The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four

“Are you certain?” Damon asked again, each word deliberate. “He cut his palm and gave blood to rogues?”

“Yes, my king.”

Conall stepped forward slightly. “My king…”

Damon raised a hand to silence him, but his eyes never left John. “Did you feel anything? Any shift in scent. In authority. In bond.”

John’s expression changed subtly. “Yes. It was faint… because I was weak. But I felt something bind. Like an invisible thread tightening around those rogues.”

Dante cursed under his breath.

Damon finally turned away, his mind racing.

“My king?” Conall asked carefully.

Damon’s voice came low and controlled. “There is only one wolf who can temporarily accept outsiders into a pack without formal ceremony.”

Conall’s eyes widened slightly. “The Royal Beta,”

“Yes,” Damon confirmed.

The realization settled heavily over the chamber.

“The Alpha who came to rescue the female…” Damon continued, piecing it together aloud, “was not Crimson Fang’s Alpha.”

“No,” Conall agreed slowly. “It was the Alpha King Talon.”

The weight of that truth pressed against them all.

“And the second wolf,” Dante said quietly, “was his Beta.”

“Enzo,” Conall murmured.

Damon nodded once. “The Royal Beta has the authority to temporarily bind even rogues under royal protection. It is rarely done… but it is permitted under ancient law.”

John looked confused but remained silent.

“No wonder,” Damon’s jaw tightened. “No wonder the rogue that was captured later was already dead.”

“The royal temporary acceptance,” Conall’s eyes darkened with understanding, “would prevent outside interrogation. If those rogues were bound under royal protection, they would not carry a rogue scent.”

“Correct,” Damon replied. “And if insider who hired rogues to eliminate a pack member, he would surely found the rogues captured in their dungeon…”

“Those rogues will be executed before questioning.” Dante finished grimly.

Damon’s wolf growled low in his chest, “The Alpha King does nothing without purpose. He left some of you alive intentionally.”

John lifted his head slightly. “My king?

“He broke you,” Damon said coldly. “But he did not slaughter all of you. Even though you attacked his mate. He wanted answers.”

“Answers?” John repeated.

“Yes,” Damon said. “Why did you attack? Who let you in Crimson Fang Pack?”

Conall nodded slowly.

“The Alpha King protected his mate,” Damon said. “He allowed his Beta to temporarily accept rogues. That means he wanted control over the situation. Not chaos.”

“But why accept rogues at all?” Dante asked.

Damon replied immediately. “For information.”

Conall frowned. “You believe he questioned them?”

“Without a doubt.”

“And the dead rogues?” Dante pressed.

Damon’s eyes hardened. “If that rogues captured by Alpha King and his Beta were killed before the Alpha King could access him… then someone within that pack is trying to erase evidence.”

Conall’s expression grew serious. “The insider.”

“Yes,” Damon replied. “The wolf who hired John’s brother.”

John’s face paled, and Damon stopped in front of him again. “You said your brother arranged the mission. Through contact with a wolf inside the pack. And that insider ensured you crossed their borders. undetected?”

“Yes.”

Damon’s mind moved swiftly.

Crimson Fang had a traitor.

One bold enough to collaborate with rogues.

One desperate enough to eliminate a specific female.

“John,” Damon said, his voice no longer calm but carved from cold authority, “as punishment for attacking a Crimson Fang Pack without permission from your king, you will spend three weeks inside the dungeon. No food. Only water.”

John stiffened.

The sentence was harsh, but not death.

214

Chapter Fou

Rogues understood consequence. They lived by strength and loyalty. And John had broken both.

“My king…” John began, but stopped himself. He lowered his head. “I accept my punishment.”

Clam

“This is not cruelty, Damon studied him for a long moment, and then continued evenly. “It is discipline. You endangered this entire kingdom. You stepped into royal territory and provoked the Alpha King himself. You are fortunate to stand alive before me.”

“Yes, my king.”

Damon shifted his gaze to his Gamma. “Dante, have the pack doctor fix him up. I want him healed enough to survive the dungeon. And once he is treated, place him in isolation. No contact. No mind links. I want him to reflect on every decision he made.”

“It will be done.”

Dante gripped John’s arm-not roughly, but firmly and guided him toward the exit. Doors shut behind them with a dull echo.

Silence returned to the chamber.

Only Damon and Conall remained.

Damon walked slowly back toward his desk but did not sit. His mind was too active, too sharp with unfolding possibilities.

“Conall,” Damon said at last, his voice quieter now, more strategic, “I think we need to capture some Crimson Fang pack members.”

Conall did not react with shock. Only calculation flickered in his eyes. “You believe there is more they are hiding.”

“There is always more,” Damon replied, and he turned, gaze distant. “We need to know what truly happened inside that pack after the battle. We need confirmation of the Alpha King’s involvement. And most importantly… we need to know who the Silver Wolf is.”

Conall nodded slowly. “If she is who we suspect, this changes everything.”

“Yes.” Damon stepped closer to the map carved into the stone wall-territories etched with careful markings. Crimson Fang lay close enough to be dangerous, far enough to require precision.

“We will not slaughter,” he continued firmly. “We will capture selectively. Low-ranking members. Warriors. Perhaps a guard who has knowledge on what happened after the attacked. If I am correct with my assessment of the Alpha King, he will do the investigation in public. For everyone to know what is going on within their pack. It’s what I would do myself.”

Conall bowed slightly. “Consider it done, my king.”

He turned and left swiftly, already issuing silent orders through mind link to trusted scouts.

The chamber grew quiet once more.

Damon remained standing, hands clasped behind his back. Inside his mind, another presence stirred.

Chapter Fou

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