Chapter 32
Wolfe
“Wolfe?”
I turned to Rowen as she approached. I frowned, but then I realized I’d told Killian to gather all who were able. My wife was able.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
“Proof,” I said. The word tasted like iron.
She went still. “Proof of what?”
“That the Pack Council never wanted a hearing. Never wanted a ruling. Never wanted the truth.” My jaw clenched. “This was never about order. Or law. Or balance.” My voice dropped into something cold enough to frost the air. “This was about trying to erase us.”
“We know that.” Rowen’s eyes burned. Not with fear. With fury. “And we’re showing them what that costs.”
I shook my head in disagreement. We weren’t showing them anything, because the decision was already made.
Not by me, not by Rowen, not even by the Hollow.
All we were doing was fighting them, and in doing so, they still dictated the narrative that we, this pack, were rebellious because, why would a pack with nothing to hide be fighting the Pack Council?
As I left the grove, I could hear them in my head, imagining what lies they had told other packs to make them think we were the problem.
They had even used one of my own against me.
Axel would have gone along with every farcical claim they made.
I had no way to prove I was right and no one to ask if my suspicions were correct, because I was stuck here, defending my pack. My territory.
But they made a mistake. Not the one my arrogance thought it was, not coming after me or mine. No, it was simpler. They had given me proof—by the evidence the Council left in my pack’s blood.
Killian joined us, still shaking with rage he was pretending wasn’t ruling his emotions. “Everyone’s ready,” he said. “Every last one of them.”
Behind him, my pack gathered—bloodied, bruised, limping, but standing. The kind of pack you only get when you stop running from the truth and face it head-on.
Diesel walked up last, eyes darker than night. He looked at me, then at Rowen. “You coming?” he asked. When she nodded, he sniffed but said nothing. “So? We ending this?”
“No,” I said quietly, and I felt my pack’s confusion. “Not ending it. We’re exposing it.”
Their brows lifted, confused for a heartbeat—and then understanding dropped like a blade. Because once the truth came out—about the rogue staging, about the Council pulling strings in multiple territories, about Axel working for them all along, about poisoning…
The Council wouldn’t fall in battle, I knew that now. I could see it clearly. Instead, they’d be brought down by their own crimes.
Rowen stepped to my side, her fingers brushing mine. “So how do we do this?”
I turned to face the area where Council forces were gathering again, unaware that the ground beneath their feet was about to shatter.
“We give them what they came for,” I said. “And then we show every pack watching who the real enemy is.” The Hollow wind rose behind us, cold and sharp, because it too knew it was time to end them. “We’re going to let them in.”
Diesel gaped at me in shock. “What the fuck did you say?”
“Let them in,” I repeated, my voice calm and measured. I met his wide stare. “Trust me.” I kissed Rowen’s temple. “Stay here. Trust me.”
Diesel’s mouth opened and closed like he was genuinely trying to decide whether to shake me or bite me. “Wolfe,” he said slowly, “in the long list of stupid shit you’ve done, this is ranking high.”
Killian didn’t look shocked. I think that worried Diesel more. Killian folded his arms. “You’re going to let the Pack Council walk into the Hollow.”
“Yes.”
“And their soldiers?” Killian asked, and I nodded. “Okay. Then what?”
I met his stare. “Then we end them without touching a single one of them.” Confusion flickered in his eyes—brief, sharp—then faded as understanding dawned. Rowen caught it too. I felt her tension spike through the bond. Not fear.
Recognition.
“This isn’t a fight anymore,” I told them.
“Not the kind they trained for. Not the kind they expect. They think they can drag us into a battlefield. By fighting, by resisting, we play their game. It’s all a fucking game to them,” I added bitterly, shaking my head.
“Well, they don’t realize we’re about to drag them into a trial. ”
Diesel blinked. “A trial?”
“A public one,” Rowen said softly, her voice growing firmer. “In front of every pack they believe they control.”
Killian’s lips parted in something close to a grin. “You’re going to let them condemn themselves.”
“They already have,” I said. “Now they’re just going to do it where everyone can see.”
Diesel scrubbed both hands over his face. “You’re either a genius or you’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Both,” Rowen muttered.
She wasn’t wrong. I looked back toward the ridge. I didn’t feel anything from the Goddess, but my decision felt right, and that was enough for me.
The Pack Council forces were shifting—uncertain, adjusting their formation and bracing for another push. The fact that we weren’t along the boundary growling and snarling, ready to fight, was confusing them. Or perhaps they thought the Hollow was weakening.
Or broken.
Like Stonefang had broken.
They had no idea that Brand’s broken body had just provided us with the weapon we needed. “Get word to the perimeter,” I said. “Let ten of their wolves through. No more.”
Killian nodded. “I’ll choose who stands at the line.”
“Druid stays at the Heartwood,” I added. “No rituals. They cannot accuse us of influencing anything.”
Rowen stepped closer, voice low. “Wolfe…be careful.”
“I am,” I said. It wasn’t entirely a lie.
Her fingers curled into my arm. “Letting them in—is this the only way?”
“Yes.”
Because the Council needed witnesses. They needed to be exposed in the open. They needed to be stripped of power by truth, not teeth, and a battle wouldn’t do that.
A massacre wouldn’t do that.
But walking straight into the Hollow—after what they did to Brand—with Rowen standing beside me as both mate and legacy? That would be the end of them. I kissed her temple again. “Trust me.”
Her breath trembled. “I do.”
“I don’t.” Diesel huffed. “I think grief has made you go completely fucking insane.”
I clapped his shoulder. “Good. One of us has to be cautious.” I grinned. “Never thought it’d be you, Diesel.”
Rowen shot me a look that should’ve melted bone. “Don’t get cocky. You’re either right or about to fuck everything up we’ve just fought and died for.”
“I’m right,” I told her confidently.
Diesel grumbled something about “insane alphas” and stalked off toward the boundary line.
Killian lingered. “What if they don’t fall for it?” he asked quietly.
I met his gaze. “They already have.”
As I walked toward the boundary line on the eastern ridge—the place where the Pack Council would finally step into their own grave—I felt it in my bones.
Not the land shifting. Not the magic within it.
Certainty. Conviction.
I was right; tonight, the Pack Council would fall—but not by my hand. They would collapse under the weight of their own sins, and all I needed to do was make damn sure every witness saw it.
I used my Will to raise my voice as I stepped out from the trees so they could see me—see every bruise, every wolf at my back, every inch of Hollow soil beneath my feet.
“I am willing to talk to the Pack Council,” I announced, letting the words carry across the ridge, “if they will grant me an audience.”
Movement rippled through their ranks—surprise, hesitation, calculation.
“Every alpha of the Pack Council,” I continued, “and every alpha who stands with you…I offer you sanctuary to come forward and discuss how we move forward from this.” My voice softened, just enough. “Shifter fighting shifter…it’s too much.”
A lie. A truth. Whatever they needed it to be. I let sincerity seep into my words—not the genuine kind, but the kind that stroked their egos. Arrogant men walked into traps willingly as long as they believed the trap was beneath them.
“We can end this without more bloodshed,” I added. “But only if you are willing to step onto neutral ground.”
Behind me, Killian didn’t breathe. Diesel muttered something obscene. Rowen stayed still, trusting me even when she hated the method.
I kept my gaze on their forces across the distance.
“Come forward,” I said. “Under my word as alpha, you will be granted safe passage.”
A long silence stretched, and I felt a flicker of doubt, and then it happened. A wolf broke free of the ranks and started to walk towards us. Then another. And then Deryn himself.
I’d hoped he was here; I hadn’t counted on it, though, but seeing him…seeing him turned that feeling of certainty I had just moments ago into unshakeable faith. Their formation shifted as they started to descend the ridge—slowly, cautiously, but still moving.
Behind me, Diesel whispered, “Holy shit, it’s working.” He paused. “I just don’t know who for.”
I stepped out of my territory as the barrier lowered, and the first of the Pack Council stepped onto the Hollow, cautious and suspicious, trying to pretend they held control when their scent said otherwise. But still, they were here.
Killian waited at the front, arms crossed, every bit the beta who’d rip out a throat without hesitation. Diesel stood next to him—scowling, pulsating with energy, challenging anyone to step out of line.
I stayed outside of the boundary. Rowen moved to my right, steady, chin high, the Hollow at her back.
Behind us, my pack gathered. Wounded warriors leaning on one another. Elders standing tall. Mothers clutching their young. Every wolf who had bled defending this land stood waiting.
Waiting to watch.
The perfect audience, along with the alphas who accompanied the Pack Council, who had fought against us under the belief we were the problem.
Some hovered near the boundary, but enough were here.