CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Crown She Never Sought
The Council Chamber
The chamber beneath Manhattan was older than the city itself.
Stone pillars carved with ancient sigils rose into darkness, their runes pulsing faintly as the Council gathered. Twelve seats. Twelve bloodlines. Tonight, only ten were filled.
Two were conspicuously empty.
Murmurs rippled through the room like disturbed water.
“This meeting is irregular,” one Alpha snapped. “Summoned without consensus.”
Another scoffed. “Nothing about tonight is regular. Bon’s son has gone rogue.”
At the head of the chamber, King Alpha Bon rose slowly, his presence commanding immediate silence.
“My son,” he said coldly, “has been misled. He has allowed sentiment to cloud duty.”
“And yet,” a female Alpha countered, “sentiment did not fa
