bChapter /bb246 /b

    Caleb’s POV

    I stepped forward, trying to make sense of it all, but all I could think about was her, the lone survivor, sitting there like a fragile shell. What happened to the others? My voice sounded distant, like I was asking but not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

    Jackson’s gaze dropped to the floor before he met my eyes, and in that moment, I saw the weight of it all. She won’t talk about it. No one’s gotten through to her yet. He let out a sigh, looking frustrated and worried. “We don’t even know if she’s gonna be of any use to us. But she’s all we’ve got now.”

    Alpha Camden gave a low growl, pacing for a moment before his gaze hardened. “We can’t afford to have another loose end right now. Not with everything else going on.

    My chest tightened. I knew my father was right. We couldn’t have any more uncertainty, but looking at the girl–this child–I couldn’t just see her as another piece in the puzzle. She was just a kid. What had they done to her?

    I couldn’t help but feel the chill crawl up my spine as I looked at her state. The weight of them was heavy, suffocating even. “What do you mean by ‘only survivor‘?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, despite myself. “Do you have any idea what happened to her coven?”

    Alpha Jackson let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “Something happened during the stormst night,” he started, his voice gravelly. “The entire coven, Caleb… they’re gone. Everyst one of them.”

    My heart skipped a beat. “Gone? How? Where?” The words tasted bitter, like I couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying.

    Jackson met my gaze, and I could see the unease in his eyes. “We don’t know. The child… she’s the only one left. His words felt cold, even though they weren’t meant to be. “She came to the pack to y like she always does, but when the storm hit, we let her stay with us for the night. Thought it would be safer for her. In the morning, when we went to send her back to the coven…” He shook his head, the memory clearly still fresh. “There was nothing left. The houses… all empty. No signs of struggle, no trace of anyone. It’s like they vanished into thin air.”

    1 felt a shiver crawl down my spine, and my thoughts spun wildly. “That’s impossible…” I muttered, still trying to make sense of it. “An entire coven? Disappearing? Just like that?”

    Caroline’s voice cut through my rising panic. “No,” she said firmly, crossing her arms. “There’s no way. An entire coven doesn’t just vanish. This has to be connected to our friend’s abduction, Alpha Jackson. There’s no way it’s a coincidence. Whatever happened to them is what we need to understand. We need to find out what happened, and that means we need to examine the coven, figure out what went wrong.”

    ! looked between her and Jackson, both of them as tense as I was, if not more. The sense of dread only deepened. “So what do we do now?” I asked, feeling my pulse quicken.

    “We find answers, Caroline said, her voice unwavering. “We figure out why they disappeared–and what it means for us.”

    I stood there, listening intently as Alpha Jackson’s words echoed in the room. “Go ahead, search all you want,” he said, his voice steady. “We did the same thing and came up with nothing.” I could tell there was a sense of frustration in his tone. My father, ever the strategist, didn’t waste any time. He immediately motioned for his guards to take action, ordering them to conduct a thorough search–find anything they could.

    I couldn’t shake the tension that fingered in the air. There was something off about the whole situation, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I wasn’t about to stand around and wait, I needed answers, and right now, the little girl sitting quietly at the edge of the room was the only one who might have them.

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