Chapter84: The plot

KELLY THOMPSON'S POV  The heavy thud of the war room door echoed through the silence as he entered, a gust of cold air swirling around him like the whispers of impending doom. Alpha King Jason's face was a mask of shadows, his piercing blue eyes ablaze with a fire that spoke volumes before his lips ever parted. My heart clenched, sensing the gravity of what he was about to divulge. "Kelly," he began, urgency sharpening his voice to a fine edge. "I have returned with ill tidings." I straightened up from the maps sprawled across the oak table, my fingers stilling on the parchment that detailed our territories-the lands I had vowed to protect at any cost. Every instinct within me rose to attention as I met his gaze. "Speak, Jason. What darkness have you unearthed?" He closed the distance between us in three long strides, the scent of pine and frost clinging to him-a stark reminder of the isolation he must have endured during his secretive foray into enemy lands. His presence filled the wa