Chapter 272 The Vault
Lady Flourish POV
Net
21
Finished
The message from the ward system stayed on the council screen long after the estate had gone quiet.
Only one recognized bearer of the bloodline remains active.
I could still hear the words in my head as Elara and I moved away from the council chamber.
The wolves guarding the corridors had stopped growling, but they remained alert, noses lifted toward every unfamiliar scent. The attack had been pushed back, not erased. Somewhere beyond the estate walls, the Eastern Army had regrouped.
“We don’t have much time,” I said.
Elara nodded. “Then we use what your blood just opened.”
We returned to the deeper vault through the passage beneath the estate. The air was colder there, and the stone walls carried old ward marks that had been hidden under layers of dust. My wolf stayed close beneath my skin, restless each time we passed another sealed door.
“Keep your guard up,” she said.
“I am.”
We reached the vault and pushed open the heavy door. Rows of wooden boxes filled the room, each marked with dates, family names, pack seals, or warnings that had faded with age.
I moved to the nearest stack and lifted the lid.
Inside were folded documents wrapped in treated cloth, old photographs, handwritten records, and small metal containers. Elara went to another box and began sorting through the papers.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
I opened one folder after another until I found a bundle tied with dark cord. The seal pressed into the wax showed the symbol I had seen in the earlier records.
First Alpha.
My fingers paused.
“That’s the one,” Elara said.
12:39 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 272 The Vault
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Finished
I untied it and pulled out the first document. Most of it described territories that no longer existed under the same names, but the final pages contained a letter written by someone who had been close to the original conflict.
I read aloud.
“The First Alpha line was never surrendered willingly. Those who sought control believed the blood should belong to whoever could take it. They gathered wolves from several territories and attacked those who protected the line.”
I turned the page.
“The conflict ended when the bloodline disappeared from public reach. The factions agreed to bury the history, seal the records, and allow the world to believe the matter finished.”
I looked at Elara.
“Finished?”
She shook her head.
“Keep reading.”
I did.
“The agreement was never a peace. It was a pause. Those who wanted the bloodline did not abandon their claim. They waited.”
My wolf growled quietly.
“They waited for what?” I asked.
“For another heir,” Elara said.
The next section listed names. Some had been crossed out. Others had notes beside them, marking deaths, disappearances, alliances, and betrayals.
Then I saw Voss.
I stopped reading.
His name appeared beside a series of records from the Eastern territories.
The documents described meetings he had attended, information he had received, and people who had trusted him with knowledge about the surviving bloodline.
One entry made my stomach drop.
12:39 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 272 The Vault
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Finished
Voss had promised protection to a group that had hidden descendants from hunters. Instead, he had passed their locations to another faction and used the resulting fear to gain support among Eastern packs.
I read the next page.
He had not been working for the bloodline.
He had been using it.
The records showed how he positioned himself during every conflict, offering answers when people were desperate, revealing information only when it benefited him, and turning rival groups against one another. Eventually, he used the knowledge surrounding the First Alpha line to build his authority and take control of the Eastern Army.
“He betrayed them,” I said.
Elara came closer and read the page herself.
“He betrayed everyone who thought they could trust him.”
I looked at the list again. Some of the names were people Voss had supposedly protected. Others had helped him rise.
“He didn’t want to serve anyone.”
“No,” Elara said. “He wanted the power that came from knowing where the bloodline was.”
My grip tightened around the paper.
That explained why the Eastern Army had come for me with so much certainty. They had not been searching blindly. Someone had been feeding them information for years.
I reached for another page, wanting to understand how far Voss’s betrayal went.
My phone buzzed.
The sound was so ordinary that for a second I ignored it.
Then it buzzed again.
I pulled it from my pocket.
One new message.
No name appeared.
12:39 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 272 The Vault
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Finished
The message contained a single instruction.
Come to F-Tech alone.
I stared at the screen.
“Who is it?” Elara asked.
“I don’t know.”
I opened the attachment.
My breath caught.
It was an internal F-Tech security document. Not something available to employees through the regular company network. It contained private access information, restricted project details, and a current list of internal systems.
Only a handful of people should have been able to reach it.
I scrolled once.
Then again.
The information was real.
“Elara.”
She moved beside me.
“What?”
“Someone has access to F-Tech.”
Her face changed.
“How much?”
“Enough to get inside restricted systems.”
I checked the message details. There was no useful sender information. The route had been masked, and the attachment had been pulled directly from a protected company server.
My wolf lifted its head.
“Trap,” it said.
12:40 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 272 The Vault
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