Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside the Pack
War did not begin with armies.
It began with missing supplies.
Broken contracts.
Blocked roads.
Whisper campaigns.
Blackridge merchants stopped doing business with Pinehaven.
Pinehaven retaliated.
Council members demanded neutral territory.
Emma watched everything unravel.
Then she noticed the financial records.
Millions were moving again.
But this time the transactions were happening inside Pinehaven.
Someone close to Nathaniel was helping Adrian.
Emma spent two nights analyzing payroll irregularities.
The pattern pointed to someone with access to executive accounts.
“Mara,” she said.
Mara looked up.
“What?”
“I found something.”
They examined the records together.
The account had been authorized by someone using Nathaniel's private security code.
Mara frowned.
“Who has it?”
“Five people.”
Nathaniel.
His chief of security.
His chief financial officer.
Mara.
And his younger sister, Lily.
Emma froze.
“Lily?”
Nathaniel's sister had always been warm toward her.
Too warm, perhaps.
She refused to believe it.
Then Lily disappeared.
That night, Emma followed a vehicle leaving the estate.
Nathaniel caught her halfway to the gate.
“What are you doing?”
“She left.”
“Who?”
“Lily.”
He stared.
“You followed her?”
“Yes.”
He was furious.
“Emma.”
“She may be helping Adrian.”
“Or she may be in danger.”
They followed together.
The trail led to an abandoned logging station.
Inside, they found Lily.
She was tied to a chair.
Emma's heart dropped.
Nathaniel rushed forward.
A hidden attacker appeared.
“Stop!”
The man held a blade to Lily's throat.
Nathaniel froze.
“Adrian sent you?”
The man laughed.
“No.”
He removed his hood.
Daniel Reeves.
Emma stared.
“You?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
Nathaniel growled.
“You lied to her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“I was trying to protect her.”
Emma stepped forward.
“From what?”
“The council.”
Daniel explained everything.
He had been ordered to monitor Emma.
But he had discovered the council planned to use her as a symbolic figurehead.
They wanted her bond with Nathaniel broken.
When Daniel refused, they threatened his family.
He had chosen Madeline publicly to make Emma hate him.
Emma stared.
“You humiliated me to protect me?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“I know that now.”
Lily spoke.
“He saved me too.”
Emma looked at her.
“What?”
“Daniel discovered Adrian was using my account to move money.”
The puzzle fell into place.
The betrayer was not Lily.
It was Nathaniel's chief financial officer.
He had been working for Adrian.
They returned to the estate.
The CFO was arrested.
More financial evidence surfaced.
Adrian had been manipulating the war.
His goal was not to defeat Nathaniel.
It was to force him into surrendering Emma.
The Silver Gate required the guardian and a legitimate Alpha to remain aligned.
If Nathaniel lost territory, Adrian could challenge succession.
He wanted the title.
He wanted Emma's bloodline.
He wanted everything.
Nathaniel confronted him through a formal council call.
“You're finished.”
Adrian laughed.
“You think exposing my money makes me weak?”
“No.”
Nathaniel looked at Emma.
“I think she does.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You love her.”
“Yes.”
“Then you will lose.”
Emma stepped into view.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
“You.”
“I am done being spoken about as if I'm property.”
“You are the guardian.”
“I am a person first.”
The council fell silent.
Emma continued.
“You used fear to control everyone.”
She held up the financial records.
“You bought silence.”
She raised the evidence from the old vault.
“You buried history.”
Then she looked at Nathaniel.
“And you expected me to believe there was only one way to survive.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You don't understand the world.”
Emma smiled.
“No.”
“I understand people.”
She looked toward the elders.
“And you are outnumbered.”
One by one, council members stood against Adrian.
Not because Nathaniel demanded it.
Because Emma had forced them to look at what they had become.
Adrian fled before dawn.
May you like
But he left one last threat.
He would activate the Silver Gate himself.
