Chapter 4 Beneath The Surface

Marco´s POV

The council hall was silent, except for the soft sound of low voices and a few chairs being adjusted. The council members were gathered around the dark wooden table, their faces serious and impassive, watching the alpha as he took his place at the head. His posture was firm, as always, but there was something in his eyes that showed a glimmer of satisfaction, something he rarely allowed to show.

He looked at the counselors, his eyes passing quickly over each of them before he finally spoke, his voice cold, but with a hint of hidden pride.

"The hunt bore more fruit than I expected. The investment, the risks... they were worth it." - He leaned forward slightly, as if the word "investment" carried more weight than he made it appear. " Everything went according to plan. Not just the opportunity, but what it reveals... All the pieces are fitting together much more clearly now."

Silence hung heavy in the room, the advisors staring at each other, exchanging furtive glances. None of them dared interrupt the alpha, but the tension in the air was palpable. There was more in those words than anyone could realize at first glance. They knew what was at stake, but the alpha was playing an even bigger game, in which they could all be pawns at some point.

Alfa continued:

"I declare that what happened was not just a stroke of luck, but a totally calculated move. And the fruits are already beginning to be reaped." - He paused, fixed his eyes on a point in the distance. "We're closer than we thought."

He leaned back in his chair, his expression closed, as if he was reflecting on something deeper, but wasn't willing to share it yet. The council waited in silence, aware that the alpha's words always came with hidden layers. His every move was minutely calculated, but not revealed to everyone.

"We'll keep it a secret for now. When the time comes, we'll know what to do. You are dismissed."

And with that, he stood up, signaling that the meeting was over. The council remained silent, aware that once again the alpha was ahead of everyone, with a plan that had barely begun to unfold.

___________________________________________________________________

The cold night wind blew violently against my face as I approached the healer's old hut that stood on the edge of the pack. The atmosphere was impregnated with the usual smell: musk, dried herbs, incense and lighted candles, which I have become accustomed to by necessity.

Dila, the healer is an elderly woman with her gray hair tied in two braids like bows on her head, her skin and black eyes were deep and shone before me as I sat and turned my eyes to the fire that burned softly in the fireplace.

Sometimes I came here just to be silent or to be restrained at worst.

Everything was worth it, as I said. Tell me it interrupts my thoughts:

His voice had a soft, almost serene tone, as if he were talking about something that had been predestined for centuries. "Time reveals all, and finally, what we had been waiting for arrived."

I remained silent, my eyes now fixed on her. I knew that the healer's words carried more than a simple prediction. She was the only one I trusted with my secrets and my future, and her skill was unmatched.

"It was impossible to keep the child hidden for so long. But with the storm... it was revealed. I could feel it." - She paused, her eyes seeming to see something beyond the room, something i couldn't see, but knew was there. " She was in a remote place, where time seemed to move differently, but the storm... brought her out."

I listened to the words carefully, but inside me an old and painful memory resurfaced. The damn storm. The night I almost lost everything. The night that seemed to have been marked by the heavens, as if everything was conspiring against me and my pack.

I closed my eyes for a moment, allowing myself to relive that fateful night. The deafening sound of the storm, the thunder of lightning, the feeling that something was about to happen... And then the guides appeared, with their mystical voices. They led me to her, to the place where Alina was. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, but I felt, with every fiber of my being, that she was the key to something greater.

The healer was right... Time fixes everything. It was in time that we found it. I waited, and she appeared, as if it were inevitable.

The words of the guides still echoed in my mind, visions distorted by the storm, but clear in memory. They had taken him to Alina, to the seemingly fragile child who, unknowingly, carried in his being what he most desired. She was not only the key to his ascension, but also to the healing he sought for his pack.

The sense of power he now felt was something he had never experienced before. It was as if the storm had been the blessing he needed so much, bringing out what he needed most, her.

"Alina doesn't yet know what she can do, what she can give us. But I do, and I will use her in whatever way is necessary. She will bring ascension for all of us, and finally, the healing we need."

I looked at her with a fixed, determined gaze. Dila smiled wisely, as if she knew the future was finally aligning with her wishes. She didn't need to say anything else, because I understood what she meant.

"Time always shows us the way. And now is your moment. But remember, alpha... the path to ascension is never simple." - Dila pondered to me.

I nodded with a cold smile.

Nothing would stop me now.