Chapter 21 #2
Wolfe watched me, his eyes seeing more than I was saying. “You think there’s more than Corrin.”
“I know there is,” I said, sitting on the edge beside him. “He was too slick. Too obvious. Too easy to tell you everything.” I blew out a tired breath. “That kind of structure doesn’t start with a man who needs to be caught to talk. It starts higher. Older. Smarter.”
He took the bundle from me and untied it, flipping through the top pages. The moment his eyes hit Galvin’s name, I felt him go still. “He retired before I returned, didn’t he?”
“Conveniently,” I said with a snort. “But not cleanly.” I flicked a few pages further than Wolfe had. “Here.” I pointed. “He and my father were managing rogue territory. Coordinating supply disruption. Border testing.”
“Testing what?”
I met his eyes. “Their response. Their patterns. Maybe even their alliances. I don’t think this is what Corrin was working on.” I flicked back to the map. “I think this was a contingency.”
Wolfe leaned forward, elbows braced on his thighs, hands clutching the pages. “This is much bigger.”
I nodded. “And older.”
He looked up at me. “You found this last night?” He frowned. “You should’ve woken me.”
“You needed the rest.” I held his stare when it looked like he wanted to argue. “You and Diesel are here, Wolfe, no one can get in or out.”
He reached over, his hand clasping mine. “For something like this, you needed me.”
That bond tightened in my chest. I reached over and cupped his cheek. “You’re here now.” I fought back the sting of tears, seeing how much he cared; it surprised me, even though it shouldn’t. “I don’t want you to carry this alone.”
His gaze softened. “I won’t.”
We sat there a moment, the morning light growing stronger. He hadn’t even pulled on a shirt yet, and already the wolf in him was shifting back into place—alert, commanding, dangerous.
But beside me, he was also just Wolfe.
I knew, in that moment, that we were already what the Hollow needed. We just hadn’t claimed it fully yet. But when my heat came, we would. There was no reluctance between us anymore.
He stood, finally. Pulled on a shirt. Stared down at the bundle in his hands. “I want to question Galvin today. Just me. No Will.”
I raised a brow. “Just Wolfe?” I teased.
He gave me a crooked smile. “It’ll be enough.”
“Agreed.” I stood beside him. “And we’ll find out what the hell they’ve left us to fight.”
He leaned down, kissed me once—soft, sure. We left the room together.
Wolfe didn’t hesitate; he let me lead him to where Galvin lived. It was tucked in a deeper part of the Hollow, away from most footpaths.
Galvin’s house hadn’t changed. The same stone walls were stained by old weather.
Same carved beams with my family’s crest—my crest—burned into the ends.
A show of loyalty that always felt a little too permanent for a man who always seemed to sneer in my father’s face.
As we approached, I saw that it looked empty. Unlived in.
“It’s empty,” I complained, not hiding my disappointment.
“No, it isn’t,” Wolfe murmured, leading me on.
Wolfe knocked once and didn’t wait. He pushed open the door like it was his, like this whole territory bowed beneath his boots—and in truth, it did.
But Galvin wasn’t the type to show fear. He was sitting in an old wooden chair that faced the hearth, even when the fire was cold. A mug in his hand. A blanket over his knees.
“Alpha,” he said coolly. “Daughter of the Hollow. What brings the two of you to my door this early?”
The emphasis of our titles wasn’t accidental. I wondered if he’d choke on the word mate.
I stepped in after Wolfe and closed the door behind us. “We found some of my father’s records,” I said.
Galvin’s smile didn’t move past his lips. “I imagine they’re a mess. Malric was never the organized type.”
Wolfe didn’t sit. He just stood there, silent, towering. Not threatening. Not yet.
“Your name came up,” I continued. “In connection with rogue border agreements. Resource control. Coordinated disruption.” I watched him. “Hunting them.”
Galvin took a slow sip of whatever was in his mug. “Ah. That. Yes. Those years were…complicated.” He gave me that empty smile again. “A girl like you wouldn’t understand.”
Chauvinist.
“Were you working with Corrin?” Wolfe asked, voice sharp and steady.
Galvin gave a slow blink. “Corrin? That boy could barely work with himself. I assume you mean in some official capacity, as advisor to your father.”
“No,” I said, stepping forward. “He means in any capacity.”
The pause was slight. Almost imperceptible.
But it was there. Galvin leaned back in his chair.
“I advised Malric. That’s no secret. The troubles you refer to were…
difficult. We had to manage threats. Bluff where we were weak.
Negotiate when we couldn’t fight. That’s what keeps a pack alive. It’s not always clean.”
“But it should be honest,” I snapped.
Now he smiled. “Honesty is a luxury leaders don’t always have. You’ll learn that, in time.”
Wolfe stepped forward. One stride. Just enough to remind the room who held power now. “When did you stop passing instructions to Corrin?”
Galvin sniffed. “I passed strategy to your predecessor.”
Wolfe didn’t blink. “But you knew Corrin was acting on those tactics after Malric died.”
“Did I?” Galvin tilted his head. “What a terrible oversight.” His gaze flicked to me. “It’s a burden, isn’t it, girl? Seeing how the sausage is made. Your father kept this place stable by cutting deals none of you were meant to see.”
“You call it stability,” I said. “I call it betrayal.”
He chuckled. “We all call leadership something different when we don’t like the taste it leaves in our mouths.”
Wolfe’s tone changed into something low and dangerous. “Corrin confessed.”
“I’m sure he did,” Galvin said lightly. “Nothing makes a man more honest than the weight of your Will bearing down on their throat.”
Wolfe was stone. “So you admit you kept the structure of making deals with the rogues in place.”
Galvin gave a slow shrug. “You’re young, Wolfe. Hungry. Idealistic.” Galvin glanced over the alpha. “That’s not an insult. But sometimes a working system isn’t dismantled because of one loose piece.”
“Corrin wasn’t loose,” I said. “He was a lever, and someone is pulling it.”
His gaze cooled. “You’ll find there are many levers, Rowen. Some of them were built in this Hollow before you were born.”
“And some of us know how to break them.”
Wolfe took a slow breath, then turned to me. “We’re done here.”
I nodded but didn’t move. Not yet. “If I find proof that you’re still involved—if even one more wolf bleeds because of your system—”
“You’ll what?” Galvin asked softly. “I’m an old man, girl. What will you do?”
I smiled, but there was nothing kind in it. “I’ll show you what my wolf learned from both of her alphas.”
His face didn’t change. But his pulse did.
Wolfe opened the door. I walked through first this time. We didn’t slam it behind us.
Outside, I took a deep breath.
Well? I asked him through the mindlink.
It’s time to talk to the druid.