Chapter 3: Shadowed Paths

The cabin was small and unassuming, nestled deep within the forest. It wasn’t much, but it was safe—a sanctuary that Sienna and I had used in the past when we needed to disappear from prying eyes.  

Sienna led me inside, her grip firm but careful. I slumped into a chair near the hearth, the scent of ash and aged wood filling my senses as she lit the fire.  

“You’re lucky I found you,” she said, her tone clipped as she rummaged through a nearby cabinet. “Another minute, and they would’ve torn you apart.”  

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” I muttered, wincing as I adjusted my arm. The bite wound on my shoulder throbbed, and my body ached from the skirmish. “What were you even doing out there?”  

Sienna glanced at me, her silver hair catching the firelight. “I could ask you the same question, Elior. But since you look half-dead, I’ll save the interrogation for later.”  

She pulled out a small vial of herbal salve and a roll of bandages, then crouched in front of me. Her touch was gentle as she applied the ointment to my wound, but her expression remained unreadable.  

“You’ve been poking around where you don’t belong,” she said quietly, her eyes meeting mine. “Silverfang Keep, the Den... You’re chasing something dangerous, aren’t you?”  

I held her gaze, debating how much to tell her. Sienna wasn’t just another wolf; she was one of the sharpest minds I’d ever met. But she was also fiercely loyal to her pack—one of the few alphas who had earned their position through strategy rather than sheer strength.  

“I saw Alaric,” I admitted finally.  

Her hands stilled, her eyes narrowing. “What do you mean, you *saw* him?”  

“He’s dead,” I said, my voice low. “Poisoned. Wolfsbane.”  

The fire crackled in the silence that followed. Sienna straightened, her expression hardening as she processed my words.  

“And the packs don’t know?” she asked.  

“Not yet,” I replied. “But they will soon. The alphas will blame each other, and when that happens...”  

“They’ll tear each other apart,” she finished grimly.  

---

Sienna paced the room, her movements tense and deliberate.  

“You’re not telling me everything,” she said finally, her voice sharp. “Why were you there? What are you after?”  

I hesitated, then decided to risk it. “Alaric left a message. He said to find the Crown.”  

Her reaction was immediate. She stopped mid-step, her eyes widening in disbelief.  

“The Crown? You can’t be serious.”  

“I didn’t believe it either,” I said, leaning forward despite the pain in my shoulder. “But it’s real. Someone killed him for it, and if they find it—”  

“They’ll have power no one can stand against,” she finished, her voice barely above a whisper.  

The weight of her words hung heavy between us.  

---

Sienna sat down across from me, her expression unreadable. “Do you even know where to start looking? The Crown wasn’t just hidden—it was erased from history. Alaric made sure of that.”  

I shook my head. “Not yet. But someone does. Whoever poisoned him didn’t act alone. They knew what they were doing, and they knew where to find him.”  

Her eyes narrowed. “You think it was one of the packs?”  

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But the wolves who ambushed me tonight weren’t just common rogues. They were organized, and they knew exactly where to find me.”  

Sienna leaned back, her expression thoughtful. “If the Crown is involved, this isn’t just a power grab. This is war.”  

---

We spent the next hour strategizing, piecing together what little we knew. Sienna’s knowledge of the packs and their politics was invaluable, but even she admitted that the Crown’s location was a mystery.  

“There’s one place we could start,” she said finally, her voice hesitant. “The Archives.”  

I frowned. “The Archives? You mean the ruins of the old council chambers?”  

She nodded. “Before the packs split, the council kept records of everything—relics, alliances, even betrayals. If the Crown was hidden, there might be something there that can point us in the right direction.”  

“It’s a long shot,” I said, my skepticism clear.  

“It’s the only shot we have,” she countered.  

---

The journey to the Archives would be dangerous. The ruins were in neutral territory, a no-man’s land where the laws of the packs didn’t apply. Rogues, exiles, and mercenaries roamed freely there, and the stories of those who ventured too far were grim.  

But if the Archives held even a fragment of information about the Crown, it was worth the risk.  

Sienna insisted on coming with me, despite my protests.  

“You’ll need someone who can actually read the old texts,” she said, her tone brooking no argument. “And someone to watch your back.”  

I didn’t argue further. The truth was, I needed her.  

---

As we prepared to leave, a nagging thought lingered in the back of my mind.  

Why was Sienna so willing to help me?  

Her loyalty to her pack was absolute, and while we’d worked together in the past, this was different. She was risking everything by aligning herself with a lone wolf like me, especially with tensions between the packs already on the rise.  

But I didn’t have the luxury of questioning her motives. Not now.  

---

The forest was silent as we set out under the cover of darkness, the moonlight barely penetrating the thick canopy above. Sienna moved with the quiet confidence of a predator, her senses sharp as she scanned our surroundings.  

I followed closely, my own instincts on high alert. The journey ahead would test us both, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.  

The Crown was out there, waiting to be found.  

But so were the wolves who would do anything to claim it.