The Rise Of The Betrayed Luna (Amorah and Holmes) novel Chapter 83

AMORAH

The words stayed in my head long after Conrad lowered the council notice onto the table. Thirty days did not feel like enough time for something capable of changing the entire balance of the Alpha hierarchy.

The room remained quiet after the guard left. Conrad stood across from me with one hand resting against the edge of the table while tension settled heavily around him.

“Holmes planned this from the beginning,” I murmured.

“He planned for weakness,” Conrad answered. “Now he believes he finally has proof of it.”

I stud.ed him carefully. Even now, he still looked composed on the surface, but I had started noticing the small signs he hid from everyone else.

His shoulders stayed tighter after long meetings. His aura fluctuated slightly whenever he pushed his authority too far.

“You already knew this would happen eventually,” I said.

“I knew it was possible,” he corrected.

The difference mattered. I could hear it in his voice.

“What happens during succession judgment?” I asked.

Conrad finally moved away from the table and walked toward the window overlooking the territory below. The city lights beyond the inner grounds reflected faintly against the glass while he folded his arms.

“The council evaluates stability, alliances, bloodline continuity, and control over territory,” he explained. “If enough Alphas believe I can no longer secure my position properly, they can force a challenge.”

I moved beside him slowly. “And Holmes wants to be the one standing against you.”

“He wants power,” Conrad replied. “Everything else is secondary.”

By morning, the news had already spread through the territory. Wolves lowered their voices when I passed through halls, and I could feel attention following me during strategy briefings inside the command center.

Some wolves greeted me with open respect. Others watched me carefully like they were trying to defide whether I truly belonged beside Conrad during something this serious.

I ignored most of it and stayed focused on the reports spread across the conference table. Conrad continued discussing border adjustments with his patrol leaders while I reviewed the updated territory maps beside him.

“The western route still leaves too much space near the transport line,” I pointed out. “If Holmes pushes scouts through civilian areas first, your wolves will notice too late.”

One of the commanders glanced toward me briefly before nodding. “She is right”

Conrad looked toward the map without hesitation. “Shift another unit there tonight.”

No one questioned the decision after that

The meeting comfined another hour before wolves slowly filtered out of the room again. Conrad remained beside the table

7:45 pm Pp pp pppp

Chapter 83-

eviewing documents while I gathered the scattered reports into proper order.

“You are staring at me again,” I muttered without looking up.

“That usually happens when you take over my work without permission,” he replied.

I glanced toward him finally. “Your paperwork system is terrible.”

The corner of his mouth shifted slightly. “And yet you still stay.”

The answer settled somewhere deeper than it should have. Hooked away before he could notice the effect too clearly

Later that afternoon, I finally took the twins outside the inner territory again under heavy guard. Conrad’s wolves maintained distance while Zane walked ahead pretending he was not interested in anything around him.

Kyra stayed close beside me the entire time. Her fingers kept curling lightly around my sleeve whenever crowds passed too close.

“You promised we were only shopping,” Zane complained while following us into another store.

“You also complained the last time you stayed inside for three days,” I replied.

“That was different.”

“You say

that every

time.”

Kyra giggled quietly beside me before looking up. “Can we still get dessert after this?”

“If your brother stops acting like he is being punished,” I answered.

“I am being punished,” Zane muttered.

“You are carrying one bag.”

“That is still work.”

I laughed before I could stop myself. The sound surprised even me a little.

Several minutes later, movement near the entrance pulled my attention sideways. Conrad walked into the shopping district surrounded by only two guards, and both twins noticed him immediately.

“You came anyway,” I said once he reached us.

୮

“You have a habit of entering public places during political tension,” he replied calmly. “Someone has to supervise that

“That sounds insulting.”

“It was meant to.”

Kyra smiled brightly before holding up one of the small bags toward him. “Amorah bought me books.”

Conrad glanced down at the bag before looking toward me again. “You are spoiling them.”

“You say that while bringing Zane three new combat knives last week.” I retorted.

“That was different

2/5

7:45 pm pppp.

Chapter 82–

#crossed my arrys slowly. “That is exactly what he says”

For the first time all day, Conrad actually laughed quietly. The wound cauge both twine of guard immediately.

Zane stared at him suspiciously. That was weird?

Conrad’s expression flattened again instantly “Keep talking and I return the knives”

The four of us ended up stopping at a small café near the center diunct afterward. The guards stayed positioned outside while Kyra sat beside me reading through her new books and Zane argued with Conrad over territory combat rules.

I watched them for a moment without speaking, Something about the scene feir dangerously normal

Conrad noticed me staring eventually, “What?”

“Nothing” I answered quietly.

But it was not nothing.

For a few minutes, we looked less like people trapped inside political conflict and more like something I had stopped believing I could ever have.

That realization unsettled me more than I expected.

By the time we returned to the territory later that evening, exhaustion had started catching up to the twins. Kyra fell asleep against my shoulder during the drive back while Zane tried pretending he was not tired at all.

“You are falling asleep sitting upright,” I informed him.

“I am awake”

“You just closed your eyes”

“That was thinking”

Conrad glanced toward him from the front seat. “Your acting skills need work.”

Zane muttered something under his breath before finally leaning back quietly.

beside

After settling both twins inside the deeper safe house again, I stayed beside Kyra’s bed until she relaxed completely. Conrad waited near the doorway without rushing me once.

“She sleeps easier when you are here,” he said quietly after we stepped back into the hallway

I looked down briefly. “I think they are both stilt afraid things will change again.”

His gaze stayed on me longer than usual. “So are you”

r

Later that night, we remained alone inside Conrad’s private sitting room reviewing council updates together. The atmosphere felt calmer than usual despite the tension surrounding the territory:

1 eventually longured the report in my hand slowly “Why did you never correct then?

Conrad looked up frown wross the table ‘Corred who?

Wawered “You heard them.

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