Garrick’s POV
I was sitting behind my desk, going through a stack of reports that had been piling up since my return from the Blood Moon Market, when Ronan walked into my office carrying yet another piece of paper.
He didn’t sit down.
That alone made me look up.
“What is it?”
Ronan placed the report on my desk with deliberate care.
I stared into his face, trying to figure out what any of this was about, but his face remained blank.
I picked up the paper and scanned the first few lines.
The words seemed to blur together for a moment before their meaning crystallized.
“The west wall?”
“Yes.” Ronan’s voice was carefully neutral, which only made my heart quicken.
I looked up at him, already knowing I wouldn’t like the answer.
“How?”
“A section collapsed sometime before dawn, and one of the guards assigned to that section failed to report the damage immediately. My guess is that he slept on the job.” Ronan’s jaw tightened as he said it, mirroring my own reaction.
The west wall was one of the oldest defensive structures around the territory.
It had been reinforced several times over the years, but it was still one of the barriers keeping our enemies from walking straight into our lands.
A collapsed section wasn’t just some minor inconvenience that could be repaired whenever we had the time.
It was a bleeding wound.
“How large?” I asked, already reading further into the report.
“Large enough for several men to pass through. Several enemies.”
My head started to thrum painfully as I thought of all the enemies who could have walked through that gap in the wall already, who might as well be in my territory now.
All the people at the Blood Moon Market who had wanted the Oracle for themselves.
The Shadowwalkers and Memory Eaters, the human soldiers from the Ardent Flame.
Even other alphas of the Luphiran Court might have snuck in to try and steal the Oracle, maybe kill her or give her away before she became more trouble than she was worth.
All of them, enemies.
“How long has the breach been open?” I asked.
“Long enough for me to have more guards stationed there now.” Ronan answered, then raised a placating hand.
“Don’t worry, Garrick, I have it under control. I just thought it best to tell you about it.”
That wasn’t what I asked, and Ronan knew it.
I stared at him, waiting for a real answer.
“We don’t know how long,” he finally admitted.
The thrumming in my head rose to a fever pitch.
“We don’t know?”
I stood up slowly.
“Then what exactly has he been doing all this time?”
Ronan rubbed a hand over his face, a gesture I rarely saw from him.
It meant the situation was worse than he was letting on.
“That is what we’re trying to find out.”
Before I could respond, he raised a hand to stop me.
“There is something else.”
I already knew I wasn’t going to like it.
“What?”
He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.
“I want you to know that the Luphiran Council is talking again.”
“The Luphiran Council is always talking.” I started to walk toward the door, but Ronan’s voice stopped me.
“They’re talking about the Oracle.”
My expression hardened instantly.
I turned back to face him.
Ronan continued with obvious care.
“It’s been two days already. Everyone is unsettled by the fact that she is living under your roof. The lower alphas are already nervous about it, you saw it for yourself the other day. And now that the west wall has collapsed, some of them are convinced the two things are connected.”
I stared at him, disbelief warring with anger.
“Connected how?”
“They think bringing an Oracle into the territory has weakened our defenses.”
I laughed humourlessly and shook my head.
“A wall collapsed because a guard failed to do his job, and somehow that is the Oracle’s fault?”
“They don’t care about the reason.”
“Of course they don’t.” I picked up the report again, my fingers tightening around the paper.
I had already stationed four guards to protect the Oracle.
That should be enough to keep enemies at bay for now.
Enemies…
My wolf growled at the thought that that girl, our fated mate, was in some kind of mortal danger.
The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.
My wolf was restless under my skin, sensing the threat.
When I turned back to Ronan, he was grinning, which immediately put me on guard.
I put the report down carefully, already bracing myself.
“That usually means you’re about to annoy me.”
“Why are you so interested in this girl?” Ronan shrugged, but his eyes were sharp and calculating.
“You deliberately went out to the Blood Moon Market and bought her. You brought her here and you put her in one of the rooms very close to yours. You threatened the council over her. You even killed a man at the market because he so much as insulted her.”
I said nothing, but I could feel my wolf stirring at the memory of that night.
Ronan slowly raised one finger.
“And now you’re keeping her here despite the fact that the Shadowwalkers are demanding her return. Despite the fact that you already have a betrothed. Or have you forgotten?”
“No.” The word came out like a growl.
He lowered his hand, satisfied.
“Exactly.”
I gave him a warning look, but Ronan only became more curious, his grin widening.
“We are Lycans, Garrick. We have no business with Oracle sorcery. Let the Shadowwalkers deal with it. They clearly want her, and they have far more knowledge about Oracles than we do.”
“Are you finished?”
“Not quite.” He wagged a finger at me like I was a child.
“The only reason you’re refusing to give her back is because she is your mate. Am I wrong?”
My expression changed before I could stop it—a slight hardening of my features, a tightening around my eyes.
It was enough for Ronan to catch on
“Haha! There it is.” He looked genuinely pleased with himself.
“You formed a bond with her, didn’t you? That’s why you’re so protective of her. Garrick, I have been your friend for well over fifteen years. You can fool the council, but you can’t fool me,” Ronan called as I walked toward the door.
Annoyingly, my face was burning up with embarrassment.
“I don’t have time to gossip about mates with you like a girl. I have a security crisis to deal with.”
“Sure.” Ronan chuckled.
“Whatever you say, Garrick.”
Without another word, I opened the door and walked out into the corridor, but Ronan followed, undeterred by my silence.
We hurried down the stairs, past maids and guards, and stepped out into the sun.
The moment we stepped outside, I saw what Ronan was talking about.
My wolf senses picked up danger immediately.
The western wall was miles and miles away, but my sharp eyes caught it.
The wall stretched across the horizon in the distance, and a large section of the stone structure had collapsed into itself, leaving a gaping wound in our defenses.
My anger came instantly, flooding through my veins like molten fire.
“Damn it!”