CHAPTER 264: RUIN...

[ New World - The Werewolf Council Assembly - Council castle ]

The sound of boots hammering stone flooded the entire space. Fast...too fast. Too desperate.

A lone messenger tore through the labyrinthine corridors of the Council’s keep, his lungs clawing for breath, his cloak snapping like broken wings behind him... like he was running for his life, not to deliver a message.

The old fashioned torches guttered as he passed, shadows writhing against the walls like they were alive. Sweat plastered his hair to his temples...every step echoed louder in the dead silence of the ancient fortress.

By the time he reached the towering doors of the chamber, his chest heaved so violently it looked as though his ribs might snap.

He shoved the doors open... the whispering voices inside that space hushed completely... almost as if gutted.

The chamber inside was a hollow of stone and shadow...vaulted ceilings swallowed in darkness...the stale air was thick with damp and dust.

A long, scarred, stone table stretched like the spine of a beast, its surface littered with scrolls, maps, and chalices half drained.

Figures sat around it. Cloaked. Obscured. Faces lost in the dim, only their glints of eyes flashing now and then when the firelight flared.

They were men and women older than most packs...though there were some new recruits as well....their authority soaked the air like poison.

The messenger froze, throat bobbing as every gaze fell upon him at once. His knees nearly buckled under the weight.

With a shaking hand, he extended the sealed scroll.

Not a word was spoken.

He dropped it onto the table with a thud that echoed like thunder in the stillness...then fled.

His retreating footsteps clattered down the stone halls until the sound faded altogether, leaving the silence even heavier.

At the head of the table, Councilman Fenric’s steady fingers broke the seal. The parchment crackled with residual magic as he unrolled it.

He read in silence.

The shadows around the table shifted, restless.

One leaned forward, voice like gravel dragged over stone. "Well? What does it say?"

Fenric’s jaw tightened.

The firelight caught his profile, revealing a face carved of cruelty, his eyes pale and sharp as winter glass. He laid the scroll flat on the table with deliberate calm before rising to his feet.

"Follow me to the infirmary," he commanded, voice so low it scraped the silence raw. His gaze swept across the Council, lingering on each shadowed face. "Roanoke was killed...by his own daughter...our plan has miserably failed..."

Gasps rustled like dry leaves.

Another councilor’s voice cut in, sharp, incredulous." That Autumn again?"

Fenric’s head snapped towards the speaker. His lip curled, a sneer twisting the thin line of his mouth."Have you been living on Mars?Weren’t you paying attention to what I said?" His words dripped venom. "Autumn isn’t his daughter. Lyla killed him."

The room shifted...a low growl of disbelief and unease vibrated through the cloaked assembly.

Fenric’s palm slammed down on the table, rattling the chalices. His eyes glowed faintly in the dim.

"Which means now...Kieran is free. Free to return to Autumn. And he will...Most definitely..."

He leaned forward, voice dropping to a hiss.

"And now with her new found powers..." His pause stretched, heavy. "...it will be impossible for us to stop him."

The chamber darkened with the weight of his words.

Fenric’s fingers curled into fists, his knuckles pale.

"We must act before Kieran claims his true mate and grows stronger than all of us. Everything we ever worked for...will fail."

The fire around them crackled once, then guttered low.

The silence that followed was absolute.

Shadows seemed to pulse against the walls, stretching and twisting as though the Council’s hatred breathed life into them.

One of the cloaked figures shifted...their voice was a rasp like torn parchment.

"I was always in favour of killing him when we had multiple occasions.But you insisted on this ’long game’. Didn’t you? What now? With her at his side...a true mate...a conduit of flame and bloodline...he will eclipse our known world...We can’t even kill him anymore. With her stupid powers she will just bring him back...how do we stop them now???"

Another slammed their fist against the table, rattling the maps.

"Shit!!!!He should have been culled when he was still a pup! We warned the Council in time...letting him live will cost us dearly. And now you see it...Roanoke, reduced to a carcass in the sand...what a useless puppet...!"

Fenric’s lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile."It isn’t too late...did you think I didn’t have a back up plan? Seriously?"

The chamber stilled.

He leaned over the table, the dim fire catching the veins running black along his neck.

" We can still make good use of this situation. All I need is your cooperation... and powers... lend me your strength... "

A low growl reverberated through the chamber.

A third figure’s eyes glowed faintly crimson beneath their hood. " We are not falling for your nonsense anymore.I won’t let you trick us into lending you more power. All we need to focus on is severing them before that bond is sealed. Rip her from him. Break her mind. Destroy her hope. Whatever it takes. We manipulate.A wolf without his true mate is weaker than carrion."

The words hung, dripping venom.

Another leaned forward, long fingers tapping slowly against the table.

"But she can no longer be touched directly. The people will rally around her after Lyla’s sacrifice. They will see her as a victim too. They will sympathize.We must strike indirectly..."

Someone nodded once, sharply.

"Then we choke him where he bleeds. His children. His loyalty to the pack. His throne. We dismantle him piece by piece until he crumbles."

The fire guttered lower, as though even it recoiled at their intent.

A murmur rose among them...a tide of agreement, of venom. Hatred oozed into the air until it was suffocating.

Fenric raised a hand. Silence slammed back down.

"Understand this," he said, voice a growl now. "We will not rest until Kieran is ash and Autumn’s fire is smothered. There is no option for failure...everything we built, centuries of power, centuries of dominion...will turn to dust at their feet...we won’t let them...but we won’t get anywhere if you don’t listen to me...I have a much better plan...just hear me out..."

His eyes glimmered like shards of ice.

"So tell me, brothers and sisters..." His voice was both a challenge and a promise. "...are you ready to bleed to stop them?Because what I am about to reveal will blow your minds...my secret weapon..."

A chorus of snarls and whispers tore through the chamber,so vicious, so dark...rising into something that was neither chant nor howl...but the sound of monsters promising ruin... and more destruction.