Knotted By The Three Feral Alphas

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Thorne And Elara’s First Words

I returned to the keep with the ring still on my finger and the promise of shared patrols sealed in my mind. The bailey felt different that afternoon, the air lighter, the voices carrying farther across the stone.

Wolves nodded as I passed, their eyes steady instead of wary. The victory over the Nightthorn Triad had shifted something inside them. The diplomacy ride had sealed it.

I walked straight to the war room and spread the new maps across the table. The western borders now carried the Gray Hollow pack’s mark. Their scouts would ride the passes with ours. Their grain stores would trade for our iron. The alliance was small, but it was real. The kings gathered around me, their presence solid and quiet.

Darius traced the new patrol lines with his finger. "This changes the western ridge. We gain eyes where we had none."

Kane leaned over the table, his scarred hand resting on the edge. "The gammas will see it too. The ones who still doubted will have less room to speak."

Rylan tapped the northern passes. "Word will spread. Other packs will watch. Some will come asking for the same."

I nodded and rolled the maps. The bond between us moved easy and warm, the distance of the ride already fading. I had left them behind to guard the keep and the children. They had waited without complaint. Now they stood with me as equals, the argument from the night before settled into something stronger.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in council. The hall was full, gammas taking their seats with less tension in their shoulders. Calder sat near the front, his face still tight, but he kept his mouth shut when I spoke about the new alliance.

The pack listened as I laid out the terms. Shared patrols. Trade routes. Mutual protection if another threat rose. No one challenged it. The older gammas who had once whispered against the new laws now nodded slowly.

The victory and the diplomacy had eased the cracks inside the keep. They were beginning to see the strength in what we were building.

After council I walked the corridors with the kings. The keep felt alive with purpose. Wolves nodded as we passed, their eyes sharp, their steps purposeful.

The new Shadowpine wolves had settled in fully, Mira running the herb stores and Soren joining the wall guard on the eastern ridge. The pack had chosen to stand with me after the last battle. They would support this diplomatic work now.

My kings and I returned to the chambers as the sun dropped behind the western ridge. The children were waiting on the furs, the nursery women having brought them up early.

Lila ran to me the moment I stepped inside, her small arms wrapping around my legs. "Mama."

Thorne and Elara crawled across the furs toward me, their knees and elbows working in determined little circles. They were more active every day, their babbles turning into strings of sounds that almost sounded like words.

Lila looked up at me, her small face serious. "Mama talk to other wolves?"

I knelt and pulled all three of them into my lap. "Yes, little one. We made new friends."

Thorne pushed himself up on wobbly legs, hands gripping the edge of a low bench. He looked at me, eyes wide with surprise, and took one unsteady step. Then another. Elara saw him and pushed up beside him, her tiny feet finding the floor. She took three steps before dropping back to her knees with a delighted squeal.

Then it happened.

...

Thorne opened his mouth and said, "Mama," clear as a bell. Elara followed a moment later, her voice high and bright. "Mama!"

Lila clapped her hands and cheered. "They said it! They said Mama!"

"Yes! They finally said their first words." I said excitedly while looking for the kings to tell them the news but they were not close.

I smiled and opened my arms and let them tumble into me. Thorne fell against my chest, laughing. Elara crawled the rest of the way and grabbed my braid with both hands. I held them close, their small hearts beating fast against mine, and felt something loosen in my chest that had been tight since the last raid.

The kings finally joined us a few minutes later. Darius knelt beside me, one hand on Thorne’s back. Kane sat on the floor and let Elara climb all over him. Rylan stretched out with Lila on his chest, his fingers brushing my knee.

"Thorne And Elara said their first word. They both said mama!" I chipped in delightedly. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Darius went to kneel beside them and rubbed their head "say ’dada’."

Kane remained sat on the floor and clapped his hands to call Thorne "[come here Thorne... come to dada."] but Elara actually went and Thorne crawled back to me. It was a funny sight.

Rylan paced around in a happy mood "very soon they can start training."

The bond between the four of us felt steady and warm. The diplomacy ride had opened a new path. The western packs were watching. They respected the victory we had won. Now we would turn that respect into something lasting.

I spent the rest of the evening in the war room with the kings, planning the next steps. The Gray Hollow alliance was secured. The next pack to the north would hear about it soon. We marked the routes and chose the escort for the next ride. The children stayed in the nursery, their laughter drifting down the corridor every so often.

I let the sound anchor me while we worked. Thorne and Elara were beginning to babble real words. Lila was becoming more vocal every day. They were the reason we planned these rides. They were the reason we would not wait for the next threat to find us.

By evening the plan was set. I walked the corridors with the kings, checking the guard rotations one last time. The keep felt alive with purpose. Wolves nodded as we passed, their eyes sharp, their steps purposeful. The pack had chosen to stand with me after the last battle. They would support these diplomatic rides now.

We returned to the chambers as the sun dropped behind the western ridge. The children were already asleep in the big bed, tangled together in a pile of limbs and blankets. Lila had one arm flung over Thorne. Elara curled against her brother’s back. I stood in the doorway for a long moment, watching their small chests rise and fall.

The kings stayed close behind me. Darius rested a hand on my shoulder. Kane brushed his fingers along my arm. Rylan leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of my neck.

I stood in the war room with the maps spread wide under the lantern light. A scout had ridden in at dusk with news from the northern passes.

Another cursed triad had surfaced far beyond the frozen ridges, three wolves bound by an older ritual that left them half-mad and hungry for power. They had heard whispers of what happened to Vespera. They wanted the broken curse in my children’s blood to remake their own line into something unstoppable.

The kings gathered around the table. Darius traced the northern routes with his finger, marking the narrow passes where scouts could watch unseen. Kane checked the supply lists for the outer farms, his scarred hand steady on the parchment. Rylan leaned on the edge of the table, his eyes sharp as he studied the distances.

I kept my voice even. "We do not panic. We prepare. Double the northern watch. Send quiet riders to the farthest farms. Tell them to bring the children inside the walls if any stranger approaches. The pack does not need to know the full story yet. We strengthen what we have without spreading fear."

Darius nodded once. "The alliance with Gray Hollow gives us eyes on the western passes. We can extend the watch north without thinning the main walls."

Kane rolled a second map. "The new laws on shared stores will help the outer farms hold through any disruption. The gammas who once doubted are quieter now. They saw what you did to Vespera."

Rylan tapped the table. "We train the women and pups harder this week. Make it look like routine. No one needs to know we are watching the north until we are ready."

I rolled the maps and set them aside. The bond between us moved steady and warm, the four of us linked in quiet purpose. The children slept in the nursery, their small breaths steady and trusting. I would not let the north take what we had built.

The next morning I walked the training yard with fresh purpose. The women and older pups moved through the drills with sharper focus. I corrected grips and stances until their arms shook.

Lila joined us, her wooden sword clutched tight, her small feet planted exactly as I had shown her. She swung with everything she had, her face scrunched in concentration. The women cheered when she landed a clean strike. I crouched in front of her and adjusted her grip.

"Turn your whole body into it," I said. "Not just your arms."

She tried again. The blade whistled through the air. The women cheered louder because she improved after doing it the way I told her to. Lila looked up at me, cheeks flushed, eyes bright and smiled.

"Yay, I did it mom" she said.

"Yes baby you did it better this time," I answered.