Chapter 253

Chapter 253
“The purge isn’t finished.”
The words hit harder than I expected. My heart stuttered, ny blood felt icy. I knew what he meant, but my mind rejected it.
“What purge?” I demanded.
“The one that started with poison,” he said. “The one meant to cleanse Silver Fang of its rot.”
Cold spread through my chest.
“You failed,” I said sternly. “You were caught. The children lived.”
He shook his head violently. “You don’t understand. I was only the first. The test.
The storm doesn’t break with a single strike.”
My patience snapped. “Stop speaking in riddles!”
His laughter returned, shrill and unhinged. “You always think there’s a single hand on the blade.”
He stood abruptly, chains clanking, eyes wild.
“She’s coming.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
“Who?” I demanded.
“The shadow,” he whispered. “The outcast. The one who was promised something she couldn’t keep.”
My heart began to pound.
“Speak clearly,” I ordered. “Are you talking about Felicity?
But the clarity seemed to drain from him entirely. His gaze slid past me, unfocused,
as if he were watching something move along the walls.
“The children are in the storm,” he murmured. “And the storm draws blood.”
I took a step forward without thinking. My chest rumbled with a deep growl.
The rogue recoiled, pressing himself back into the corner.
“Too late,” he whimpered. “Too late to stop it now.”
“You’re saying there’s a traitor in Silver Fang. That I missed someone when I drove out Felicity’s supporters.”
He looked at me for a fraction of a second before his eyes glazed again. “Not that close, but close enough.”
“Guards,” I snapped.
They were already moving, drawn by the change in his tone
I held the rogue’s gaze as they entered.
“If anyone else is involved,” I said coldly, “this is your last chance.”
His smile returned, slow and awful.
“You should be asking who’s already inside your walls. Not all walls are physical. Some are more than that.”
1/3
+25 Bonus
Then his eyes rolled back.
His body sagged, collapsing forward as the guards rushed to catch him. One
checked his pulse and shook his head.
“Unconscious,” he said. “Maybe shock.”
I stood there for a long moment after they dragged him away, my wolf restless, teeth
bared inside my skull.
Inside your walls.
I left the prison without another word.
By the time I reached the packhouse, the sun was sinking low, the courtyard
washed in amber light. The familiar scents-stone, pine, my people-usually grounded
me.
Not tonight.
I went straight to the nursery.
Ellie sat in the rocking chair, August asleep against her shoulder, lan sprawled across her lap.
She looked up when I entered, relief softening her expression.
“There you are,” she said quietly. “You missed dinner.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
I crossed the room and crouched beside her, resting my hand lightly on August’s back. The steady rise and fall of his breathing eased something tight in my chest. “Everything okay?” she asked.
I hesitated.
I had learned the hard way that keeping things from Ellie only made the fallout
worse.
“There was an incident,” I said carefully. “With the rogue prisoner.”
Her body went still. “The one who poisoned me?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed. “What happened? More vague warnings?”
“He claims the threat isn’t over, that I missed someone when I purged Felicity’s
loyalists,” I said. “That someone is inside the walls, whatever that means.”
Ellie’s fingers tightened reflexively in lan’s blanket.
“Do you believe him?”
I looked at my sons. At their peaceful faces. At the life I’d nearly lost before it even began.
“I believe he believes it,” I said finally.
That night, after the boys were settled and Ellie had fallen sleep beside them, I stood watch longer than usual.
I reviewed patrol rotations. Increased guards. Quietly orderd additional checks on
supply lines and communications.
No announcements. No panic.
2/3