Left to Freeze, I Let His Pack Burn

Chapter 3 The Illusion Shatters

The laughter on the public link stopped.

Ice cracked through the pack house walls. Beams split under the sudden weight. Every sound reached the emergency channel through a hundred frightened minds.

*“My arm is stuck to the wall!”*

*“Get the nursery door open!”*

*“The pups aren't moving. Nia, help them!”*

Nia's voice cut through the shouting. She was young for a pack healer, yet she sounded steadier than the officers around her.

*“Alpha, divert the remaining ward power to the elders' wing. The pups' hearts are slowing. We need heat now.”*

Kaelen answered with Alpha dominance.

The pressure struck every mind in the channel and flattened the panic into silence. Even from the ridge, my teeth hurt from it.

*“Enough!”* he sent. *“All remaining power goes to my chambers. Selene's safety comes first. Everyone else will hold position.”*

No one spoke for several seconds.

In that quiet, an infant's weak cry traveled through the link.

I opened the emergency channel. *“Nia, there's a red cutoff under the east stair. Pull it. Leave the blue crystal alone.”*

I pictured the service corridor so she could find it.

*“Move the pups and elders through the marked pantry hatch. The root cellar has geothermal stones that work without the main ward.”*

*“Break the north salt seals after the last person passes. They'll keep snow-wraiths out of the route.”*

The Quartermaster marks were still cut into every service wall. Kaelen had canceled our emergency drills years ago because servants running through the halls embarrassed him in front of visitors.

Nia didn't ask why I was helping. *“Healers with me. Anyone who can walk, carry someone who can't.”*

*“Stop them,”* Kaelen ordered. *“No power leaves this wing.”*

Several Betas moved to obey. Others heard the pups crying and stepped aside.

The red cutoff dropped. I felt the east circuit separate from the broken ward, taking the worst pressure with it. Through Nia's eyes, the first group crawled into the pantry hatch.

While they moved, Kaelen pushed into the private mate bond.

*“Elara, you've made your point.”* His voice had the clipped impatience he used when a servant brought the wrong wine. *“I'll pardon your hoarding. Return to the pack house and repair the ward.”*

I stirred my broth.

*“Did you hear me?”*

The direct command came next. *“I order you to return. Save the pack, and I'll be lenient. You can sleep on a pallet in the kitchens. It will be warmer than that cabin.”*

The archive rune brightened beside me and sealed the exchange.

A kitchen pallet. Five years as his mate, ten years guarding his supplies, and that was his generous offer.

He waited for my answer. I left the bond quiet.

Then I opened the public link and sent one clear image.

For five seconds, every survivor saw the inside of the cabin. Golden runes shone on sealed stone.

Steam rose from vegetable broth in an iron bowl. My bare feet rested on the warm floor beside the rug and two water skins.

I held their attention on the wall pattern. The old lines were even and stable, the same pattern Kaelen had torn apart in the main house.

After five seconds, I ended the feed.

The pack went silent again.

Then Nia called from the pantry. *“First group is through. Bring the next pups.”*