.
Elder Peng met his eyes. “You must ask yourself, my Alpha… why would a man like Draven involve himself in our affairs at all?”
The question struck deep.
Kadel’s fingers tightened. Why indeed?
Draven BloodFall did nothing without calculation... Nothing without gain.
If this were merely about land or harvest, the terms would have been negotiable.
But they weren’t. Which meant—There was something else. Something unseen.
Something Draven had not yet demanded.
A chill crept down Alpha Kadel’s spine.
Another elder broke the silence, his voice trembling. “If we accept these terms, we will condemn our people to hunger.”
“And if we reject them,” Stefan said quietly, “we condemn them to death.”
The hall fell into uneasy silence once more.
Alpha Kadel leaned back slowly, exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders. For the first time in years, he felt truly trapped—not by enemies, but by fate itself.
His pack looked to him for answers. For protection... For leadership.
And yet, for the first time as Alpha, he had none.
What kind of ruler chooses between a dark angel and the devil? he thought bitterly.
Outside, the wind howled against the council hall, rattling the windows like a warning from the spirits themselves.
Alpha Kadel closed his eyes briefly.
If he chose wrong—Crestmoon would never recover.
When Elder Peng slowly lowered himself back into his seat, the hall remained silent for a brief moment, heavy with unspoken dread. Then Gamma Murray, who had been quiet throughout the entire meeting, stepped forward.
He bowed respectfully to Alpha Kadel first, then to the elders.
“My Alpha. Esteemed elders,” he began calmly, his voice steady despite the storm brewing in the room. “I have listened carefully to every argument raised here.”
He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the council. “My suggestion is simple,” he continued. “We accept Draven BloodFall’s offer.” The reaction was immediate.
Outrage exploded across the hall.
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“That devil will destroy us!”
“You’d rather hand Crestmoon to a monster?”
Gamma Murray raised his hand slowly. “Please, listen to me,” he said firmly.
Something in his tone cut through the noise, and gradually, the voices died down into angry murmurs.
“Our time is running out,” he continued. “Alpha Carlo gave us five days. Those five days are almost over. We do not have the luxury of pride or fear anymore. If we reject Draven, Carlo will invade. That is a certainty.”.Some elders exchanged uneasy glances.
Murray went on, “However, I do not suggest we accept Draven’s terms as they are.” That caught their attention.
“The forty thousand harvested crops he demands,” Murray said, “must be negotiated down—drastically. Two thousand at most. As for the third of our land… we concede it.”
Gasps echoed through the hall again.
“Surely, the Gamma has gone mad!”
“That land is our heritage, how couldyousuggestsuch a thing?!”
Murray didn’t flinch.“But,” he added quietly, “we offer him something else. Something far more tempting. Something that will bind him.” The hall fell silent.
Eyes narrowed. Faces stiffened.
Murray returned to his seat calmly, as though he hadn’t just dropped a blade into their midst.
For several heartbeats, no one spoke.
Then voices slowly began to rise again.
“What do you mean by a tempting offer?”
“What could possibly bind Draven BloodFall?”
“Can a man like that even be controlled?” Some scoffed openly.
“Certainty not she-wolf... Draven has been mateless for years,” an elder said. “If the Moon Goddess herself hasn’t bound him, what makes you think we can?”
The noise began to swell again—until Alpha Kadel finally raised his hand.
The hall went still. He rose slowly from his seat, his expression unreadable.
“I thank Gamma Murray for his insight,” Kadel said, his voice measured. “I agree with his suggestion.” Murmurs rippled through the elders.
“As for the tempting offer,” Kadel continued, “it must be something Draven cannot easily refuse.” He paused.“A woman.”
The word echoed. Eyes widened.
“A mate,” Kadel clarified. “One of value. One of power.” Several elders nodded immediately.
“Yes… a woman could anchor him.”
“Through her, we could influence him.”
“Even the strongest Alpha can be softened by a mate.” But doubts still surfaced.
“Which she-wolf would be worthy of Draven BloodFall?”
“Would he even accept such an offer?”
“And what if he sees through the scheme?”
The questions piled up.
Alpha Kadel lifted his chin. “I will offer my daughter,” he said.
The hall froze.
“Philipa?.” One questioned, and stunned silence followed.
“She is Alpha-born,” Kadel went on, his voice coldly rational. “Strong blood. Beautiful. Valuable. Draven will not reject her.” Slowly, heads began to nod.
“Yes… an Alpha-born daughter.”
“A worthy offering.”
“And once she becomes his mate,” Kadel added, “she will be our leverage. Through her, we can restrain him. Through her, we can reclaim what we lose today—land, power, and control—when the time is right.”
Smiles spread across faces that had been pale with fear moments earlier.
“Brilliant.”
“Truly selfless.”
“Alpha Kadel sacrifices his own blood for the pack.”
Praise filled the hall. They hailed his wisdom. and they applauded his leadership. It was a feat none would have been willing to try.
Soon, one by one, the elders and officers began to leave, satisfied, hopeful, relieved.
Until only Alpha Kadel remained.
The great hall felt suddenly empty.
He sank back into his seat slowly, exhaustion pressing down on him like a physical weight.
Philipa will never agree, he thought grimly.
He knew her too well. Her stubbornness. Her pride.... and her fire for leadership.
But that didn’t matter... She was his daughter. And daughters obeyed.
Whether they wanted to—Or not.
- Writer
