Chapter 5 The Wolf In White

Chapter Five: The Wolf in White

Liora Vale

I returned under cover of night.

No howl marked my crossing.

No sound betrayed my presence.

I was smoke.

I was silence.

A shadow slipping through the land that once whispered my name in awe and dread.

Now it barely remembered me.

Good.

Ghosts don't need introductions.

The camp had changed.

More guards.

New warriors.

Fresh banners bearing the Redfang sigil twisted into our own.

Vanya's hand was in everything, she'd polished the place like a pretty little crown.

But security breeds laziness.

And routine makes fools of even the strongest packs.

I watched for three days before striking.

I learned her routine. Vanya's walks to the edge of the woods, the careless guards who watched her from a distance, the scent of her lilac perfume clinging to her dress.

I even learned the sound of her laughter when she leaned into Gonzalo's side. I once made that sound. I once leaned just like that.

Mimicking it was easy.

The hard part... was not killing her sooner.

But this wasn't about blood.

Not just that.

This was about message.

This was about pain.

She died on a moonless night.

A single cut. It was silent and clean.

I left her body in the ceremonial den, dressed in white, surrounded by roses.

No blood. No mess.

Just a heart that refused to beat.

It looked like sleep.

Beautiful. Eternal.

I didn't kill the child.

She was four. Curled beneath silk, her tiny body tucked into a crib carved with moons and wolves.

Gonzalo's daughter.

Vanya's lips.

Gonzalo's eyes.

I stood over her for a long time.

"Innocent...for now," I whispered. "But blood carries memory."

I didn't touch her.

Not this time.

I left a tuft of fur in Adrian's quarters. One of Vanya's earrings. A single strand of my old battle braid.

Let them tell their own story.

***

The chaos came exactly as I'd planned.

They found Vanya at dawn.

Gonzalo didn't cry.

He raged. He growled. He howled...

Wolves scrambled like mice in firelight. He tore through the camp, demanding answers. Shaking guards. Accusing whispers. Snarls and fear everywhere.

They dragged Adrian in chains.

He denied it.

He begged.

Swore he was loyal.

"You always envied her," Gonzalo snapped. "You always hated what she brought to this pack."

"I fought beside you!" Adrian shouted. "I gave everything!"

"And now you'll bleed for your betrayal."

I watched from the trees.

Hidden. Still. Cold.

Adrian's execution was brutal.

Public.

His blood hit the soil like spilled prophecy.

"She's still here." Were Adrain's final words.

No one listened.

The child cried for days.

I could hear her from the woods.

"Mama's gone," she whispered. "Where's mama?"

The nurses rocked her gently.

Gonzalo didn't.

He let her cry.

Good.

Let the grief settle in his bones.

Let the rot begin.

***

Then I returned.

Not with stealth.

But with invitation.

I crossed the river openly. Pale. Shivering. Wounded in places I'd carved myself.

They found me, just as I'd hoped.

They brought me in.

They wrapped me in furs. Whispered my name like it still had meaning.

Gonzalo stood over my bed when I woke.

His eyes were dark. Sunken. Haunted.

"Liora," he said. "You're alive..."

"I didn't know where else to go," I whispered, my voice soft and cracking. "I'm sorry I came here..."

"You're alive."

"Barely."

"You left. You didn't look back."

"You banished me," I reminded him.

He looked away.

"Things are broken right now, I don't want to argue."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Where is Adrian?"

"He betrayed us."

I turned my head. Let my voice catch.

"I'm sorry...what did he do?"

"I never should've cast you out," he murmured. "I... I was afraid of you."

I blinked.

"Afraid?"

"Of how much you meant. Of how much I needed you."

"You used me," I said. "That's how it felt."

"I needed you," he said again. "I still do."

I closed my eyes. Let a single tear fall.

"Then say it."

"I was wrong. I was blind." He dropped to one knee. "Come back."

"And Vanya?"

"Adrain murdered her."

"I'm sorry..." I said softly. "Maybe I should leave, I don't want to make it harder for you."

"Please stay." His voice was soft. "Please don't go, stay here with me."

"And the promises?"

His voice cracked. "Let me make them again. And this time... keep them."

***

The second ceremony was quieter than the first.

No Vanya.

No doubters.

No drums.

Only Gonzalo.

The once exiled wolf.

And the dagger wrapped in white silk beneath my sleeve.

Even the child was there.

She sat in the front. Still. Watching.

Small fingers curled around a carved wolf doll.

When I looked at her, I smiled.

But it didn't reach my eyes.

One day, I thought, you'll understand why wolves wear white before the kill.

***

Gonzalo took my hand.

"You've always been mine," he whispered.

"And you've always been my Alpha."

He smiled.

He didn't understand.

I smiled too.

And hid my teeth.

Everything was going exactly as planned.