Luke handed Garrett the sealed letter and left without another word.

The office fell silent.

Garrett held the parchment in his hands, feeling the weight of it. The Blackwood seal was unmistakable, three intertwined wolves, dark and powerful, pressed into the wax. This was official correspondence from one of the most powerful pack families in the werewolf realm.

The three elders watched as he broke the seal.

Garrett unfolded the letter carefully and began to read.

His jaw tightened as his eyes moved across the page. The words were formal, written in the careful script of an educated alpha, but their meaning was crystal clear.

He finished reading and set the letter down slowly on the desk.

Cold sweat was beading on his forehead. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Fear was crawling up his spine with icy fingers.

"What does it say?" Elder Mateo asked, his voice cutting through the silence.

Garrett didn’t answer immediately. He simply picked up the letter again and handed it to Elder Theodore, his hand slightly unsteady.

Elder Theodore read it first, his expression carefully neutral. Then he passed it to Elder Mateo, who read it with increasing tension. Finally, Elder Rivers took the letter and read through it quickly.

The letter was brief. To the point. But its implications were enormous.

"They’re attending the Summit in person," Elder Rivers said slowly, as if he couldn’t quite believe the words. "The Blackwood alphas. All three of them."

"All three," Elder Mateo repeated, his voice hollow. "They’re attending the submit themselves instead of representatives."

"Why?" Elder Theodore asked, looking directly at Garrett. "The Blackwoods always send representatives. They always send Callum or Fin to handle the Summit logistics. They’ve never attended in person. Why now?"

Garrett dropped his head into his hands.

His mind was racing. His alpha instincts....the ones that had kept Shadowmere safe for years, were screaming warnings. This wasn’t good. This was very, very bad.

The Blackwood triplets. All three of them. Coming to Shadowmere in person.

It didn’t make sense unless there was a reason. Unless there was something they wanted. Unless there was something they intended to do while they were here.

"It’s about the blood debt," Elder Mateo said, his voice rising slightly with panic. "It has to be. They’re not satisfied with the payment. They want more. They’re coming to...."

"No," Elder Theodore said firmly. "If they wanted to escalate the blood debt, they would have done it already. The contract was fulfilled. Nicholas Blackwood gave his word that the matter was settled."

"Then what?" Elder Rivers demanded. "Why would three alpha brothers attend the Summit personally if not to make a statement? If not to assert dominance? If not to....."

"I don’t know," Garrett said, his voice muffled by his hands. "I don’t know why they’re coming."

But he could imagine reasons. Reasons that all pointed toward disaster for Shadowmere.

The Blackwood triplets attending the Summit in person. All three of them. Nicholas, Sebastian, and Lucian. The most powerful alphas. The ones who controlled the Blackwood pack directly.

And they were coming to Shadowmere.

Garrett slowly lifted his head from his hands and looked at the three elders.

"We need to prepare," he said quietly. His voice was steady now, even though fear was still clawing at him from the inside. "Not just for the Summit itself, but for whatever the Blackwoods intend while they’re here."

"What do you think they intend?" Elder Mateo asked.

Garrett didn’t answer immediately. He stood and walked to the window, looking out at the compound below. Warriors and omegas working, completely unaware of the implications of this letter. Completely unaware that three of the most dangerous alphas in the realm were coming to their territory.

"I don’t know," Garrett said finally. "But I know that having all three of the Blackwood brothers attending is not a coincidence. And I know that the last time the Blackwoods came to Shadowmere, it was to collect payment for the blood debt."

He turned back to face the elders.

"This time, we don’t know what they’re coming to collect."

Elder Theodore was still holding the letter, re-reading it as if additional meaning might emerge from the words with a second reading.

"The letter is civil," he said. "It states that the Blackwood pack will be attending the Summit and that Nicholas Blackwood will be leading the delegation. It mentions nothing about additional business or ulterior motives."

"Because they wouldn’t," Garrett said harshly. "They’re too smart for that. They wouldn’t announce their intentions in an official letter. They’d come here, attend the Summit, and then...."

He stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

"Then what?" Elder Rivers prompted.

"Then they’d do whatever they came here to do," Garrett said. "And we’d have no power to stop them because they’d be here under the auspices of the Summit."

The office fell silent again.

It was Elder Mateo who spoke next, his voice small and frightened.

"Is it about her?" he asked quietly.

The room went very still.

Garrett looked at him sharply. "Her?"

"The omega," Elder Mateo said. "The one sent to the Blackwood estate. The traitor’s daughter. Is this about her?"

Garrett’s stomach dropped.

He hadn’t thought about that. Or rather, he’d pushed that thought away, not wanting to consider the implications. But now, faced with the fact that all three Blackwood alphas were coming to Shadowmere....

"No," he said, but the word felt weak. Unconvincing. "They received payment for the blood debt. She fulfilled the contract. The debt is settled."

"But what if it’s not?" Elder Thomas said quietly. "What if...."

"No," Garrett said again, more firmly this time. But doubt was creeping into his mind. What if there was something about the omega that had changed things? What if the Blackwoods wanted something else?

He dismissed the thought. It didn’t make sense. The Blackwoods had been clear: the contract was fulfilled, the debt was paid, Shadowmere was no longer under threat.

But three alphas didn’t attend a Summit in person for nothing.

"We prepare for the worst," Garrett said, his voice hard now. Decision made. Consequences accepted. "We strengthen security. We position warriors strategically. We ensure that if the Blackwood triplets intend to make a move while they’re here, we’re prepared to respond."

"How?" Elder Rivers asked. "How do we prepare for the worst when we don’t know what the worst looks like?"