Chapter 10 - the alpha council
1100 Words
Chapter Ten
The Alpha Council
“They’re early.”
Ronan’s voice remained calm.
Too calm.
The young warrior swallowed hard.
“They crossed the northern pass before dawn.”
“They’ve brought warriors?”
“Thousands.”
“Expected.”
The room fell silent.
I looked between them.
“What is the Alpha Council?”
Cassian’s playful expression disappeared.
“The closest thing our world has to a government.”
“They make laws.”
“They settle disputes.”
“They’ve executed entire bloodlines before.”
My stomach tightened.
“They’re coming for me.”
“They’re coming,” Ronan corrected quietly.
“What happens next depends on what they decide.”
Mrs. Alden immediately stepped between me and the dining room windows.
“No.”
Ronan looked at her.
“They won’t see her.”
“They already know she’s here.”
“I don’t care.”
She folded her arms.
“They’re not looking at her like she’s livestock.”
Something flickered across Ronan’s face.
Respect.
“They won’t.”
⸻
Three hours later…
The lodge no longer felt peaceful.
Warriors lined every path leading to the estate.
Black SUVs stretched down the mountain road.
Blackwood warriors stood shoulder to shoulder beside Ronan’s men.
Despite everything…
Kael had come.
He hadn’t asked permission.
He’d simply arrived with two hundred of his strongest wolves.
I watched from the upstairs window as he climbed from his vehicle.
His eyes immediately searched the lodge.
Searching for me.
Always me.
It should have made me happy.
Instead…
It hurt.
Because yesterday, those same eyes had looked at me with disappointment.
I wasn’t ready to forget that.
“You don’t have to see him.”
Ronan had entered so quietly I hadn’t heard the door open.
“I know.”
“But eventually…”
I sighed.
“…I’m going to have to.”
He stood beside me, leaving enough distance that our shoulders didn’t touch.
“Only when you’re ready.”
Down below, Kael looked toward the second-floor windows.
As though he somehow knew exactly where I was standing.
Our eyes met.
Even from this distance…
I could see the exhaustion written across his face.
He looked like he hadn’t slept.
Good.
The thought shocked me.
Had I really become that bitter?
No…
Not bitter.
Broken.
⸻
The Alpha Council gathered on the stone terrace overlooking the valley.
Twelve enormous carved chairs formed a semicircle.
Each occupied by an Alpha King.
Each one radiating enough power to make my wolf retreat inside me.
I counted them.
One…
Two…
Three…
Until I reached twelve.
Then my eyes stopped on the woman sitting in the centre.
Silver hair.
Ice-blue eyes.
A crescent crown rested upon her head.
“Who is she?”
“The High Judge,” Rowan answered quietly.
“The only woman ever permitted to rule the Council.”
She couldn’t have been older than fifty.
Yet every Alpha there treated her with absolute respect.
The High Judge slowly rose.
“Bring forward the Moonborn.”
Every conversation stopped.
Every pair of eyes turned toward the lodge.
Toward me.
My legs suddenly felt like stone.
“I can’t.”
Mrs. Alden took my hand.
“You can.”
“I don’t know any of these people.”
“They’re looking at me like I’m…”
“A weapon,” Cassian finished softly.
“Not a person.”
His smile had vanished completely.
“They’ll learn the difference.”
Ronan extended his hand.
Not to pull me.
Simply…
Offering it.
“If you’d like.”
I stared at it.
His hand was large.
Strong.
Steady.
A safe place to land.
Slowly…
I placed my hand in his.
Warmth spread through my palm.
Nothing supernatural.
Just…
Comfort.
He didn’t tighten his grip.
Didn’t pull me closer.
He simply walked beside me as we stepped out onto the terrace.
Every conversation stopped.
The silence was deafening.
I could feel hundreds of eyes following every step.
The High Judge studied me for a long moment.
“So.”
“After a thousand years…”
Her gaze drifted over my face.
“…the Moonborn returns.”
She descended the stone steps until only a few feet separated us.
“You look like your mother.”
My breath caught.
“You knew her?”
“I sentenced her.”
The words struck harder than the rejection ever had.
“What?”
Ronan immediately stepped in front of me.
“Enough.”
The High Judge raised one elegant eyebrow.
“You forget yourself, Ash King.”
“I remember perfectly.”
“You will not question a traumatised young woman before she’s had the truth.”
The Judge looked at me again.
“There are truths no child should hear.”
“I’m not a child.”
“No.”
Her eyes softened.
“You’re the daughter of the woman who almost destroyed our world.”
The terrace erupted into whispers.
Destroyed?
No.
That couldn’t be true.
“My mother wasn’t a monster.”
The Judge held my gaze.
“No.”
“She was something far more dangerous.”
“What?”
“She was loved.”
Confusion rippled through the crowd.
The Judge turned to address every Alpha present.
“A united Moonborn can command every Alpha bloodline.”
“One woman.”
“One voice.”
“One kingdom.”
She looked back at me.
“Your mother refused to rule.”
“So others decided to rule her.”
A chill swept through me.
“You imprisoned her.”
“We protected the world.”
“You imprisoned her.”
The Judge didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t need to.
The silence told me everything.
Rage unlike anything I’d ever felt surged through my body.
The air around the terrace crackled.
The sky darkened.
Clouds rolled over the mountains in seconds.
Lightning flashed overhead.
Every Alpha stood.
The Judge’s eyes widened.
“No…”
Silver light burst beneath my skin.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough to warn.
The marble beneath my feet splintered.
Flowers growing between the stones bloomed instantly.
The wind whipped my hair around my face.
And somewhere…
Deep inside me…
A voice whispered.
They lied to you.
I gasped.
The voice wasn’t outside.
It was inside my head.
Soft.
Familiar.
Almost…
Motherly.
“Find me.”
The silver light vanished.
The terrace fell silent.
I looked around wildly.
“Did anyone hear that?”
Every face was blank.
Except Ronan’s.
He stared at me with stunned disbelief.
“What?” I whispered.
His voice was barely audible.
“…She spoke to you.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD