Loving Young

Chapter XIII

The council chamber was suffocatingly quiet. Shadows sprawled across the stone walls, stretching and bending with the restless flicker of torchlight as the scent of iron and old parchment clung to the air. Cyrus stood at the head of the massive oak table, his hands braced against the worn surface with fingers splayed as his dark brows knitted together, studying the maps and reports scattered before him. He didn't lift his gaze when Toran and I entered, not until we stepped into the light.

"Alpha," we greeted together. Cyrus's eyes flicked toward us, before straightened slightly, and acknowledged us with a nod before shifting his weight forward again. "Report."

Toran began. "Perimeter sweeps are complete. The rogue attack appears isolated, but we tracked movement beyond the ambush site. Deep in the forest."

"Any movement?" Cyrus asked.

"Tracks," I said, my throat tightening with the memory of the path we'd followed. "Leading to a cave." I unzipped my pack and pulled out my notebook, setting it on the table. The leather cover felt slick against my palm as I placed it down with deliberate care; the faint thud echoing louder than it should have.

Cyrus reached and flipped it open without a word.

"The entrance showed signs of repeated passage. Claw marks. Drag marks. Inside..." I trailed off as my pulse picked up. "Inside, symbols were carved into the walls and floor, some smeared with ash and blood. And there's a stone altar covered with bones. Wolf bones."

Toran shifted beside me, the subtle crack of his knuckles breaking the silence. Cyrus didn't react, his eyes locked on the pages as he turned them with deliberate care.

"We found a body," I continued. The memory of the wolf carcass flashed in my mind, and I fought the churn in my stomach. "A wolf. Mutilated with symbols carved into its flesh."

The air seemed to grow colder. The silence almost suffocating.

"The symbols," I went on, swallowing hard, "weren't random. The patterns were deliberate. We found a larger version burned into the earth in a clearing nearby. Bones arranged along the edges. Carefully placed, like pieces in a ritual."

Cyrus finally looked up, his eyes glinting with something that made the hair on my arms rise. "Tracks?"

"None," I said. "We checked every inch of the perimeter. Whoever did this knew how to cover their trail."

He shut the notebook and exhaled through his nose. "The captured rogue?"

"Young," Toran answered. "Late teens, maybe. He fought hard but didn't seem experienced. He hasn't spoken yet."

"He's scared," I said, thinking of the hollow, frantic look in the rogue's eyes when we'd dragged him back. "Not just of us."

Cyrus straightened fully and crossed his arms. "You think he was following orders?"

"I think he was following fear," I replied. "Whatever happened in that cave...it's bigger than a few rogues trying their luck."

The Cyrus's jaw flexed, his gaze going distant for a beat before snapping back into sharp focus. "I want the rogue interrogated immediately."

"I'll do it," Toran said. "I've handled interrogations before."

"No." Cyrus's eyes settled on me. "She will."

Toran stiffened beside me. His head whipped towards Cyrus, disbelief tightening his features. "With respect," he said through gritted teeth, "she's untested. You can't be sure she'll get results."

"I know what I'm doing," I cut in.

Toran's upper lip curled. "This isn't a sparring match, Beta. It's real work."