The war room had become a vortex of controlled chaos. Kael's voice cut through the noise, sharp and clear, each word leaving no room for question.

"Valen, I want your best trackers. Not the greenhorns. I want people who've survived Northern winters."

Valen gave a sharp nod, his scarred face grim. "I've got three in mind. They tracked the Nightclaw assassins through the Blackfrost Pass."

"Take them. Ronan, coordinate with logistics. I want the snowmobiles equipped with mounted weapons and extra fuel. We're not coming back until we have him."

Ronan hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Alpha, if we take the heavy vehicles and the best trackers, we're leaving the Keep vulnerable. Thorne's rebels are still out there, and we don't know where Alaric's main force—"

"My brother is out there!" Lyra's voice cracked across the room. She stood straight now, her tears gone, replaced by a cold fire that burned in her eyes. "While we're debating tactics, they could be torturing him. They could be..." She swallowed hard, unable to finish the thought.

Kael moved to stand beside her, his presence a solid wall of support. "Lyra is right. This isn't just about one soldier. Elias has intelligence about our operations, our defenses. Every minute he's in their hands puts everyone in this Keep at risk." He turned his gaze back to his commanders. "We move in thirty minutes. That's an order."

As the men hurried to carry out his commands, Kael guided Lyra to a quieter corner of the room. Her hands were shaking, and he enveloped them in his own.

"I need you focused," he said quietly. "Not as my Luna, not as Elias's sister. I need the strategist who outmaneuvered Thorne. I need the woman who saw through Seraphina's deception. Can you be that for me right now?"

Lyra took a deep, shuddering breath, her eyes searching his. The fear was still there, a living thing clawing at her insides, but she nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need you to think like Alaric. Why take Elias alive? Why let the others escape? This feels staged, and I don't like it."

The question cut through her panic like a blade. She forced herself to think, to push past the image of her brother being dragged away. "He's bait," she realized aloud. "He's drawing us out. Dividing our forces."

Kael's jaw tightened. "My thought exactly. Which means we're walking into a trap."

"Then why are we going?"

"Because sometimes the only way to spring a trap is to walk into it," he said, his voice low. "But we do it on our terms. We don't play his game—we change the rules."

---

The wind on the glacier had picked up, stinging their faces with ice crystals. Rykar pushed them mercilessly, his eyes constantly scanning their back trail.

"They'll have drones up in this weather," he muttered. "We need to find cover before full dark."

Finn stumbled again, his body trembling from exhaustion and shock. "I can't... I need to rest. Just for a minute."

"Every minute we rest is another minute they have Elias," Anya said, her voice softer than Rykar's but no less firm. She offered Finn a hand up. "Remember what he said to you when you joined the scouts? 'The pack doesn't leave anyone behind.' He knew the risks. Now it's our turn to do our part."

Finn took her hand, his eyes haunted. "He pushed me to safety. He could have made it across, but he made sure I went first."

"That's who he is," Rykar said without turning around. "Now honor that by not getting yourself killed. We're heading for the ice caves. It's our only chance."

The ice caves. Finn had studied the maps. A labyrinth of tunnels carved by meltwater, unpredictable and dangerous. But they offered shelter from the elements—and from prying eyes.

As they moved, Anya kept checking their six, her rifle always at the ready. "They're not pursuing. Why aren't they pursuing?"

Rykar didn't answer, but the set of his shoulders told Finn he'd been wondering the same thing. The Northern forces had them outnumbered and outgunned. They could have easily sent a team around the crevasse to continue the hunt. The fact that they hadn't was... unsettling.

---

Elias came to with a pounding headache and the distinct sense of being watched. He was in a dimly lit room, the walls smooth and carved from ice but surprisingly warm. Energy crystals glowed with a soft blue light, embedded in the walls at regular intervals. The air smelled of ozone and something else—something metallic and cold.

His hands were bound behind his back with energy cuffs that hummed softly, draining his strength. He tried to shift, to test his bonds, and found his muscles responding sluggishly.

"I wouldn't bother," a familiar voice said from the shadows. "Those cuffs are calibrated to suppress shifter abilities. Quite effectively, as you can feel."

Alaric stepped into the light, his movements fluid and silent. He looked exactly as Elias remembered from their brief encounter at the glacier—calm, composed, and utterly dangerous.

"What do you want?" Elias's voice came out rough, his throat dry.

Alaric smiled, a thin, humorless expression. "Straight to the point. I always appreciated that about you, Elias. Even when you were working against me with Crimson Paw, you were never one for games."

Elias stiffened. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew." Alaric began to circle him slowly. "I've been watching your sister for years. Did you think I wouldn't notice her brother suddenly appearing with a convenient story about escaping Crimson Paw? Your loyalty is admirable, if misplaced."

Elias remained silent, his mind racing. If Alaric had known he was working against him from the beginning...

"Don't trouble yourself with questions," Alaric said, as if reading his thoughts. "The 'why' is simple. Your sister and Kael needed to believe they had a victory. They needed to think they had uncovered the traitor in their midst and secured their borders. It made them confident. Complacent."

He stopped in front of Elias, his gaze intense. "And now they have something to lose. A family. A future. It makes leaders... predictable."

"You're using me to draw them out," Elias said, the pieces clicking into place.

"Very good." Alaric's smile widened slightly. "But not just them. You see, your unique perspective on both Crimson Paw and Silverfang makes you valuable. As does your connection to Lyra. There are... arrangements being made. New alliances. And you're going to help me ensure they proceed smoothly."

Elias met his gaze steadily. "I'll die before I help you."

"Death is rarely the worst option," Alaric said softly. "And I think you'll find my methods of persuasion... compelling."

He gestured, and two Northern guards entered the room. They hauled Elias to his feet, his legs barely supporting him.

"Take him to the interrogation chamber," Alaric ordered. "Let's see how long Silverfang loyalty lasts when faced with Northern technology."

---

Back at Silverfang Keep, Lyra stood before the large map of the Northern territories, her fingers tracing the route Finn's team had taken.

"They were here," she murmured, pointing to the crevasse field marked on the map. "The transmission cut out here. But if they were running from Northern forces..."

She moved her finger northwest. "The ice caves. It's the only shelter for miles. If they survived, that's where they'd go."

Kael watched her work, pride warring with concern in his chest. She was using the bond with her brother, he knew—not just the emotional connection, but the deeper, more primal link that allowed mates and close siblings to sense each other's general direction and state. It was a dangerous thing to rely on, especially when emotions were running high, but right now, it was all they had.

"The caves are a maze," Ronan said, joining them at the map. "Even with our best trackers, it could take days to search them thoroughly. And if the Northern forces are waiting for us..."

"Then we don't send in the main force," Lyra said, her eyes still fixed on the map. "We send a small, fast team. Two, three people at most. They find our people, assess the situation, and report back."

Kael considered this. "A reconnaissance team instead of a rescue party."

"Exactly." Lyra finally looked at him. "We play Alaric's game, but we do it smart. We let him think we're sending our full strength after Elias while we gather intelligence and plan our real move."

It was a good plan. A smart plan. But it meant leaving Elias in enemy hands longer. Kael could see the cost of that decision in Lyra's eyes.

"Valen can lead the recon team," Kael decided. "He's experienced, and he knows when to pull back."

Lyra shook her head. "No. It should be me."

"Absolutely not." The refusal was immediate, instinctive. "It's too dangerous."

"Kael, I'm the only one who can find them quickly." She touched her chest, over her heart. "I can feel him. Not clearly, but I know what direction to go. I can save us precious time."

"He's using Elias as bait, Lyra! What do you think he'll do if you walk into his territory?"

"Then I won't walk into his territory." Her gaze was steady. "I'll find Finn and the others first. Get the intelligence we need. Then we decide how to get Elias back."

The room had gone quiet around them. Everyone was watching, waiting for Kael's decision. He could order her to stay. As Alpha, his word was law. But as her mate, he knew what this cost her—and what it would cost them both if he refused.

"Ronan will go with you," he said finally. "And you take two of Valen's best trackers. You have forty-eight hours. If you're not back by then, I'm coming in with everything we have."

The relief in her eyes was palpable. "Thank you."

As they began preparations, Kael pulled her aside once more. "Lyra... if you sense anything wrong—anything at all—you pull back. Promise me."

She stood on her toes and kissed him, a quick, hard press of lips. "I promise."

But as she turned to gather her gear, Kael saw the determination in her eyes, and he knew: if it came down to saving her brother or following orders, she would choose her brother every time.

---

In the ice caves, Finn was trying to get a damaged comm unit to work when Rykar went still, his head cocked.

"Someone's coming," he whispered, signaling for silence.

Anya melted into the shadows, her rifle raised. Finn held his breath, listening. At first, he heard nothing but the drip of water and the moan of the wind outside. Then—footsteps. Careful, measured.

Rykar raised his weapon, his finger hovering over the trigger as a figure appeared at the cave entrance, backlit by the fading Arctic light.

"Don't shoot," a familiar voice said. "It's me."

Finn's breath caught in his throat as Lyra stepped into the cave, her face grim but determined. Ronan and two other trackers followed close behind, their weapons scanning the darkness.

"Lyra?" Finn whispered, unable to believe his eyes.

She crossed to him in three quick strides, pulling him into a brief, hard hug. "Thank the moons you're alive. Where's Elias?"

The question hung in the air, and the look on Finn's face told her everything she needed to know.

"He's gone, Lyra," Rykar said quietly. "They took him alive. We think it was deliberate."

Lyra's expression hardened, but she nodded. "We know. Kael thinks it's a trap to draw us out."

"It is," a new voice said from the cave entrance.

Everyone spun, weapons raised, as a figure stepped from the shadows. It was a Northern clansman, but he held his hands up in a gesture of peace. His face was young, his eyes wary.

"My name is Joren," he said, his accent thick but understandable. "I was sent to find you. Alaric has your friend in the main compound. He's... being questioned."

Lyra's knuckles turned white where she gripped her weapon. "Why are you helping us?"

Joren met her gaze steadily. "Because not all of us agree with this alliance with the humans. And because Alaric promised us one thing but is delivering another." He took a step forward, ignoring the weapons pointed at him. "I can get you into the compound. But we have to move quickly. Before they break him."

The cave fell silent, all eyes turning to Lyra. The decision was hers. Risk everything on the word of a stranger, or leave her brother to Alaric's mercy.

She looked at Joren, her Alpha's daughter instincts assessing him, weighing the truth in his words. Then she made her choice.

"Show us the way."

---

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