Kael's POV
He stopped in front of the desk and bowed his head.
"Prince Kael."
"Gamma Ron, right?" I stood and extended my hand.
He looked surprised—more than surprised, actually. Almost unsettled by the gesture—but he took it anyway, his grip firm despite the tension running through him. Then he sat where I gestured.
For a moment, he didn't speak.
He just sat there, elbows resting lightly on his knees, eyes closed as if bracing himself for something far worse than this conversation.
Like speaking the truth would cost him more than silence ever had.
"I found Aelara hiding in a closet," he said quietly.
His voice was steady—but only just.
"I didn't know who she was at first. I just knew she was terrified. Not the kind of fear you see from someone being punished… something deeper. Like she was used to running and had nowhere left to go."
His jaw tightened.
"I got her outside with the others when everything started."
"So you were helping them?" I asked, watching him carefully.
He shook his head immediately. "No."
Darius leaned forward, his gaze sharp. "Then why were you there?"
Ron hesitated.
His fingers curled slightly against his knees.
"I'm taking a huge risk even being here," he said finally. "If the Alpha finds out I spoke to you, my family is dead. Not punished—dead."
The words settled heavily in the room.
"But I can't stay quiet anymore," he continued, voice roughening. "Not after seeing what they did to her."
I lifted a hand slightly, not to silence him—but to steady him.
"Take your time," I said. "But I need the full truth. No half-stories."
His eyes opened then.
And there was something in them that hadn't been there before.
Resolve.
He nodded once.
Then forced himself forward.
"The rogue attack on the pack… it wasn't real," Ron said.
Darius stilled beside me.
My gaze sharpened.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it wasn't rogues," Ron said. "Not real ones. The Alpha arranged it. Paid off outside wolves, promised them territory and protection. It was staged chaos."
My fists clenched slowly on the desk.
"He needed an excuse," Ron continued. "A reason no one would question. The pack had been stable for years. The former Alpha was respected. Loyal alliances. Strong borders. There was no weakness to exploit."
"So he created one," Darius muttered.
Ron nodded.
"Yes. He needed the pack to fall—but in a way that looked like fate, not betrayal."
My voice dropped.
"So he wiped them out."
Ron swallowed.
"The former Alpha died defending the borders," he said. "He never even saw it coming. The attack came from within as much as from outside."
"And the Luna?" I asked.
Ron's expression darkened.
"She survived longer," he said quietly. "Long enough to realize what was happening. Long enough to fight back."
His gaze flickered briefly, like he was seeing it again.
"But she couldn't stop it alone."
Silence stretched between us.
Heavy.
Calculated.
This hadn't been rage.
This hadn't been an obsession.
This had been planned.
Executed.
A full dismantling of a ruling bloodline.
"For power?" I asked.
Ron shook his head slowly.
"Not just power," he said. "Control."
I didn't interrupt.
"He didn't just want to be Alpha," Ron continued. "He wanted a pack that would never challenge him. No legacy ties. No competing bloodlines. No one left who could question his claim."
Darius's voice cut in, low and sharp.
"So he erased them."
"Yes."
The word landed like a blade.
Ron exhaled slowly, as if forcing himself past the worst part.
"I didn't know who Aelara was at first," he said again, quieter now. "Not until later."
My focus sharpened further.
"When?"
"When the Luna died."
The room seemed to be still.
"I saw her," Ron continued. "Aelara. The moment it happened."
His voice lowered.
"There was a servant named Mara. She was holding Aelara back, trying to shield her from everything. From the blood. From the screams."
His hands tightened slightly.
"But Aelara… she felt it."
I didn't need him to explain.
A bond like that—
A child tied to her parents—
It would have shattered something inside her.
"That's when I realized," Ron said. "She wasn't just some servant child. No one reacts like that unless… they're connected."
My jaw tightened.
"Does the Alpha know who she really is?"
Ron didn't hesitate this time.
"Yes."
The word came out flat.
Certain.
"That's why he kept her close," Ron continued. "Not out of mercy. Not out of guilt. Control."
His eyes met mine.
"He couldn't risk her disappearing. Couldn't risk someone finding her before he secured his position completely."
Darius frowned slightly.
"Then why not kill her?"
Ron let out a quiet, bitter breath.
"Because dead heirs raise questions," he said. "Missing ones don't. Especially if they're reduced to nothing."
That… made sense.
Twisted.
But effective.
"And she looks like the Luna?" I asked.
"Yes," Ron said. "More every year. It's getting harder for him to ignore. Harder to hide."
Darius leaned back slightly.
"Luna Elira," he said.
Ron nodded.
"That's her name."
Silence fell again.
But it wasn't confusion this time.
It was clarity.
Everything fit.
Every piece.
Every cruelty.
Every calculated move.
This wasn't a broken pack.
It was a stolen one.
Ron hesitated again, then asked quietly—
"How is Aelara?"
Darius's gaze flicked to him.
"You care about her."
Ron didn't look away.
"I've tried to help where I could," he admitted. "Food. Small things. Nothing that would draw attention."
His voice dropped further.
"I once asked the Alpha if she could stay with my family. A pack house isn't a place to raise a child with no parents."
That alone said more than anything else he had told us.
I exchanged a look with Darius.
This man had risked everything to speak.
And now we knew exactly how deep the corruption in this pack ran.