A Lapse injudgement
1210 Words
DAMON’S POV
The packhouse had not been quiet for a single moment since dawn. Preparations for the celebration still filled the entire building. Servants rushed through the halls with armfuls of banners, guards rotated shifts twice as often, and the kitchens sounded like a battlefield of clanging metal and shouted orders. Exactly how it should be. Tonight mattered. Every Alpha of importance would be present. Elders would be watching. Alliances would be measured and remembered. And if everything went according to plan, the night would move me one step closer to the only position that truly mattered, which was to be the Alpha King.
I stood in my office reviewing the seating arrangements for the Great Hall when the door burst open. Not knocked. Not announced. Opened. Hard. My head snapped up just as Councilor Aldric Ardent stepped inside, breathing heavily as if he had come the entire way without stopping. Two guards appeared behind him seconds later.
“Alpha—he forced his way—”
“Leave us.”
They hesitated, then bowed and stepped back, closing the door. The room fell silent again. Aldric Ardent stood across from my desk, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. He looked nothing like the composed council advisor who usually attended meetings. His eyes were sharp with something far more dangerous than anger.
Fear. Or perhaps desperation.
“Councilor,” I said evenly. “Breaking into an Alpha’s office is rarely wise.”
“I want to see my daughter.”
Straight to the point. I leaned back slowly in my chair.
“Elodie is busy.”
His jaw tightened.
“She hasn’t reported to the council wing in days.”
“She’s been reassigned.”
“To where?”
“That’s not your concern.”
“It is when it involves my daughter.”
His voice had risen slightly. I studied him for a moment. Most wolves in his position would have already backed down. Aldric Ardent did not. Interesting.
“I don’t have time for this,” I said calmly. “Tonight’s gathering requires my attention.”
“That gathering is exactly why I’m here.”
My eyes narrowed slightly.
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
Aldric stepped closer to my desk.
“You’re parading Nyra in front of the entire council tonight.”
“And?”
“And you expect no one to question it?”
“Question what?”
He stared at me like the answer should have been obvious.
“Your mate.”
The word sat between us like a stone, I didn’t react. Aldric noticed.
“You thought no one heard you,” he continued.
The tension in the room shifted.
“On the night of the selection ceremony.”
His voice had dropped now.
“Near the archway outside the hall.”
Memory flickered briefly in my mind. Elodie trying to leave. My hand around her wrist. “You’re not going anywhere.” Those were my exact words.
Aldric exhaled slowly.
“I was in the corridor when it happened.”
My wolf stirred faintly.
“I heard everything.”
Silence stretched between us. Then he said the words plainly.
“You’re her mate.”
I said nothing.
“You dragged her away that night,” Aldric continued. “And now she’s vanished from the council wing while you stand beside another woman and call her Luna.”
His hands tightened into fists.
“Where is my daughter?”
My voice remained calm.
“She’s exactly where she needs to be.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
Aldric’s patience finally cracked.
“You think you can hide this.”
“Yes.”
“You think no one will notice that your true mate has disappeared.”
“They won’t.”
His eyes burned with fury now.
“You’ve made her a prisoner.”
I stood slowly from my chair.
“Be careful.”
“You’ve disgraced her.”
“Be careful.”
“You’ve replaced her with a political alliance.”
My wolf pushed forward slightly, irritated.
“That’s enough.”
Aldric didn’t stop.
“You’re humiliating her while you parade Nyra like some prize before the elders.”
I stepped around the desk slowly.
“Are you finished?”
“No.”
He stepped closer as well.
“You think power makes you untouchable.”
“Councilor—”
“You think because you want that crown the rest of us should pretend this isn’t happening.”
My voice hardened.
“You are dangerously close to overstepping.”
“I’m already there.”
The honesty in his voice surprised me.
“I know exactly what you’re doing,” Aldric continued. “You’re hiding her because she ruins your perfect little performance tonight.”
I didn’t respond. His voice dropped lower.
“But I heard the bond in your voice that night.”
That made my wolf shift again.
“You can deny it to everyone else,” he said quietly, “but not to me.”
The room felt smaller.
“He is rejecting his own mate,” Aldric said slowly, almost like he was thinking the words through for the first time.
“For power.”
His eyes lifted to mine again.
“The elders will love hearing that.”
There it was, the threat. Clean. Simple.
“You plan to tell them?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Aldric held my gaze without flinching.
“You want to be Alpha King?” he continued. “Then explain to the council why your fated mate is scrubbing floors while you offer another woman the Luna seat.”
The silence that followed was heavy. He thought he had leverage. He thought I would negotiate. I didn’t.
“Guards.”
The door opened immediately. Two warriors stepped inside. Aldric didn’t turn around.
“Damon—”
“Councilor Ardent appears to be experiencing a lapse in judgment.”
The guards moved forward. His expression darkened.
“You can’t silence this and you cant hide it forever”
“I just did.”
They grabbed his arms. He struggled once.
“This will reach the elders.”
“No,” I said calmly.
“It won’t.”
“You’re afraid.”
I smiled faintly.
“Of you?”
“Of the truth.”
The guards began pulling him toward the door.
“You’re proving exactly why you shouldn’t rule!” he shouted.
My patience ended.
“Take him to the holding cells.”
The guards stopped briefly.
“For how long, Alpha?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Until after the celebration.”
Aldric laughed bitterly as they dragged him away.
“You can hide her tonight.”
His voice echoed down the corridor.
“But not forever.”
The doors slammed shut behind him. Silence returned to the office. I walked back to the desk slowly and picked up the seating chart again. Outside, the pack house continued preparing for the celebration. Servants hurried. Guards rotated positions. Music from the Great Hall drifted faintly through the corridors. Everything was moving exactly as planned. And by the time the elders arrived tonight. No one would be thinking about Elodie Ardent.
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