#Chapter 120: Real Trouble

DEREK It all slammed into me at once. The office, the old leather chair beneath me, the taste of whiskey still lingering on my tongue—and Maggie’s name reverberating like a bell that wouldn’t stop ringing in my head. Maggie. Pierce’s daughter. A rogue who had saved Elena’s life, who had helped her escape when no one else had, who had vanished not long after—and now might be leading a faction of the same wolves who had once dragged her into the dirt. How had we not seen it? I stood up, pacing to the window, staring out at the Silverclaw grounds below. I didn’t know Maggie well—she’d been there when I found Elena that day on patrol—but I could tell even then that she was tough, watchful, scrappy. It was clear that she’d always kept her head down, never shared much, but she’d been loyal in her way. Loyal to Elena. And now… this. A child of Silverclaw. Born within these very walls. Sent away into the roguelands before she was old enough to understand what it meant. “