Chapter 184: The Quiet West

The office felt smaller than usual with all four of them inside—stone walls, maps thumbtacked into jagged constellations of ink, the single narrow window filtered with winter light. Snow clung to Orion’s shoulders; the office’s hearth, if it ever had been a warm focal point, was only metaphor now—cold business in a colder world. The heavy oak door closed behind Mary with an authoritative thud that still echoed once like a knuckle on a drum.

Orion watched the smoke-gray line of the door for a beat before turning back to the others. Tobias had folded his hands in that deliberate way he did when counting coins in his head: knuckles tight, eyes bright with calculation. Mary’s soot-smudged forearms rested across her belt, jaw set. Garrett lingered near the door with his hands pressed together, face that perpetual mix of worry and eagerness.

"We still haven’t heard from SilverCreek," Orion said at last, flat and precise.

Silence followed after his words.

Tobias was the first to break it. "That’s odd. Benny wouldn’t keep silent until now. Normally he’s sending a reply even if he has no information."

"And that’s the issue. We are supposed to have gotten information from him by now. Even if it’s something a long the lines of, ’I’ll get back to you.’" Orion told them.

Mary’s lips pressed together. "Maybe the messenger bird missed its way or the runner took a detour." she muttered, but there was a tense edge under the joke.

Orion shook his head. "I don’t feel so." He told her.

Mary stared at him. "You suspect there’s something wrong?" She asked him.

Orion folded his hands, eyes narrowing. "No message is a message as much as any other," he said. "And that’s not how Silver Creek operates. There’s something amiss here."

"What do we do then?" Tobias asked him.

Orion sighed. "I’m thinking of sending someone into the west..."

"Orion!" Mary called out, a reprimand in her tone.

"I know, I know." Orion told her.

"Do you really?" She asked him. "Sending someone into the west is risky. They are after our heads and once they find out that this person is from the west, they’d do anything to take them down and by that I mean kill them."

"I know..."

Mary cut him off with a glance so sharp it trimmed his thought. " There are bounties on our heads Orion. Our profiles still line up the streets."

Orion nodded. "I know that, truly I do but we also know how much the silver Creek pack has helped us. They were the ones who helped us escape when Victoria sent people after us too. They even lost their home and the reason they are there is because we need allies too."

Mary rubbed a thumb along the back of her hand where a scar was. Her gaze was on the wall like the answer to what was troubling them would just appear there. Mary understood what he was saying but it was risky.

"And besides, the enclave only knows the old members of the pack. I reckon they don’t know anyone who was born around here right? And besides not all portraits will be accurate." Orion told them.

"So what you are trying to say is that we send someone young? Someone who is good but wouldn’t raise suspicion." Mary said.

Orion nodded.

"Who is as good as..."

"Me." Tobias spoke up.

Orion frowned at him and Tobias shrugged him off. "Don’t give me that look, brother. No one will be able to get into the west and come out unscathed except me."

"They have portraits of you too. Benny told us that. It doesn’t matter that you were a baby when it happened." Orion told him.

Benny had informed them some time ago that the necklace kept on updating their profiles while the bounty was still on their heads. Most people had given up on finding them and even the money attached due to how harsh the North was. Most died before they even got there. The only ones who were able to reach were those sent by the enclave and that only started happening in recent times. After much failure in trying to reach the pack.

What irked Orion was the fact that the enclave still branded them as monsters and traitors but wanted their help to treat the plague? Orion hated it.

"And you forget that I’m the best at disguise you’ve got. I can do this. You forget I’ve sneaked into the east before to get information, they don’t call me the owl from nothing." Tobias told them.

Orion frowned like he was mulling over the issue. "Come on Orion, you know I’m the best bet you’ve got. I can move like a shadow where others would shout. You know I can do this."

When Orion had brought the suggestion, he never expected that Tobias would be the one to go.

"But you have trades to..."

"The time I sneaked into the east, I still had things to sell and I did both. You know I can do this, I just need to sneak in and get information. I’m not going to fight anyone." Tobias told him.

Mary made a small, skeptical sound. "What if SilverCreek is actually in trouble? What if it’s something that requires you to fight?" Mary asked him.

"If they are in danger then I’ll look for every way to help them. They helped us at one point Mary. We can’t just abandon them. You forget some former members of their pack are with us now too. Imagine just abandoning them when they sacrificed their neck for us." Tobias spoke up.

Orion released a sigh but he knew Tobias was the best bet they had. "Fine. There will be a council meeting where we discuss this. I’ll inform everyone during it."

Mary nodded as did Tobias.

"I’m going to go now, I’ll see you guys later." She said just as Tobias found himself a seat.

Orion turned to Garrett. "Send word to each elder about the meeting."

Garrett nodded and left. It was just Tobias and Orion in the office now.

"Since when do you need a new weapon?" Tobias asked him.

Orion sighed. "It’s not for me but that aside, I need you to do something for me."