Chapter 7: The Blood Claim
1544 Words
Aariana's POV
The council chamber had been built to make people feel small.
Aariana noticed that the moment she entered.
The ceiling stretched high above her, supported by dark stone pillars carved with the history of the Voss bloodline. Banners hung between them, each bearing the silver wolf of the ruling Alpha.
She remembered this place.
Five years ago, she had stood near the entrance with her head lowered, wearing a servant's dress while the council decided her fate.
Today, every eye followed her.
Not because she carried a tray.
Because she carried an Alpha's mark.
Aariana walked to the center of the chamber.
Wren stayed beside her.
He had been unusually quiet since arriving in Voss territory.
She glanced down at him.
“You all right?”
He nodded.
“I'm fine.”
His voice was steady, but his fingers were wrapped tightly around the edge of his coat.
Aariana wanted to reassure him.
Instead, she gave his shoulder a brief squeeze.
“You don't have to be afraid.”
“I know.”
He looked around the chamber.
“Are these the people who sent you away?”
Aariana's steps slowed.
Several council members looked toward them.
She lowered her voice.
“We'll talk about that later.”
Wren nodded.
He didn't argue.
That worried her more than if he had.
At the far end of the chamber, Lucas sat in the Alpha's chair.
Aariana refused to let her eyes linger.
She had already spent too many years allowing memories of him to have power over her.
He was not the reason she had returned.
Her son was.
Her pack was.
And the truth was.
An elderly councilman rose.
“Alpha Aariana Calder.”
She met his gaze.
“Councilman.”
His mouth tightened at the title.
“You have been summoned because of a disputed blood claim concerning the Voss territory.”
“I know why I'm here.”
“Then you understand that your claim is unusual.”
“My claim is not unusual.”
She glanced at Wren.
“His is.”
A murmur moved through the chamber.
The councilman tapped his fingers against the table.
“Your son has no documented paternal lineage.”
Aariana's expression hardened.
“He has one.”
“Then perhaps you should provide it.”
“I will.”
The councilman leaned forward.
“Today?”
“No.”
The chamber fell silent.
Aariana stepped closer to the council table.
“You summoned me here. You will not dictate when I reveal information that concerns my son.”
A few council members exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Good.
She had expected resistance.
She had not expected them to be this nervous.
Someone was hiding something.
The councilman cleared his throat.
“Your position is not secure.”
Aariana almost smiled.
“Neither is yours.”
The room went completely silent.
Wren looked up at her.
For the first time that morning, his expression held something close to amusement.
The councilman slammed his palm against the table.
“You are speaking to the High Council.”
“And you are speaking to an Alpha.”
Aariana's voice remained calm.
“Do not confuse the room with authority.”
A door opened behind them.
A young guard entered and whispered something into the councilman's ear.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But Aariana saw it.
“What happened?” she asked.
The guard hesitated.
The councilman dismissed him with a gesture.
“Nothing concerning you.”
Aariana's eyes narrowed.
“Then why did you look at my son?”
Every head turned toward Wren.
Wren straightened.
Aariana immediately moved half a step in front of him.
The councilman stared at the boy.
“His presence complicates this hearing.”
“No.”
Aariana's voice sharpened.
“His existence complicates your plans.”
The councilman said nothing.
Aariana understood then.
They had not summoned her because they suddenly respected her.
They needed Wren.
That meant her son had become valuable.
And valuable things attracted dangerous people.
She turned to Wren.
“Go outside.”
His eyes widened.
“Mother.”
“Take two guards.”
“I can stay.”
“I know you can.”
She crouched slightly so they were eye level.
“But I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“Go to the courtyard and wait for me.”
Wren studied her face.
Then nodded.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He walked toward the doors.
Aariana watched until he disappeared.
Only then did she turn back to the council.
“Now tell me what you're afraid of.”
The oldest councilman exchanged a glance with another member.
Finally, a woman seated near the window spoke.
“Your son's blood could challenge the current succession.”
“That's already written in your summons.”
“There is more.”
Aariana waited.
The woman folded her hands.
“The law recognizes blood claims through the paternal line.”
Aariana's jaw tightened.
“And?”
“If Wren is confirmed as Lucas Voss's son, he becomes a direct heir.”
The words hung in the room.
Aariana glanced toward Lucas.
He had remained silent throughout the hearing.
She looked away.
“He will not be used as a political weapon.”
The woman gave a faint smile.
“You may not have a choice.”
Aariana's wolf stirred beneath her skin.
She forced it down.
“I always have a choice.”
The councilman pushed a document across the table.
“Then perhaps you should read this.”
Aariana picked it up.
Her eyes moved across the page.
It was a legal petition.
A challenge to Wren's claim.
But beneath the formal language was something else.
A condition.
If Wren's bloodline was confirmed, he would be required to remain within Voss territory until the succession dispute was resolved.
Aariana crushed the paper in her hand.
“No.”
The councilman smiled.
“You cannot simply reject council law.”
“I can reject your attempt to imprison my son.”
“It isn't imprisonment.”
“It becomes imprisonment when you decide he cannot leave.”
The doors suddenly opened.
A guard rushed inside.
“Alpha!”
Aariana turned.
“What?”
“Your son is gone.”
Her blood went cold.
The guard continued quickly.
“He left the courtyard.”
Aariana's wolf surged.
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
The council chamber erupted into voices.
Aariana didn't listen.
She moved toward the doors.
Then stopped.
Something was wrong.
Wren would never leave without a reason.
He was stubborn, curious, and far too clever for his own good.
But he knew her rules.
He knew not to wander.
Unless he had discovered something important.
Aariana closed her eyes.
She focused on the bond she shared with him.
Not a supernatural connection.
A mother's instinct.
A direction.
A feeling.
North.
Her eyes opened.
“He went toward the old records wing.”
The guard stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because that's where the answers are.”
Aariana turned to the council.
Their faces had gone pale.
That confirmed it.
She stepped closer.
“You were afraid of him seeing something.”
Nobody answered.
Aariana smiled without warmth.
“Now I'm going to find out what it is.”
She left the chamber.
The corridor outside was empty.
Wren's footsteps were impossible to hear among the stone walls, but Aariana noticed something on the floor.
A small piece of paper.
She picked it up.
It had been torn from an old document.
Three words were written across it in faded ink.
Calder. Voss. Marriage.
Aariana stopped breathing.
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
Someone had kept a record.
Someone had known the truth.
And Wren had found it.
She ran toward the records wing.
But before she reached the door, another figure stepped into the corridor.
Lucas.
His expression was tense.
“Aariana.”
She stopped.
“What?”
He looked at the paper in her hand.
“I need to talk to you.”
She held his gaze.
“About Wren?”
Lucas's face tightened.
“No.”
He glanced toward the records wing.
“About us.”
Aariana's heart struck hard against her ribs.
Behind the closed door, something crashed.
Wren screamed.
Aariana's eyes snapped toward the sound.
She reached for her blade.
“Move, Lucas.”
He stepped aside.
Aariana kicked the door open.
And the first thing she saw was her son standing beside an opened archive box.
In his hands was a document bearing the seal of the council.
His face was pale.
“Mother,” Wren whispered.
Aariana rushed toward him.
“What did you find?”
Wren looked down at the paper.
Then back at her.
“It has your name on it.”
Aariana took the document.
The date was five years old.
Her eyes moved to the final line.
Marriage between Aariana Calder and Lucas Voss.
Then beneath it was a second sentence.
Marriage annulled by order of the High Council.
Aariana's breath caught.
Someone had lied.
But worse than that, someone had kept the proof.
And they had hidden it inside the very building where her life had been erased.
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