Kael’s POV
The air in the council chamber hung thick with the cloying scent of ancient incense, sweet and rotting at once. Smoke curled like ghostly fingers along the rafters, coiling in and out of the dim light. Every breath tasted of ash and iron.
At the far end of the table, the Sovereign stood, draped in ceremonial black, tall and unmoving, a judge carved from shadow. His voice rang out, cold and echoing, reverberating through the stone walls like the toll of a funeral bell.
“Lord Draven has failed this council. He misled us with a false promise of a surprise on his birthday. And his silence about the girl, Diana, has endangered us all. He is hereby stripped of his position as the Lycan Leader. He remains only as a member.”
His words fell like stones into a still lake. No one moved
