“I need you to be honest with me,” I said, crossing my arms as I stared Elias down across the war room table.
He didn’t flinch. “I always am.”
I stepped closer, the low hum of anxious murmurs from the betas around us echoing in the background. “That’s not good enough anymore. Magnus is playing dirty. He’s spreading lies to the elders about me—about us—and I won’t let him use me as leverage.”
Elias leaned forward, jaw tight, hands clenched. “I’ve already spoken with our Council. They know better than to believe his poison.”
“But not everyone does,” I snapped. “You saw the way the younger warriors looked at me this morning—like I was a liability.”
“I shut that down.”
“Not hard enough,” I whispered.
He looked away. I hated that. I hated the silence more than any threat Magnus had made.
