Chapter 8: The Ledger of Lies

The hours until the banquet felt like a countdown clock rigged to explode. My stomach was doing somersaults, not just because I was terrified of being wrong, but because I was terrified of what Kaelen would do if I was right. I was back in the study, my eyes burning from staring at the decrypted sub-folders I’d pulled from the pack’s private server. It wasn't just weapon shipments anymore. It was a full-blown shadow economy. My father, the ‘honorable’ Alpha of Blacktooth, was deep in the pockets of the Crescent Moon Pack. They weren't fighting over territory; they were laundering money through it. "Damn it, Dad," I whispered, rubbing my temples. "You really are a piece of work." The door creaked open. It wasn't the King this time. It was my brother, Sebastian. He looked like he’d been running through a storm—hair damp, shirt unbuttoned at the collar, eyes wild. "Elian. Pack your stuff," he said, his voice dropping into a desperate, frantic register. "We’re leaving. Now. Before the sun sets." I didn't even look up from the screen. "Leaving? We’re here for the summit, Seb. Kaelen will kill us if we bolt. Actually, he’ll probably just feed us to the wolves, but the end result is the same." Sebastian strode over and slammed his hand on the desk, forcing the laptop shut. "You don't get it! The King isn't playing a game. He knows. He’s been tracking the shipments since we hit Canadian soil. If you stay, you’re just the human shield he’s going to use to justify the slaughter of our pack." I looked at him, really looked at him. The 'golden boy' was cracking. "You knew," I realized, the cold realization hitting me like a slap. "You knew about the shipments. You knew what Dad was doing." Sebastian looked away, his jaw tight. "I’m the next Alpha, Elian. My job is to protect this family, even the shitty parts of it. Now, are you coming, or are you going to stay here and die for the sake of being 'right'?" I looked at the laptop, then at my brother. If I left now, I was just another runaway. If I stayed, I had a chance to dismantle the whole corrupt mess and maybe—just maybe—find a way to survive the fallout. "Go, Seb," I said, my voice ice-cold. "If Dad asks, tell him I decided to take the 'social experiment' to its logical conclusion." "You're going to get yourself killed," he hissed, his hand hovering over his waistband where he kept his knife. "I’ve been dead to this pack since I arrived," I said, turning back to the screen and flipping the lid open. "At least this way, I’m dying on my own terms." He stared at me for a heartbeat, his expression flickering with something that almost looked like respect, before he turned and bolted out of the room. I was alone. The silence of the castle felt heavier now, like it was holding its breath. I pulled up the final, encrypted ledger—the one that connected the King’s own brother to the smuggling ring. *If I’m going to be a rat,* I thought, a bitter grin on my face, *I might as well take down the whole house.* Tonight was the banquet. And Kaelen was going to find out that his 'little human' wasn't just an observer—I was the architect of his coming headache.