CHAPTER 45: A BOLDNESS FROM NOWHERE

I stared at the heavily stained denim dress in the dark. The cold ealry morning air of the forest, now smelt faintly of ozone and something clean, a scent I realized must be my own wolf, Freya, was a total opposite to the heat of the bloody massacre I’d caused. I had run. Not back to the Pack house, not to Dawn, but deeper into the woods until the metallic stench of the dead rogues was a far away from memory. I cleaned the blood off my skin with damp leaves and dirt, which was frantic and clumsy, before finally sneaking back into my quarters just before dawn.

I was utterly numb. The silver eyes, the lethal claws, the raw power, and Freya’s satisfaction of me committing that massacre was all an impossibility I couldn’t face. Or maybe I didn’t want to face it? I needed Dawn. Not the Alpha, but the man who had promised me safety, the man whose darkness he had claimed was controlled by my one word, "Ice." I needed to tell him what was going on with me.

I only had a few hours of uneasy, blood-soaked sleep before a quiet knock woke me. My servant, a red-head woman in her late forties, stood in the doorway, a neat pile of clean clothes in her hands.

"Bambi," she whispered, her eyes wide. "Luna Odessa sent me. You’re invited for brunch with the inner circle. Go on, get dressed. Now."

Another brunch. Another performance. Just yesterday, the Alpha had been demanding I stay with him, claiming his obsession. Today, I was back to being a guest at the Luna’s table, a wolf playing a dangerous game.

I dressed in the silk blouse and tailored skirt Sable brought.

The dining room was filled with soft morning light and the scent of cinnamon and expensive coffee. It was quiet. The attendees were few, a deliberately intimate setting: Christopher, Silas, Celeste, Jasper, and Luna Odessa. There was a conspicuous empty chair at the head of the table. Dawn was missing.

I took the seat indicated by Sable. One far from Odessa, close to Celeste.

Luna Odessa, looking serene in a flowing cream dress, smiled sweetly. It didn’t reach her eyes. "Bambi, darling, so glad you could join us again. Such an essential part of the family now, aren’t you?"

"Thank you, Luna," I replied, my voice coming out as a forced monotone. I kept my eyes on my plate.

"Now that we’re all here," Luna Odessa continued, cutting into a piece of French toast, "Christopher, please update us on the unpleasantness from last night."

Christopher cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping over all of us before settling on the chair beside Dawn’s empty chair.

"We found the bodies just after sunrise," Christopher reported, his voice low and professional. "Five of them. Marked Rogues."

My heart gave a painful lurch against my ribs. I picked up my coffee cup, hoping the action would hide the slight tremor in my hands.

"Five," Jasper drawled, leaning back in his chair, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "Impressive. Did Dawn take care of them himself? They’re usually more cautious so close to the Pack house."

"No, Jasper," Christopher stated flatly, ignoring the obvious jab at the Alpha’s absence. "The Alpha was... occupied. It was Gideon who handled the threat."

Every head at the table snapped up. Celeste gasped softly. Jasper’s smirk vanished, replaced by open disbelief. Odessa’s eyes, however, narrowed, suddenly sharp and assessing.

Who was this Gideon?

I forced myself to keep sipping my coffee, hoping I looked merely confused, not like a wolf-turned-serial-killer.

"Gideon?" Silas asked, "Forgive me, but... how? He is not even part of the Pack. His wolf hasn’t even fully manifested. He doesn’t have that level of combat training."

I kept silent. My terror was a tight, cold knot in my stomach.

"He didn’t shift fully," Christopher explained. "But his scent, the energy we picked up... it was unprecedented. He dispatched them brutally. Claws, teeth, clean kills. It was the work of a seasoned killer."

To my utter relief, the conversation shifted from Gideon impossible fight to the implications of the rogue attack.

"Rogues don’t usually target a single wolf unless it’s personal," Silas observed, rubbing his jaw. "They were waiting for someone specific in that spot. They knew Alpha would be there."

My heart skipped.

I was there with him.

"They were after Alpha," Christopher agreed. "But the question is, why? And how did they know his exact location? Dawn keeps his movements highly secured."

"The timing is suspicious," Celeste spoke up, her voice as gentle as ever, "Last night, only Bambi knew about Alpha’s whereabout."

The knot in my stomach tightened.

Luna Odessa’s eyebrows quirked. "Bambi knew?"

Everyone threw their gazes at her. "Yes, she did," Jasper said, I saw the Alpha last night. He said he was going to have a quick chat with Chris and he had to be quick because Bambi was waiting for him."

Luna Odessa nodded, surprisingly not finding anything suspicious.

"It could be a general reconnaissance," Jasper scoffed, continuing, clearly trying to dismiss the idea of a traitor. "Rogues get bolder. Maybe they’re trying to send a message to Dawn."

"No," Celeste insisted, her eyes grave. "They were waiting for him at the edge of the woods, far from the road. This was targeted. Someone gave them the location, Celeste. Someone who knew the Alpha had a secret, vulnerable location."

She looked pointedly at Odessa, then at Jasper, and finally at Christopher and Silas. Her gaze lingered on the two men briefly before returning to the Luna.

"It has to be someone within the Pack," Celeste finally stated, pushing her coffee cup away. "Someone close. Someone we all trust. Someone who knows the rhythm of the Pack House and the Alpha’s private movements."

The words hit me like a brick. Someone they all trust. Someone who knew.

My mind immediately flashed back to Dawn’s words from the previous night: "Every move I make... are calculated to keep you safe in this chaotic Pack." and "My world is... complicated. You’ve only ever seen the surface." Was this what he meant? Traitors like they all said?

Panic surged through my veins. The same fear from the rogue attack returning like it never left. If any eye witness had seen me lurking around the woods last night, they will suspect I was me. I had to tell him about Freya before that happens, about the silver eyes and th satisfaction of my own massacre, about the truth I couldn’t carry alone. I had to tell him before this traitor tag found its way to me.

Everyone would easily believe and even though I was them, I would believe as well.

My chair scraped loudly against the polished floor as I shot to my feet.

"I need to speak to the Alpha," I heard myself say, the boldness coming from no where. "Where is he? Now."

Luna Odessa’s serene mask completely disappeared. Her sharp gaze fixed on me instantly.

"And why, Bambi, is a matter of such urgency that you must interrupt this discussion and demand an audience with the Alpha of this Pack?" she asked, her voice dangerously low and harsh.

But that boldness remained.

Although, I struggled to find a plausible reason. The truth would expose me.

"I... I have a message," I stammered, clutching my hands tightly together to stop their shaking. "A very private message I need to deliver to him immediately." A lie, simple and easy to understand.

Luna Odessa leaned back, a subtle, smug look returning to her face. She gave a little, dismissive wave of her hand.

"You’ll have to wait a little longer, my dear," she said, her voice coming off as fake sweetness. "He had a long night. The Alpha slept in my chambers last night, and I left strict instructions not to wake him until noon."

Slept in her chambers.

The world tilted. My mind replayed the night: the private suite, the passionate scene, the game, his intense confession of obsession, his promise to keep me safe. Then the five dead rogues. I had killed them and run, getting back to my quarters just as the sun rose. He would have left the private suite after me and gone to the Luna. It made a sickening sense. He’d gone straight from telling me he was obsessed to sleeping with his Luna. I fought back the lump in my throat.

But the need to see him, to confess and be protected, was stronger than the betrayal that currently tightened my chest. I had to know for sure.

"I apologize for the interruption, Luna," I said, forcing a calm I didn’t feel. "I will wait for him elsewhere. Please excuse me."

Without waiting for permission, I turned and practically ran from the dining room, ignoring the shocked silence I left behind.

I knew which way the Luna’s quarters were. I hurried down the deserted hall, my destination was a grand, double mahogany door. I needed to see him, to feel his presence, to know if the message of his promise from the previous night was a lie.

I rounded a corner and bumped hard into a young servant carrying a stack of fresh linen.

"Oh! Forgive me," I gasped, steadying the wobbly stack.

"It’s quite alright, Bambi," the servant mumbled, her eyes cast down, surprisingly knowing my name.

"Tell me," I whispered, my voice urgent. "I’m looking for the Alpha. Alpha Dawn. Is he in the Luna’s quarters?"

The young servant looked up, surprise flashing in her eyes. She glanced nervously down the hall towards Odessa’s door.

"No, Bambi," she said quietly. "He left those chambers hours ago, before sunrise. I saw him go toward the South Wing. I heard the guards say he was expected in the Council Chamber for an emergency meeting with the foreign Alphas."

"Are you sure?" I pressed.

"Yes. Luna Odessa has been awake for hours. He definitely did not sleep there last night."

A sudden wave of relief mixed with confusion washed over me. He hadn’t slept with her. But he was at a meeting. My urgency returned.

"Thank you," I said, giving her a quick, grateful nod before turning and sprinting toward the South Wing.

I didn’t stop to think. I didn’t question the fact that the Alpha was holding a secret, high-level meeting with some foreign Alphas. I didn’t even knock. I just reached the massive, ornate oak door of the Council Chamber, grabbed the heavy brass handle, and pushed it open.

I marched into the room.

The sight was a large, circular mahogany table surrounded by fourteen powerful men, all wearing the serious expressions of Pack straight. Thirteen of them were Alphas I had never seen, all dressed in varieties of intimidating formality.

In the center, dominating the space, was Alpha Dawn. He was seated, but his immense presence filled the room. He was dressed simply, in a casual black shirt and free pants, the dark clothing making him look impossibly dangerous against the light wood of the table.

They were all mid-sentence. The silence was instant and absolute, the air filled with suppressed power. Thirteen foreign Alphas, their heads snapping toward the interruption, stared at me with open shock, disbelief, and fury at the audacity of the intrusion.

I stopped just inside the doorway, my chest heaving. My fear was gone, replaced by a boldness in which I do not know where it can from. A dangerous boldness.

I looked straight at Dawn, ignoring the thirteen powerful strangers.

"Alpha Dawn," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy silence that was in the room. "I need to speak with you. Now."

The shock on all fourteen faces, including Alpha Dawn himself.