Wolf Teeth || Book I : Summer {M/M} ❄

Chapter #30

Goosebumps prickled along Oryen's skin. He had to check he hadn't grown fur. He'd never thought of Kolraga that way. As a trap instead of a fortress. Nor had he thought, when he submitted himself to quarantine, he'd have ended up at a table discussing inter-pack politics and conflict with his brother spearheading it all. The sudden sense of being displaced, of not belonging, hit him like a hatchet to the sternum.

Beyond that, Lazro's reasons for mistrusting his Alphas was becoming more rapidly apparent by the minute. Oryen hardly knew any of them apart from Reyz, who seemed the most good-natured yet least politically engaged.

After a long pause, Zarkerya cleared her throat. "Kahleir's stance on the Mardero pack has been unwavering since the beginning of quarantine. They see us as traitors to our kind for accepting LycanCorp's handouts in exchange for our aid in keeping the peace, which we've seen is an impossible task. It's my belief a reconnaisance mission like this would only serve to kick the hornet's nest. Better to find out how Kahleir has infiltrated our stronghold and root them out of our home than engage them where they have the advantages of secrecy."

Beside her, Tavell huffed, but when pierced by a look of reproach from his wife, nodded in agreement. "Perhaps I was too hasty. It is unnerving, to say the least, that they have hit us so close to home."

Lazro waited a beat. Finally, he said, "Perhaps you're right. We'd risk too much by sending our own into unknown danger. While I agree with Kalysto's assertion that we need to reach out to Kahleir eventually, now may be too volatile a time if we want to avoid bloodshed."

Reyz spoke up for the first time. "So, instead of rooting out Kahleir from their hiding place or spying, we root them out of our home first?"

"Or capture these infiltrators and communicate with them," Lazro said. "So, on this front, where do we begin?"

Oryen hadn't spoken the entire duration. He wondered why he'd even been asked. Beneath all this, a worm of unease had burrowed beneath the surface of the conversation and into Oryen's heart. He watched Lazro speaking. Firm, yet delicate. Like a tiger that knew exactly where to place its paw in order to avoid snapping twigs that would alert his prey. As a teen, Ezra had been brash, bald-faced in his opinions.

Now he asked for theirs. And listened. And watched. And waited.

Oryen had listened and watched too, all the while his mind buzzing like flies over something rancid. Because they were getting to a point in the conversation where they had to address the elephant in the room. Someone had let Kahleir inside.

Beau had access to world outside Kolraga. He was technically Renvathi, even if not a werewolf yet, and he was searching for his lost family. He had access to contacts like Daxun, could smuggle in resources from outside the walls, even intercept Oryen's letters from Edrik.

He was perfectly positioned to get a Kahleir assassin into Kolraga.

But why would he? To get back at Oryen? Or for some other slippery reason.

He couldn't voice his suspicions in front of everyone. If Lazro didn't trust the Alphas, neither did Oryen. He couldn't risk them asking how he knew so much about this human smuggler. Or worse, perhaps they'd tell Beau about the suspicion cast upon him, and Beau would reveal Oryen's secret.

He would have to find a way to speak with Lazro about it privately and without implicating himself.

The room had gone quiet in the wake of Lazro's question, unease ripe as summer fruit in the air. Zarkerya turned just slightly to regard Oryen, her eye contact pointed.

"I have a question regarding the assassination," she said. "Since you were the one to save Lazro, I wondered if you noticed anything earlier. Something that tipped you off about the killer's intent?"