Chapter 122: Threads of Betrayal
"He’s gone," Elder Rhys barked, pounding the table with his thick fist. "How many more do we lose before you admit this is madness?"
"We don’t know that," Beckett said, voice calm but taut. His dark hair was slicked back from the rain, his shoulders broad, posture unmoving. "Sterling’s alive. We’d feel the break if he were dead."
"Feel it?" sneered Rhys. "Your bond magic is worth less than these walls if it can’t find him!"
Magnolia’s jaw tightened. She wanted to slap the old wolf across the mouth. Instead, she kept her voice low. "Bickering won’t find him either."
Across from her, Talia Vance shifted her weight, worry knotting her delicate features. "We’re not bickering, Magnolia. We’re desperate. Gabriel’s scouts are in our forests. Our gates are fractured. Camille is gone, "
"Camille didn’t abandon us," Magnolia snapped. The words bit the air like frost. "She left to protect us. Sterling went after her because none of you would."
Rhys snorted. "Romantic drivel. He’s captured, if not worse. And you stand here feeding us fairy tales about sacrifice and bonds, "
A low growl rolled across the room. Beckett leaned forward, his voice like a blade sheathed in velvet. "Watch your tongue, Elder."
Rhys stood, chair scraping back on the stone. "You’d threaten your own council now?"
Magnolia’s voice rose above them both, low, steady, terrifying in its calm. "Sit. Down."
Rhys hesitated. The younger wolves watched with baited breath, loyal eyes darting between the Alpha’s mate and the old guard. Finally, with a huff, Rhys sat. His scowl lingered like rot.