Moonbound Alpha

Chapter 4 - The Council's Verdict

Ronan POV

The hall above the dungeon was too bright. The kind of brightness that stripped color out of everything, even people. It smelled like oil, iron, and fear. There was a hint of an old perfume that the Elders use. They had gathered in their usual circle. All eight chairs were arranged beneath banners older than the Keep’s walls, all filled, and all faces were neutral, representing no judgment, mercy, or thought.

I could see them like that before the doors were opened, before I could see any of them. The rhythm and cadence of their debates never change. They had already chosen a conclusion for Elara and were simply waiting for me to validate their decision.

I entered without ceremony, my footsteps heavy pounding into the stone and echoed around us all. The torch fire leaned forward as the room's draft pulled it forward. They wouldn’t go out; the modern amenities of this castle wouldn’t allow it.

“Alpha Vale,” Elder Maerin greeted, her voice as sweet as rust. “We were told your patrol returned with a witch.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact. They were stating what they already knew.

“You make it sound like they brought home a storm,” I said, sensing their distrust and fear.

“Perhaps they have.” Her fingers rasped on the table in a rhythmic pattern like my father would have done in an interrogation room. “Do you deny it?”

“I don’t deny anything. She was found healing two wounded pups on our land.”

“Rogues,” Elder Ralen hissed at once, leaning heavily on his cane as he stood. “Their blood alone warrants an execution.”

“She’s a healer,” I said in exasperation. “If she meant harm, the forest would already have been burning.”

The elders stirred, voices colliding like stones as they all tried to speak at once.

“Her magic could have contaminated the pups.”

“She’s bait.”

“She’s a spy.”

She’s witchfire, and you are letting her continue to breathe?”

I waited, letting them exhaust all their fear and words until it finally circled back to the sweet sound of silence. The only sound that was left was the low hum of the wards around us.

“She surrendered herself. Voluntarily.” I punctuated the word to get it across to them. “No resistance. No deceit.”

“That’s what they do,” Maerin protested. “They make surrender look like virtue.”

“And you make fear look like a duty.”

That earned a ripple of murmurs through the council. The kind of murmurs that sound like wolves deciding who should get a bite of the prey first.

Maerin’s eyes narrowed in my direction. “You forget yourself, Alpha.” Her tone was warning.

“No,” I said firmly. “I remember too well. You wanted obedience from my father, too. It didn’t save him. I won’t make the same mistake as him.”

The silence was heavy. Old grief was moving about the council like smoke through the room. It was familiar and unwelcome. I pressed my palms flat against the table. “You’ll have my report by dawn. Until then, she lives.”

Ralen’s cane struck the floor. The sound was sharp as it echoed around. “This is a mistake. This pack was built on caution…”

“No.” I cut him off. “It was built on blood; caution came later.”

The hum of the wards pulsed once, faintly as if it agreed with what I was doing. None of the elders seemed to notice, but I did. The land and wards were listening again, and I realized that they always listened whenever she was mentioned.

Maerin leaned back, steepling her fingers. “You are playing with something you don’t understand, young Alpha.”

“Then let me learn, but let me learn my way. That is what an Alpha does.”

Their disapproval filled the room. No one spoke to contradict me. I had given them what they wanted most: a decision and a reason to resent me. I just hoped that she was worth it.

The corridor beyond the chamber with the elders felt colder, quieter after I left. Kieran waited halfway down the hallway for me, his arms crossed in a disapproving manner. He was giving me his best disapproving beta stare.

“They want her head.” The words didn’t need to be said, but he knew what the elders had been thinking before I even went into the council room.

“They can keep wanting it. It isn’t going to happen.”

He fell into step beside me as I moved toward the stairwell. “You plan to defy them openly?”

“I plan to keep my people alive, and my gut is saying that Elara is the key to doing that…”

“You think so?” He asks, inquiring into what I was thinking.

“I think that she knows something we don’t.”

That sentiment was enough to earn me a long silence from Kieran. He finally spoke, his voice soft to keep it from sounding defiant against my opinions. “What do you want done with her?”

“Move her to the west wing, near the old infirmary.” I decided after a short moment.

“That section of the keep has been sealed for years, Alpha.” His tone was skeptical, but not disrespectful. I knew what he was thinking; I was considering unsealing a large section of the keep for this witch.

My jaw clenched before I spoke. “It will be quiet.” I wanted quiet for her, away from the wolves who wanted her death. Witches were feared, and though I wasn’t ready to claim her as my mate, I wanted her to be comfortable at least.

“What if she tries to escape?”

“She won’t.”

Kieran’s eyes met mine with confusion in why I sounded so confident. I knew she wouldn’t try to escape. She was tired of running.

“I am.”

We descended the stairs into the undercroft, the stones thudding under our heavy footsteps before echoing down the hallway towards the guards, towards her.

The guards straightened when they saw us coming, having been lounging, something that they knew I wouldn’t approve of. I decided not to chastise them; instead, I just gestured for them to open the cell door where Elara was being kept.

She stood when the lock clicked open, the chains rattling as she stood abruptly. The lantern light caught on her hair, turning the dark brown into something closer to bronze. She looked more alive than someone chained to the floor in one of my interrogation rooms had any right to look.

“You’re moving me?” She asked, looking shocked that I would move her from the undercroft at all.

“Yes.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for that?”

I was amused at her question, hiding my emotions well. “No, just don’t make me regret it.”

Her gaze flicked to the guards. “You already regret everything you touch.”

The insult stung, but I tried to ignore it. “You’ll be taken to quarters above ground. You will remain confined, captive, but comfortably.”

“Comfortably…” she echoed. “That’s the word men use when they want women to bleed quietly, or when they want to make themselves feel better.”

“Don’t test me,” I said, but it came out low, more like a plea than a warning.

Her expression didn’t change. “If you were going to hurt me, you would have done it already.”

She was right, and that irritated me more than anything.

I motioned to the guards. “Unchain her.”

They hesitated, clearly not used to me asking them to unchain a prisoner. I gave them a look when they took too long. They hurried to comply, the sound of keys scraping metal, followed by the hiss of runes deactivating. The silver cuffs loosened, but didn’t fall.

Elara looked at me as she rubbed her wrists, studying me. “Where am I going then?”

“West wing,” I said. “It used to be an infirmary.”

Her lips twitched into an almost smile at the irony. “You are putting a healer in a hospital. How poetic.” I could feel the sarcasm oozing off of her.

“It is still a cell.” I reminded her before leading her to the west wing. I could hear Kieran falling into step behind Elara, taking up the end of this bitter parade of people towards the stairs.

The west wing had always been quieter than the rest of the keep. The corridors here were wider, designed for stretchers that hadn’t been used in decades. Dust hung in thin threads from the rafters. The air smelled faintly of herbs and salt, ghost traces of antiseptic and magic.

I slowed to allow Elara to walk alongside me with Kieran trailing behind us. I watched as her eyes took in everything, and I was surprised by how much she was taking in. Her eyes lingered on the runes on the wall, her eyebrows raising at the magic that lingered with how much my pack hated witches.

When we reached the last room at the end of the hall, I stopped. “Here.”

The door opened with a deep sigh of displaced air. This room hadn’t been opened in a long time, and the air inside was musty and damp. Inside, the room was large, though the only furniture inside was a fireplace, a king-size bed, and a small table. Dust covered the sheets that had been draped over the furniture, covering the outlines of any former life that had belonged to whoever inhabited this room last.

Elara stepped inside, slow and cautious. She ran her fingers along the window frame, leaving streaks in the dust. She rubbed her fingers together to get it off. Her gaze turned to the view that showed the northern forests, their dark canopy shivering under a morning breeze.

“It’s warmer here,” she noticed, speaking softly.

“The wards don’t reach this far.”

“Is that why you brought me here?” Her eyes turned to me instead of the view.

“Maybe.”

“You don’t trust me.” It was accusing, but it wasn’t a question.

“I don’t trust anyone.” I lied.

Her gaze held mine for a long moment, making my heart beat faster as I got lost in her eyes. “Then that’s a lonely way to lead.”

“Leadership isn’t about companionship.”

Her head tilted to the side. “Neither is isolation..”

I didn’t have an answer for that. The silence stretched between us, taut and humming with anticipation.

“Someone will bring you food in an hour,” I said, going to the door and getting ready to leave her alone in this room to make it her own. “If you need water, knock twice on the door.”

“What if I need freedom?”

I met her eyes, warning in my own. “Earn it.”

She smiled faintly, tired. I was surprised to find that the action wasn’t mocking. “I already have. You just don’t know it yet.”

I left before she could see the flicker of confusion that crossed my features.

The corridor outside was dimmer than before, the lights were worn out in this wing of the keep, and I made a note to have the staff come change out the bulbs for brighter ones. I leaned a hand against the wall. The stone was warm. The wards had never reached this far, yet now I could feel a pulse of the wards under my palm.

I glanced back toward the door. I wondered what she was doing now, but I didn’t open the door to check again.

I turned away before I could change my mind.

“Alpha?” Kieran’s voice carried from down the hall. He had given us privacy and was now returning from whatever he had been doing.

“She is secure in her new room… cell?” He corrected himself, though we both knew this was an upgrade from a cell, so I didn’t try to correct him.

“Yes, and no harm is to come to her.” I reminded him again, giving the order so it is completely clear.

He nodded, studying me carefully. I made sure to hide my attraction for Elara under my other emotions. “You could have left her in the undercroft, and I think she should have been.”

“I could have.” I agreed with him. “But the wards are already too loud, too warm.”

Kieran hesitated, then inquired softly. “What if she is the one causing what is happening with the wards?”

“Then I’ll find out,” I glanced at him. “But I won’t kill her for being what the gods made her.”

He raised an eyebrow at my declaration as we normally kill witches for just existing. He didn’t argue with my decision, though, clasping my shoulder before he headed back down to the hall to remind Elara’s new guards about my orders.

When I was alone again, I looked once more towards the door. Through the crack under it, I saw a faint shimmer of light before it was engulfed by shadow. It was Elara moving around in her room.

Since she was in the keep, the wards weren’t angry anymore. They had quieted, and the only lingering effect of their anger was how warm they were. They were humming now, content, as if they had finally regained something that they had forgotten.

For the first time since the eclipse and my father’s death, Vale Keep felt alive.