Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 266

Chapter 266

Two weeks had passed since Cynthia took over the mansion, and every day inside Whitewood felt longer than the one before it. The house had changed in ways that could not be hidden by polished floors, expensive curtains, or the old portraits still hanging proudly on the walls. The mansion no longer breathed like home. It breathed like a place under occupation, watched by hostile eyes and ruled by a woman who did not know how to carry power without poisoning everything around her.

Amber’s health had deteriorated faster than predicted, and the brothers were yet to make headway. That was the worst part. Every day without a donor felt like a day stolen from their mother. The doctors were trying. Ethan and Joseph were trying. Levi was trying to hold himself together while pretending he was still useful to the enemy. Meadow was trying to search quietly through every possible contact without alerting the wrong people. But trying did not change the truth. Amber was getting worse.

Their friends and workers were still locked up, and Cynthia was unwilling to negotiate their release. Keith, Elaine, Adam, Brian, and the others remained trapped under her order until they agreed to pledge loyalty to her and her mysterious Alpha. Cynthia called it discipline. Joseph called it cowardice. Ethan called it something worse in his head every time he remembered that those people were suffering while they had to remain calm and pretend they had no option but obedience.

It was a bad situation, but they kept pushing through. They had no choice. Rage would not save Amber. Pride would not free the workers. A reckless attack would only get more people killed before Ethan regained full strength. So they swallowed humiliation, watched Cynthia parade through their family home like she owned it, and waited for the right opening.

Joseph finally got through to Alpha Malcolm after so many attempts. He had called enough times to begin wondering if the man had been captured, silenced, or simply unwilling to risk speaking to him. But when the call connected, Malcolm answered as if he had

been expecting it.

“Joseph, I am very happy to hear from you,” Alpha Malcolm said.

Joseph paused.

He knew things were terrible for the man because Malcolm had just broken one of his own English rules by using the word very in a sentence. Malcolm was particular about those things, the kind of man who could correct grammar in the middle of a war council because language mattered to him almost as much as strategy. Hearing him slip told Joseph enough.

“You mean delighted,” Joseph corrected.

There was a pause on the other end.

“That obvious?” Malcolm asked.

Joseph laughed softly despite everything.

“Yes, it is that obvious, and I believe mine is too. I am the one calling you after all,” Joseph said.

Malcolm laughed too, and the small sound eased something between them. It was strange, almost ridiculous, to share a joke while their packs sat under enemy control, but sometimes humour was the only way not to choke on fear.

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Chapter 266

“How have you been managing?” Joseph asked him.

Malcolm sighed.

“Well, things are okay here, but it seems the anonymous Alpha isn’t on good terms with the new Alpha here. Sebastien is a bit too

lenient and secretive to be working for the man genuinely. He even allows me to handle my pack business unhindered,” Malcolm

said.

Joseph sighed.

Malcolm had gotten the better half of the traitors because Cynthia was giving them hell. Sebastien, for all his violence and bitterness, seemed to have sense enough not to burn Ceenas down the moment he stepped into it. Cynthia, on the other hand, had taken over Whitewood like a frightened child with a weapon too large for her hands. She made noise, gave threats, locked people up,

and tried to force respect because she had no idea how to earn it.

“Ours is horrible. He sent Ethan’s ex-bitch here to be our Luna and named our stepfather Alpha. I do not know what his game is, but I was hoping we could work together to fish out the bastard,” Joseph said, cutting to the chase.

Malcolm went quiet for a moment.

“I was hoping you and Ethan would one day see the light. Unfortunately, it is a little too late because I have no army to donate to

the cause,” Malcolm confessed.

Joseph already knew that part, but he had still been hopeful. A man could know a road was blocked and still look for cracks in the

stone.

“We can always build one from loyal members of our packs,” Joseph said.

Malcolm paused because he was already secretly doing that. The fact that Joseph had reached the same conclusion made him wonder how much the McClouds had truly planned. He also wondered whether he could trust Joseph enough to reveal that he had already started gathering loyal fighters in quiet places, away from Sebastien’s eyes. But trust was not something he could give away

carelessly now.

“Wow, that is true,” Malcolm said, not wanting to divulge that he was already doing that.

He wanted to be sure he could trust Joseph before telling him.

“So, do we have a deal?” Joseph asked.

Malcolm laughed.

“You know the answer is yes with me. But one thing I will advise is that no matter the strength of our military, in the end, we should lie low and try to fish out this Alpha. It will be best to end him than have multitudes of people lay down their lives fighting the fools he put into doing his bidding,” Malcolm proposed.

Joseph laughed because that was their plan too. The army was strictly for backup. Their real target was the anonymous Alpha. The

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Chapter 266

hidden hand. The coward who had sat somewhere in the dark, damaged Ethan’s spine, possibly ruined their father, poisoned their

mother, and now moved through weak, greedy people like Cynthia.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna