(Seraphina’s POV)
My heart was a frantic bird beating against the cage of my ribs. Alpha Mack’s words, a shield of honor wrapped around a core of deception, hung in the air. He had bought me a moment, but it was a fragile thing, a snowflake in a fire. My brother’s gaze, sharp and knowing, pinned me to my seat. He knew. He had always known. The silence in the council chamber stretched, thick and suffocating. The other council members shifted uncomfortably, their whispers like the rustling of dry leaves, sensing a storm they couldn’t yet see.
Finally, King Thorne spoke, his voice cutting through the tension like a shard of ice. “This is a matter of family, and of state security. It is not for public consumption.” His gaze swept across the room, dismissing the lesser nobles and advisors w
