### **Chapter: Unraveling Truths**
Sitting around the large oak desk in my father’s office, the weight of everything we’d uncovered hung heavy in the air. My father leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Ryder sat beside me, his knee bouncing anxiously under the table, while my mother, Ivy, and Justin took up the remaining seats. None of us spoke at first; the silence was thick, as if no one knew how to begin.
Finally, my father cleared his throat and broke the silence. “We’ve connected with several packs along the coast,” he said, his voice steady but tinged with frustration. “And the reports are all similar. The Elders have been interjecting themselves into matters that don’t concern them—matters they *never* used to care about.”
Ryde
