Chapter 133: Bring my Brother Back In One Piece
Tuva sat across from him, listening with that quiet intensity. When the laughter died she spoke softly. "My father used to say the wild doesn’t care about titles. It tests what you’re made of. You pass more often than you fail, Thorne."
He met her eyes over the flames. Something shifted between them, small but undeniable. Not love at first sight or destined nonsense. Just two people who had fought together and come out breathing. He liked the way she called him on his shit without flinching.
Later, when the others bedded down, Thorne sat with his back against a rock, ribs wrapped tight. The ache reminded him of the cost of rushing in. He’d do it again tomorrow if needed. That was the problem and the strength.
Tuva joined him, offering a fresh wrap for his side. "You should rest."
"I will. Eventually." He accepted the help, their fingers brushing. "You didn’t have to come out here. Stormborn could have sent someone else."
"I volunteered." She didn’t elaborate, but the look she gave him said enough. Shared danger had a way of cutting through formal talk.
They sat in companionable silence as the fire burned lower. The eastern horizon stayed dark, no lights, no movement. Whatever was out there had taken entire families and left shadows in their place.
Thorne’s mind turned to Lila back at Frostfang, carrying her own burdens. He’d bring her answers, even if he had to drag them kicking and screaming from the wild.
Sleep came eventually, restless and full of black-eyed figures. He woke before dawn with the taste of smoke still in his mouth and new purpose in his chest. They would push deeper today. Find the source or at least the next piece.
The team broke camp under a steel-gray sky. Jakob rode up beside him as they mounted. "Try not to get us killed before lunch."
Thorne grinned. "No promises."
Tuva shook her head but fell in on his other side. The trail called them forward, Moonblight swallowing their tracks as they rode. Whatever waited in the silence, they would meet it head-on.
Frostfang needed answers. His sister needed them. And Thorne Voss had never been one to wait for permission when action would do.
The wind picked up, carrying the faint scent of something wrong on the air. He urged his horse faster. The wild had teeth, but so did he.
**************
Lila stood at the head of the council table as the morning light slanted through the narrow windows, turning the carved oak surface into a map of shifting shadows. The air in the chamber carried the scent of pine resin from the fresh torches and the faint mustiness of old parchment.
Garrick sat to her right, solid and watchful. Viktor occupied his usual seat on the left, gray beard bristling with the same disapproval he wore like armor.
Two other elders and the market overseer Hedda completed the circle. Magnus had taken a seat at the far end, present as observer only, but his presence changed the weight of every word spoken.
She had barely slept. The joint patrol reports from Thorne’s team had arrived at dawn — black-eyed creatures, corrupted farmers, silence spreading like ink in water. The news sat heavy in her gut, but she kept her face calm. Showing the full burden invited doubt. Doubt invited fractures.
"Three more farms empty," she began without preamble. "No bodies. No struggle signs. Just gone. Thorne’s group engaged what they described as changed humans. Black veins, unnatural speed. They burned the remains but the pattern is clear. Something out there is taking our people and twisting them."
Viktor leaned forward, knuckles white on the table. "And your response is to send more of our wolves into it? With Stormborn outsiders no less? This smells of desperation, my queen. Our ancestors held these lands without begging help from mountain clans."
Lila met his gaze steadily. "Our ancestors also lost entire patrols to blizzards and pride. I won’t repeat their mistakes. The joint ride gives us more eyes and steel without weakening our core defenses. Magnus’s men follow my captains. No secrets, no hidden debts. That was the bargain."
Hedda nodded once, her practical voice cutting through the tension. "The market’s already feeling it. Two traders from the east turned back yesterday. Said the roads felt wrong. If families start fleeing inward, we’ll strain stores before spring. Better to meet the threat now than feed it later."
Viktor’s jaw tightened. "And if this bargain brings Stormborn blades to our throat instead of the east? Alliances shift like mountain snow."
Magnus spoke for the first time, tone measured but firm. "Stormborn has no interest in Frostfang’s throne. We lose trade routes if the silence spreads. Simple self-interest, elder. Nothing more sinister."
Lila watched the exchange, noting how Viktor’s shoulders relaxed a fraction at the directness. Clever. Magnus didn’t overplay his hand. She filed that away.
"The decision stands," she said. "We double eastern scouts. Hedda, work with the healers to prepare extra stores for incoming families. Garrick, rotate the wall watches so no one grows complacent. Viktor, if you have concrete concerns beyond tradition, bring them. Otherwise we move forward."
The elder held her eyes a long moment, then gave a stiff nod. Small victory, but she felt the cost in the fresh knot between her shoulders. She had stayed up reviewing every eastern map alone again last night, because trusting the full picture to others still felt like handing them a blade. The flaw pressed, familiar and unrelenting.
The meeting broke with assignments handed out. As the others filed out, Magnus lingered. "You handled him without drawing blood. Impressive."
"Blood’s easy," Lila replied, gathering the parchments. "Keeping the pack whole is harder. Viktor remembers my mother’s time. He expects the same steel. I give him logic instead. It unsettles him."
Magnus’s mouth quirked. "You unsettle a lot of people. In a good way."
She allowed a brief smile but didn’t linger on the compliment. Trust built slow. "Walk with me. I want to show you something before you ride out with the patrol."
They left the chamber and moved through the keep. The corridors buzzed with ordinary life. A pair of craftsmen argued over the best way to reinforce a storm-damaged gate, voices rising then breaking into laughter when one landed a good jab.
Children raced past, one clutching a wooden sword and shouting about being the great queen who broke curses. Their mother called after them with fond exasperation.
Near the healer’s wing, an apprentice carefully mixed herbs under careful instruction, the scent of dried lavender and willow bark thick in the air.
Lila stopped at the entrance to the central courtyard where a naming ceremony was underway for two new pups born during the last full moon. The parents stood proud, the infants wrapped in soft furs.
An elder spoke the old blessings, voice carrying across the gathered pack. Simple words about strength, loyalty, and the wild that both gave and took. The crowd murmured approval, hands reaching out to touch the babies for luck.
She watched the scene with a quiet ache. These children would grow up under her watch. Their safety sat on her shoulders alongside everything else. Magnus stood silent beside her, taking it in.
"You carry all of them," he said after a time. "Not just the warriors. The small ones too."
"Every one," she answered. The admission came easier today. "That’s the crown. Not glory. Responsibility. You learn to live with the weight or it crushes you."
They continued on to the training yard. The same injured apprentice from yesterday watched from the sidelines, arm bound but eyes eager. His friends drilled with renewed focus, blades flashing in the cold sunlight.
One young woman executed a clean disarm that earned cheers. Life pushed forward, stubborn and bright, even with shadows gathering east.
Lila turned to Magnus. "Your men ready?"
"They are. I ride with them myself." He met her eyes directly. "We’ll bring back whatever we find. You have my word."
She studied him. No false promises, no overconfidence. Just steady intent. "Good. Bring my brother back in one piece too. He has a habit of leaping before looking."
Magnus chuckled. "Noted. Though from what I’ve seen, the leaping gets results."
They parted at the gates. Lila watched the patrol ride out — her captains mixed with Stormborn warriors, banners snapping in the wind. The sight settled something in her chest. Action felt better than waiting.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur of practical work. She walked the market with Hedda, listening to traders’ concerns about eastern routes.
A weaver showed her new bolts of sturdy wool dyed deep green, perfect for winter cloaks.
Children played nearby, one boy dramatically reenacting a hunt with wild gestures that had his friends collapsing in laughter. The normalcy anchored her.
By midday she returned to the hall for a smaller meeting with Garrick. Supply numbers looked stable but tight. A minor theft in the grain stores had been handled quietly — the culprit a desperate father with a sick child.
Lila had ordered restitution through labor rather than punishment. Garrick raised an eyebrow but approved.
"You’re softer than your fathers would have been," he noted.
"I’m smarter," she replied. "Punish desperation and you breed resentment. Give a man a way to restore honor and he becomes an ally. The pack holds better that way."