Chapter 44: Rowan's Test

Helena's message turned the ball into a security operation.

Nobody was allowed to leave until Nightvale checked every exit.

Students complained.

I didn't care.

Rowan cared even less.

"What does she mean, your test?"

He stared at the message.

"I don't know."

Adrian ordered Rowan moved to a secure residence.

Rowan refused.

I supported Adrian.

Rowan looked betrayed.

"You just complained when I did this to you."

"Yes."

"Hypocrisy."

"Leadership."

Rhea nodded.

"She's learning."

Rowan glared at both of us.

Then Knox's phone rang.

He frowned at the screen.

"Unknown."

"Don't answer," Rowan said.

Knox answered.

"Hello?"

His expression changed.

He put it on speaker.

Helena.

"Knox Storm."

His jaw tightened.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing from you."

"Then why call?"

"Because you were the original variable."

I felt cold.

Helena continued.

"You were supposed to remain attached to Nessa long enough to delay her natural bond awakening."

Knox looked at me.

"You said you didn't interfere."

"I didn't."

Her voice sounded amused.

"Your vanity performed beautifully without assistance."

Knox flinched.

Even I almost felt sorry for him.

"Why delay it?" Rowan asked.

"To observe whether proximity or emotional attachment could override fated resonance."

"You experimented on us without touching us."

"Observation is not experimentation."

"Tell that to the ethics board."

Helena laughed.

"Still idealistic, Rowan."

His face changed.

"You know me."

"I watched you grow."

The line disconnected.

A second later, Rowan's phone received a video.

Adrian.

Tied to a chair.

Blood on his temple.

Rowan went completely still.

My heart dropped.

But Adrian had been downstairs minutes ago.

Security checked.

Gone.

Helena had taken the Supreme Alpha.

The video continued.

A location appeared.

An abandoned Nightvale training compound.

Then text.

N-V1 arrives alone.

Two hours.

No security.

No mate.

Or Adrian Vale dies.

Rowan was already moving.

I blocked the door.

"No."

"Nessa."

"You're not going alone."

"She'll kill him."

"She might kill both of you anyway."

"He's my father."

"I know."

His Alpha power surged.

Not deliberately.

Fear.

The room bowed under it.

I stayed where I was.

"Don't."

He immediately pulled it back.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you're scared."

"Then move."

"No."

His eyes flashed.

"Nessa."

"Helena wants you emotional and isolated."

"She has my father."

"Exactly."

Knox spoke from behind us.

"She's testing whether he'll choose his Alpha over his mate."

We both turned.

He pointed at the Moon Crown records.

"That's what this is."

Rhea nodded slowly.

"Mate versus Pack authority."

Rowan's face became murderous.

"He's not an experiment."

"Neither are you," I said.

We created a plan.

Rowan would appear alone.

Nightvale security would remain beyond the detectable perimeter.

I would go too.

Not beside him.

Rhea objected.

"So did Rowan."

I ignored both.

The compound sat deep in the mountains.

Rowan entered at sunset.

I approached through an old maintenance tunnel shown on archived blueprints.

Garrick came with me until the final junction.

"After this, you're alone."

"Good."

"No, not good."

"Figure of speech."

"Your family is exhausting."

I smiled.

"Apparently."

Through a vent, I saw Rowan enter the main hall.

Adrian sat at the center.

Alive.

Helena stood behind him.

She was younger than I expected.

Maybe late forties.

Dark blonde hair.

White medical coat.

No dramatic villain appearance.

That somehow made her worse.

"Rowan Vale."

"Release him."

"First, choose."

"Choose what?"

"Your father or Nessa."

Rowan stared.

Helena smiled.

"Your father represents Pack duty. Nessa represents mate instinct."

"This is stupid."

"It's fundamental."

"No."

He stepped forward.

"It's stupid because the premise is false."

Helena's smile faded.

"You don't have to destroy one relationship to honor another."

"Spoken like someone who has never led."

"Spoken like someone raised by him."

He nodded toward Adrian.

Pride flashed in Adrian's eyes.

Helena lifted a remote.

"Then perhaps pain clarifies."

Electric current hit Adrian's restraints.

He cried out.

Rowan lunged.

Armed guards emerged.

I moved.

Through the maintenance opening.

Behind Helena.

She heard me too late.

I slammed the remote from her hand.

She spun.

"Nessa."

"Hi."

Her surprise lasted half a second.

Then she smiled.

"You came."

I realized my mistake.

The room doors slammed shut.

Silver gas began pouring from ceiling vents.

Helena had expected me.

Rowan shouted my name.

My lungs burned.

Helena calmly put on a respirator.

"Perfect."

She looked between us.

"Now the real test begins."

Later, when the immediate crisis had passed, I forced myself to record what had happened and what I had learned from it. Lunaris had taught me that leadership was rarely a dramatic speech or a perfect decision. Most days it was listening longer than I wanted, asking one more question, admitting when I was uncertain, and refusing to let fear make choices for everyone else. I had once believed strength meant enduring anything without complaint. Now I understood that strength could also mean setting a boundary, asking for help, resting before exhaustion became damage, and allowing another person to disagree without treating disagreement as betrayal. That lesson mattered because I wanted the restored Pack to become safer than the one our enemies had destroyed, not merely more powerful.