The chamber grows deathly quiet as the visions continue, plans discussed, payments made to rogues, celebrations when attacks were “successful.”
Then, most damning of all, a memory of her standing beside Ronan as they watch from a distance while rogues attack a car on a remote road. My parents’ car.
My knees nearly buckle. I force myself to remain standing, to show no weakness.
“It’s lies!” Candice screams suddenly, clawing at the silver light surrounding her. “The magic is wrong! It’s her, she’s doing this somehow!”
The elders exchange glances.
“The truth rite cannot be manipulated,” Elder Miriam states.
“She’s not normal!” Candice shrieks, pointing at me with a trembling finger. “She’s the curse! The monster! She’s why the rogues came in the first place! The pack is falling apart because of her!”
LET ME RIP OUT HER THROAT.My wolf growls.
Not yet.
Her words hang in the air. I sense the shift immediately, the hesitation among the wolves, old prejudices surfacing. I’m still the human-raised outsider to many of them. Still weak. Still not to be trusted.
Ronan seizes the moment. “You all know it’s true,” he calls out. “We’ve all felt it. She’s been nothing but trouble since her parents died.”
HE DID NOT JUST MENTION OUR PARENTS.My nostrils flare. I’m trying to keep my wolf at bay, but after that comment, I’m close to letting her out.
Murmurs ripple through the crowd. Doubt spreads like poison.
I look around at faces I’ve known for years, wolves who’ve never fully accepted me, never fully trusted me. Even now, with the truth laid bare before them, they hesitate.
Something inside me shifts. No one here knows what I truly am. Not the elders. Not the pack. Only Rylan.
“Enough.”The word doesn’t echo. Heavy. Final. Power ripples outward from me, invisible but undeniable, like the air itself bends under it.My eyes burn, silver rising to the surface as the wolf steps forward.
The effect is immediate. The air grows heavy, charged with ancient power. Wolves drop to their knees around the chamber. Some collapse entirely. Even the strongest warriors struggle to remain standing. The dominance rolls through the room in waves, absolute in its authority.
Complete silence falls.
Wolves remain on their knees, some unable to rise under the weight of it. The elders do not kneel, but I see it in their faces, in the tension in their bodies as they grip the arms of their seats.
They feel it. All of them. But they do not understand it.
The Lycan council rises as one. This time, there is no hesitation. The same male and female council members from before, the ones who watched me too closely, who exchanged that look the moment they scented me, step forward. Recognition sharpens their expressions.
“We sensed it,” the councilwoman says quietly, her gaze locked on mine. “But it was… buried. Dormant.”
“Hidden,” the councilman adds. “By blood… or by fate.”
A beat passes. Then...“Lycan blood… you’re one of us.” His gaze sweeps the chamber, “By order of the Lycan council, she stands under our protection.” A ripple of shock moves through the room.
“Any who raise a hand against her,” the councilwoman says, her voice calm and absolute, “will answer to us.”
Silence tightens. “And we do not grant mercy twice.” The word settles over the chamber like law. And everything changes.
“No,” Ronan breathes. The word is raw. Disbelieving. Like something inside him just shattered.
SERVES HIM RIGHT. HMPH.My Lycan hums.
I look back at Rylan with a smile. He’s the only mate I will ever want.
Beside me, I hear movement, too fast, too desperate. I begin to turn, catching sight of Rylan’s face transforming from shock to horror.
