Chapter 101: A couple of layers.

July 17 2026, 8:14 am.

Kieran stood at the corner of his personal study, close to the floor-to-ceiling windows, with his hands on his waist as he watched the young warriors train in the training ground below.

His eyes tracked their movements with a fierce concentration, but only he knew that his mind was way too far from here.

Behind him, his three brothers lounged on different chairs made of wood expensive enough to buy a small cottage or more—not like it mattered at the time.

Draven’s eyes were fixated on some papers in front of him. Azriel was sipping champagne from a flute and Rhys was... well, doing what Rhys was always doing. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes thinned into slits as he buried his head in piles of paper, and while one of his hands carefully traced over the words on the document in front of him, the other tapped gently on the table.

The incessant ’tip tap tip tap’ of Rhys’s fingers hitting the wood made Kieran’s head start to bang. He spun around, moved away from the window, and turned to his brothers before he seethed; "Has Rowan gone to pick up Berlin yet?"

The room froze.

At the sound of his voice, everyone finally stopped what they were doing to shoot him a glare. His eyes were more focused on Rhys who did not look at him for long before returning his attention to the page in front of him.

Azriel set down his glass and leaned into his chair. He frowned. "I thought she was supposed to be here by... yesterday."

"She was," Rhys bit in, his voice crisp. "But Rowan was nowhere to be found and it was quite late. Moreover, I want to find out more details about a few things, and I think it’s only right for me to do that before we bring in a total stranger into our pack simply because Nyx’ara said so."

"That girl is in danger! She has been in danger from the moment Nyx’ara opened her mouth!" Draven cut in, his deep baritone reverberating around the room. His hand balled into a fist as he glared up at his brother and then he gritted out; "...moreover, you promised..."

"I said I would do it, I never promised," Rhys answered with a noncommittal shrug, his frown deepening. "Those are two different things!"

"Rhys—!" That was Azriel and for the first time in a very long time, he sounded like he was close to the edge. His voice carried a sharp undertone that didn’t go unnoticed. If anything, it was so noticeable that Rhys’s head whipped up.

For a moment, a heavy silence settled across the room which was soon broken when Rhys began to speak. He drawled;

"I want to believe Nyx’ara. I have every reason to believe what she told us... but I have my reservations. Deep down, her confession feels incomplete. I also do not intend to swoop like a knight and paint the entirety of Moonshine pack red when I do not know the full truth. I need to do my findings first—"

"But your findings should not stop her from coming over here." Kieran cut in, "since Nyx’ara insists that Flynn would hurt her."

Something about his voice finally made Rhys look up. He stared at his brother for a moment too long then shook his head. "It won’t." He answered, "...but I have decided that I need to know something. I want to understand why Flynn made Nyx’ara take the fall. I want to know why he threatened her with Berlin. I want to understand the logic behind all of this and I want to know who the real murderer is... if it’s not Nyx’ara."

Every other brother had not thought about all of these until now, so when Rhys mentioned it, they all fell into deep silence. It was obvious that they had the same thing on their mind and it was obvious that they also had the same amount of fury sizzling just underneath the surface of their skin.

For a moment, no one spoke. No one even breathed wrongly, and when Draven finally snapped out of it, he lifted his eyes to the door, beckoned the bodyguard standing there in, and ordered;

"Ask Rowan to prepare to leave the pack immediately. I need him to take a trip to Moonshine pack. Ask him to fetch me a girl named Berlin and to ensure that her family comes safely with her and is secured somewhere in our pack before the end of today."

"Yes, Alpha!"

The guard who found his errand quite strange, simply lowered his head and bowed so deeply that his head almost touched the ground. He then scurried out of the room like the devil was hot on his tail.

—And maybe he was.

It wasn’t until he had left that Rhys finally began to speak again. "I thought I told you I wanted to sort something out first?" He asked, sounding quite displeased.

However, Draven did not seem to care about his brother’s feelings or displeasure. All he cared about at the moment was saving that girl.

He wasn’t sure he believed Nyx’ara. Hell, none of them did but he’d be damned before he let an innocent girl suffer for their indecisiveness.

His innocent sister was enough.

"Yes, you did..." Draven finally answered with a bit of hesitation, "...but while you figure it out, I wouldn’t like an innocent girl getting into unreasonable trouble." ℯℯ𝑙.

"She won’t—"

"Oh, she might just be!" Azriel finally exploded, his bloodshot eyes glaring daggers into Rhys’s head. "I know you all do not believe Nyx’ara, and I totally get it; but from where I stand, I see no reason why she would try to lie about this! Even if there’s a reason, there’s no telling what would happen to a girl she specifically told us is the leverage Flynn has over her. So just accept Draven’s decision and get the girl to safety first!"

With that, he turned and stormed out of the room, leaving his brothers wondering why he got so easily worked up for no reason.

Kieran left shortly afterwards with his mind in a state of disarray. However, his problem was not Nyx’ara or the other girl, Berlin.

His problem was the fact that he knew something about his sister’s death that he feared his other brothers might not know.

He knew that his sister had a lover... a guy she used to sneak out to see at Moonshine pack, and as he walked out of the room, his head lowered, he did not notice the way Rhys watched him closely like a hawk circling its prey.

And that is because Rhys knew too. In fact, he had given her the go-ahead to see the mystery boy the day before her death.

And that fact ate at both brothers like acid, burning through the layers of their hearts.