The Alpha's Doomed Mate

Chapter 12: Thirty Days

POV: Asha

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

“What?”

Dante’s expression didn’t change. ”Sanctuary allows a disputed or endangered wolf to remain under a pack's protection for thirty days while the claim against them is formally investigated. If the council refuses, Marrok's claim stays active, and there's nothing to stop him from taking you.”

My fingers curled into the furs beneath me.

“So sanctuary doesn’t actually stop him.”

“It does,” Hera said. “For thirty days.”

“During that time, you'd be considered a wolf under Blackhollow's protection,” Zade said. “You'd obey our laws while you're here, but no one owns you, no one can sell you, and no one can force you to remain once sanctuary ends.”

“Can I leave before the thirty days are over?”

“Yes.” The answer came so quickly from him that I blinked. “If you ask to leave, the sanctuary ends. I won’t stop you.”

He really meant it.

For some reason, his telling me I could just walk away made an uncomfortable feeling settle in my chest.

“Why do I have to be the one to ask?”

“Because sanctuary isn’t something an Alpha can impose on another wolf,” Dante explained.

“The law was written that way for a reason.” Zade’s jaw tightened slightly. “The council can be assembled before nightfall.”

I swallowed, my gaze moving from him to Dante, then Hera. “Okay.”

By that evening, the council had convened faster than I expected.

My palms had been sweating since Hera led me through the heavy double doors. The room did nothing to help, colder than I had expected a room full of so many werewolves to be, its stone walls rising high above us, broken only by narrow windows.

A curved table occupied the far end of the hall, several elders seated behind it, robed in dark clothes with unreadable expressions

My eyes shifted to Zade, seated several feet away in the Alpha’s chair at the head of the hall. Dante stood to his right, while Hera positioned herself among the senior wolves along the wall.

For reasons I didn’t want to think about, I noticed the distance almost immediately.

Marrok stood opposite me, his scarred face looking almost peaceful. That frightened me more than if he had been angry.

The oldest elder at the table stood up, his silver-streaked brows raised as his eyes swept the room, missing nothing. He struck his staff once against the stone floor, and any conversation that had been ongoing in the hall died instantly.

“Asha Ryder.” He sat back down. “You understand why you stand before this council?”

My throat felt dry. “Yes.”

“A debt-service agreement bearing your father’s signature has been submitted by Marrok Vane. He claims the agreement grants him lawful entitlement to your labour until the debt stated within it has been satisfied.” He paused. “Did you sign it?”

My nails dug into my palms. “No.”

“Were you brought here willingly?”

Me passing out, the dungeon, Marrok’s fist, his hand around my throat, all flashed through my mind. I winced.

“No, I wasn’t.” My voice came out quieter, but it did not shake.

The elder nodded and then gestured to Marrok. He stepped forward almost immediately.

“She is leaving out quite a lot.”

My stomach tightened.

“You may speak,” the elder said.

Marrok’s muddy-yellow eyes settled on me. “Asha Ryder was given as collateral against a legitimate debt her family had failed to settle for years. Her father understood the terms.” He continued before I could counter it. “She doesn’t belong here. An omega, wolf-less until recently, with no ties to this pack. Blackhollow gains nothing by protecting her.”

“That's for the council to decide,” the elder replied, unmoved.

“Is it?” Marrok's eyes slid to me. “Or is it already decided, dressed up as fairness? Everyone in this room knows the Alpha is using her. A pretty little bargaining piece to hold over my head.”

Murmurs rippled through the seated elders.

I forced myself not to look away from him, though every instinct screamed at me to shrink smaller, the way I always had at Moonmere.

“Thirty days changes nothing,” Marrok spoke softer now, almost gentle, like he was doing me some kindness. “You'll still belong to me at the end of it. Why prolong the inevitable? Come back with me now, and I'll be generous about the terms. Better than whatever Alpha Zade has planned for you once he's tired of playing protector.”

A low growl rolled across the room.

My eyes went to Zade, like everyone else, the whispers ceasing.

Marrok turned toward him, satisfaction on his face telling me that reaction had been exactly what he wanted.

The elder struck his staff once. “Alpha.”

Zade’s growl stopped, his face turning to stone. But I saw how tightly his fingers had curled around the arm of his chair, his eyes never leaving Marrok.

"You'll still have nowhere to go when they’re finished pretending you belong here.” Marrok looked back at me.

My spine stiffened.

I thought of Cole calling me worthless in front of the entire pack in the clearing, my parents not caring about my opinion of my own life, and Marrok's fingers around my throat in that dungeon as he told me I was his to do with as he pleased.

Every single time, someone else had decided what I was.

I stood, my legs steadier than I expected them to be.

“I request sanctuary from Blackhollow,” I said, and my voice, to my own surprise, didn't waver.

The room went even more quiet.

Marrok's expression flickered, something ugly passing behind his eyes before he smoothed it back into practiced calm.

The elder studied me for a long moment, then looked to Zade. “And Blackhollow's answer?”

“Granted,” Zade said, without a single second of hesitation.

I glanced at him, and for the briefest moment, a very different expression appeared on his face before smoothing back into that familiar hardness.

Marrok's hands curled into fists, but he said nothing further, apparently smart enough to know he'd already lost this particular round.

The elder rose, striking his staff once against the stone floor. The sound echoed through the hall with finality.

“Thirty days, Asha Ryder,” he stated. “If no lawful resolution is found by the end of that period, Marrok may renew his claim.”

Relief had begun flooding my chest, but it drained at his last words.

I turned toward Hera as she began making her way across the room.

“Enjoy your sanctuary,” Marrok whispered in a low voice I was sure only I could hear as he passed by me.

His footsteps continued toward the doors without stopping, my eyes following his form. He glanced back over his shoulder, a smile slowly returning to his face, and it made my blood run cold.

“I’ll enjoy the thirty-first day.”