Filed to story: Diana Nightshade and Alpha Talon Ravenwood Book PDF Free
No one doubted her.
Not anymore.
Talon’s gaze flicked briefly to his beta, sharp and assessing, the way a king measured everything-strength, loyalty, fracture points.
Enzo stood slightly in front of Leah, his posture instinctively protective. One arm was angled just enough that, if danger erupted, Leah would be shielded by his body before she could even react. To anyone else, it would look like devotion.
To Leah, it looked like audacity. Her eyes burned into Enzo’s back, sharp as blades, filled with unresolved fury and betrayal. Talon could smell it-anger, fear, and something rawer beneath it. Hurt.
Leah had not forgiven Enzo for hiding her parents, not yet. Not even close. And judging by the way her jaw was clenched, the reckoning between them would be vicious once they returned to Black Howler Pack. Because one thing is for sure, his beta will never agree to leave his mate in this pack.
But there would be time for that later.
Plenty of time for Enzo to grovel.
Talon stepped forward, his presence alone quieting the murmurs rippling through the gathered pack members. The air thickened, pressure building the way it did before a storm.
“Bring the two surviving rogues,” Talon commanded, his voice calm, but threaded with steel.
A royal guard immediately bowed and turned away.
The reaction from the pack was instant.
Confusion spread like wildfire.
“We have rogues here?”
“Why weren’t we informed?”
“They were in the dungeon?”
“Are we safe right now?”
Whispers layered over one another, fear and anger mixing into a restless hum. Talon let it happen. Let the uncertainty fester. Let them feel what it means to be kept in the dark. His eyes slid briefly toward Alpha Asher, then to Luna Hazel and Beta Rafe.
They all knew.
They had controlled the flow of information. They had chosen silence.
Talon waited until the murmurs reached their peak before raising a single hand. The sound died immediately, as if the pack itself had inhaled and frozen.
“Out of the fifteen rogues who attacked my mate,” Talon began, his voice carrying effortlessly across the clearing, “five survived.”
Shock rippled through the crowd.
“Three of them were captured and placed together in your dungeon,” he continued. “As for these two-” his eyes flicked toward the dungeon entrance, “-my beta followed his intuition and temporarily accepted them under the protection of Black Howler Pack.”
That earned a sharp intake of breath from several pack members.
“They were placed in separate cells” Talon went on, unbothered. “The other three, who were housed together, were executed last night.”
The word executed fell heavy and final.
Gasps erupted.
“Someone,” Talon said slowly, deliberately, “did not want them to speak.”
His gaze swept across the crowd, lingering on the leadership standing off to the side.
“Someone entered the dungeon,” he continued, voice cool, “mind-manipulated the guards into abandoning their posts… and killed three injured, restrained rogues.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then Talon tilted his head slightly.
“Now,” he said, almost conversationally, “is it the Luna who did this?”
Every eye snapped to Hazel. Her face drained of color.
“Is it the Luna who slipped into the dungeon last night?”/Talon asked again. “Is it the Luna who has the power to erase memories, command guards, and carry out executions without detection?”
Hazel’s lips trembled. “I-“
“Personally,” Talon lifted a hand, cutting her off. His tone sharpening, “I do not think so.”
A wave of stunned murmurs followed.
“A weak and insecure Luna like her,” Talon continued mercilessly, “does not have the courage to enter a dungeon alone and eliminate rogues-no matter how injured they might be.”
Hazel flinched as if struck.
Talon let the words sink in before delivering the final blow.
“That means,” he said, his gaze turning icy, “there is another traitor in your pack.”
The clearing erupted.
“What?”
“Another one?!”
“Two traitors?”
“How could the Alpha not know?”
Fear surged through the pack members, sharp and unrestrained now. Talon stood unmoving in the chaos, a pillar of authority amid the storm. When he raised his hand again, silence snapped back into place.
The dungeon doors creaked open.
Chains clinked.
Two rogues were dragged forward by royal guards, their bodies battered but alive. Their eyes were sharp despite their injuries-calculating, defiant. Blood stained their clothes, but their posture remained unbowed.
“Tell me the truth,” Talon stepped closer, and he said evenly. “Who told you where to find my mate?”
The rogues exchanged a glance.
“And,” Talon added, his voice dropping, “did either of you see who entered the dungeon last night and killed the other three rogues?”
One of them laughed-a harsh, broken sound.
“Do you think you have power over us, Alpha King?” The rogue sneered. “We are not part of your subjects.”
Talon smiled.
It wasn’t warm.
It wasn’t kind.
It was the smile of a predator who had already won.
“As of now, rogue,” Talon replied calmly, “you are part of my subjects.”
The rogue’s brow furrowed.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Talon continued. “My beta temporarily accepted you into my pack.”
The second rogue scoffed. “Lies. No one can do that except the Alpha.”
“Of course,” Talon agreed smoothly. “For a regular pack.”
“But not for a royal beta,” He stepped closer, his aura unfurling just enough to make the air vibrate. “The royal beta has the authority to temporarily accept anyone under the protection of the crown.”
Enzo straightened slightly behind him, silent but resolute.
“And it will be my decision,” Talon finished, “whether you are fully accepted… or executed.”
The rogue swallowed.
Talon leaned in, his golden eyes blazing now, power pressing down like an invisible weight.
“Now,” he said quietly, “tell me the truth.”
The ground beneath the rogues’ knees cracked as Talon’s aura surged, no longer restrained. The guards staggered back instinctively. Several pack members gasped as the sheer force of it stole the air from their lungs
“Who told you where to find my mate?” Talon demanded.
The rogue’s defiance cracked. His breathing turned ragged.
“And who,” Talon continued, voice deadly soft, “entered the dungeon last night?”
The rogue shook violently, teeth chattering as sweat poured down his face.
“We-“he gasped, struggling. “We were contacted… by someone inside the pack.”
Talon’s eyes narrowed.
“A male,” the rogue continued hoarsely. “It was not the Luna. It was a male. He contacted us. And we saw him again at the dungeon last night. We did not know why we were spared. We did not know what your beta did.”
The pack collectively held its breath.
“He told us where your mate would be,” the rogue whispered. “When she would be alone.”
Talon’s jaw tightened. “And the dungeon?”
The rogue squeezed his eyes shut. “He came after us. We heard the guards leave. Then the screaming started.”
Silence fell like a blade.
Talon straightened slowly, withdrawing his aura just enough for the rogues to collapse forward, gasping.
“There you have it,” Talon said, turning to the crowd. “Your Luna is not the only problem.”
His gaze swept across every face.
“There is another traitor hiding among you,” Talon declared, his voice cutting through the clearing like a blade. “And it is none other than you, Beta.”
“Alpha King, you do not have proof of that,” Beta Rafe said, forcing his spine straight despite the sweat breaking along his temple. “You cannot simply stand there and accuse me. How can you say I am the traitor?”
A murmur rippled through the gathered pack-uncertain, uneasy. Rafe had been their beta for years. He had stood beside their alpha in every battle, every council meeting To hear his name spoken alongside the word traitor felt wrong, almost unthinkable.
Talon did not react to the noise.
He did not raise his voice.
He did not snarl.
That, more than anything, made the air feel heavy.
“Simple, Beta,” Talon said at last, his tone calm, almost conversational-as if he were explaining an obvious truth to a child. His silver eyes never left Rafe’s face. “You are forgetting one very basic law of our kind.”
Rafe’s jaw tightened. “And what law would that be, Alpha King?”
“The law of authority,” Talon replied. He took a single step forward. The ground beneath his boots seemed to vibrate, and several wolves in the crowd instinctively bowed their heads, their wolves reacting to the sheer weight of his dominance.
“The only wolves who possess the power to manipulate the mind of another pack member,” Talon continued, voice steady but lethal, “are those with sufficient rank to override free will.” His gaze swept briefly across the leadership-Alpha Asher, Luna Hazel-before snapping back to Rafe.
“An Alpha,” Talon said. “And a Beta.”
A sharp inhale echoed through the crowd.
Rafe’s face drained of color.
“Have you forgotten that?” Talon asked quietly.
Rafe opened his mouth, then closed it again. His fingers curled at his sides, claws threatening to break through skin.
“Mind manipulation is not proof,” he said, a crack forming in his voice. “There are other ways. Witches. Artifacts. You cannot pin this on me without evidence.”
Talon’s lips curved-not into a smile, but something far colder. “Oh, but we do have evidence.”
“From the moment the captured rogues were found dead in the dungeon,” He turned his head slightly, just enough to acknowledge the presence at his side. “My beta and I already knew who the traitor was.”
Gasps erupted this time-louder, sharper.
Rafe’s eyes flicked, just once, toward Enzo.
That was all Talon needed.
“The guards posted at the dungeon,” Talon continued, his voice now carrying across the clearing,” reported memory loss. Complete gaps. No scent of struggle. No alarm raised. No trace of an intruder powerful enough to challenge them physically.”
“Only a command,” He tilted his head, studying Rafe as if dissecting him. “A command so absolute that it erased itself afterward.”
Silence fell.
Rafe swallowed hard. “You are making assumptions.”
“No,” Talon corrected. “I am stating facts.”
“The rogues were never the mystery,” He straightened, his alpha aura flaring just enough to make several wolves drop to one knee without realizing it. “Their deaths were.”
His eyes burned. “They were never meant to survive.”
Rafe’s breathing quickened.
“They were bait,” Talon said flatly.
The word hit like a blade.
“Bait?” someone whispered.
“Yes,” Talon said, unflinching. “Bait to draw out the traitor. Bait to force a mistake. And you took it.”
Rafe took a step back. “You cannot prove that-“
“You ordered the guards away,” Talon interrupted. “You wiped their memories. You ensured the rogues would never speak.”
