Page 72 of Fated Alpha Baby

Simon.

Both Conan and I look up as the beta jogs toward us. His expression is serious, but not panicked.

It’s just serious enough to immediately command our attention.

“Sorry to interrupt the romantic training session,” Simon says dryly.

Conan groans. “Simon…” he says in a warning tone.

“What?” the beta shrugs diffidently.

“You always ruin everything.”

“I’ll take that.”

I laugh while Simon turns toward us, his amusement fading quickly. “The research team is back.”

My stomach drops.

Conan sits upright immediately. “Amos?”

Simon nods. “Amos. Amalia. The others.”

A tense silence falls around us, and Conan places a hand on my thigh. “What did they find?” I ask.

Simon’s expression darkens. “They have answers.”

Every muscle in my body tightens.

Answers about Ashclaw. About the southern ruins. About whatever has been hiding beneath the valley all this time.

Simon exhales slowly. “They’ve called a meeting.”

Conan rises to his feet and immediately offers me his hand to help me to mine.

Whatever news waits for us, I already know one thing.

Nothing about this war is over. Not even close. But Conan and I have each other’s backs no matter what.

Chapter 21 - Conan

The meeting chamber in Red Moon is filled to capacity, with every member of the alliance seated around the table, some standing off to the sides, sticking to the walls as if shadows can hide the tension.

But the tension in the air is ripe, dense enough to feel like it could be cut through with a blade.

I give Hannah’s hand a gentle but firm squeeze, exchanging a glance with her to steady her. Her emotions bleed into my own, the mate bond pulsing with the need for comfort. Our attention naturally gravitates to Sister Amalia and Amos at the front, the High Priestess and the head of the research team having become a team of their own.

Two heads with much knowledge that can lead us to the answers we seek.

“We have scanned the southern ruins of the Bitterroot Valley closely, using both the research team’s tools, as well as magic,” Sister Amalia begins. “What Hannah saw in her vision appears to be true. There is something very…powerful, very dark, evil, hidden beneath the ruins of what once was the Ashclaw Pack territory.”

Amalia shivers as if she has lingering trauma from the discovery. An unsettling silence stretches across the room.

Amos continues, “We have done more digging, and we have found accounts of this being that’s hidden under those ruins.” He holds out his hand, and his assistant passes him an ancient roll of paper. The scroll is withered, its corners charred, as if it were caught in a fire.

Amos unrolls the scroll on the table, smooths the brittle paper, then holds it up for everyone to see.

“We found this scroll hidden in the graveyard. It was placed there long before the demons struck the Ashclaw Pack and wiped them out. It’s even older than Alpha Tomas—the alpha who had a child with a witch, and whose child was saved…”