MOONBOUND

The Weight Of Command

Rowan’s POV

Power is supposed to feel like control.

But sitting before the council, I felt none of it.

The chamber was dim, lit only by moonfire sconces carved into the stone walls. Ancient runes glowed faintly beneath my boots—marks of authority, of lineage, of decisions that had shaped generations of wolves long before I was born.

Three elders sat in a half circle.

Maeven in the center. Always the center.

Their gazes pinned me in place, not hostile, not warm—measuring. As if I were a blade they were deciding whether to wield or break.

“You know why you’re here,” Maeven said.

It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Then you know this conversation is long overdue.”

I kept my posture relaxed, though my wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin. “If this is about Lyra—”

“It is always about Lyra now,” another elder interrupted, voice sharp. “Whether you admit it or not.”

The air thickened.

Maeven raised a hand, silencing him. “We have watched you,” she said calmly. “For weeks. Your restraint. Your distance. Your refusal.”

Refusal.

As if choice were defiance.

“You feel the bond,” she continued. “Do not insult us by pretending otherwise.”

I met her gaze evenly. “Feeling something does not mean accepting it.”

A murmur passed between them.

“Moonblood is unstable without grounding,” the third elder said. “History proves this.”

“So does coercion,” I shot back.

Maeven’s eyes hardened slightly. “Careful.”

I forced my jaw to unclench.

They leaned forward then, all three of them, the weight of their combined authority pressing down like gravity.

“You are Alpha-born,” Maeven said. “You understand duty better than most. This pack stands on the edge of something powerful—and dangerous. Lyra’s existence changes the balance.”

“She is not a tool,” I said flatly.

“No,” Maeven agreed. “She is a catalyst.”

Silence stretched.

“You are the logical anchor,” she went on. “Your bond would stabilize her power, secure the pack, and silence unrest.”

Unrest.

So the whispers had grown louder than I thought.

“And if I refuse?” I asked.

The question echoed too loudly in the chamber.

Maeven didn’t answer immediately. That was the most dangerous part.

Finally, she said, “Then others will step forward.”