CHAPTER TEN:The Council
1375 Words
The academy council chamber had never felt so cold.
Liranae sat at the far end of the enormous room, her hands folded tightly in her lap.
Dozens of eyes were fixed on her.
Some were curious.
Some were suspicious.
And some were afraid.
She had become accustomed to people staring at her.
But this was different.
These people weren't looking at the silent girl from the combat class anymore.
They were looking at the healer.
The girl whose existence had awakened an ability believed to have vanished centuries ago.
Kaelan stood beside her.
He hadn't left her side since the attack.
Across the room, the council members whispered among themselves.
At the center of the chamber sat Headmaster Arven, an elderly man with silver hair and sharp gray eyes.
He struck his staff against the floor.
Silence fell.
“Professor Draven,” he said.
Kaelan straightened.
“Headmaster.”
“You claim the girl possesses the healing ability described in the ancient records.”
Kaelan didn't hesitate.
“I don't claim it.”
His eyes moved toward Liranae.
“I witnessed it.”
A murmur spread through the room.
One of the council members leaned forward.
“Then demonstrate it.”
Liranae looked up.
Kaelan's expression immediately hardened.
“No.”
The council member frowned.
“This concerns the safety of the entire academy.”
“And forcing an untrained student to use an ability she barely understands is not going to make anyone safer.”
The room became quiet.
Liranae looked at Kaelan.
He was angry.
Not at her.
At them.
For the first time, she realized something.
He wasn't protecting her because she was his mate.
Not entirely.
He was protecting her because he believed she deserved a choice.
Headmaster Arven studied them both.
“Liranae.”
She looked at him.
“You cannot speak.”
Liranae nodded.
“Yet you understand everything.”
Another nod.
He leaned forward.
“Can you communicate?”
She reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook.
She wrote:
Yes.
Arven read it.
“You have been unable to speak since birth?”
She nodded.
“Has your condition ever changed?”
Liranae hesitated.
Then she wrote:
Tonight.
The room fell silent.
Arven's eyes narrowed.
“You heard something?”
Liranae slowly nodded.
Kaelan looked at her.
She hadn't told him everything.
She hadn't told him about the voice.
She hadn't told anyone.
She wasn't ready.
Arven noticed her hesitation.
“What did you hear?”
Liranae stared at the page.
Then she wrote:
A voice.
The council members exchanged nervous looks.
“A voice?”
Liranae nodded.
“Whose?”
She didn't know how to answer.
She wrote:
Mine.
Silence.
Then one of the council members stood.
“That is impossible.”
Liranae looked at him.
“You cannot speak,” he continued. “How could you hear your own voice?”
Kaelan stepped forward.
“Enough.”
The council member glared at him.
“This is precisely why she needs to be examined.”
“She needs training,” Kaelan replied. “Not to be treated like a specimen.”
The man's expression darkened.
“You're emotionally compromised.”
Kaelan went still.
Liranae felt the atmosphere change.
The council member looked directly at him.
“You've discovered the bond.”
Kaelan's jaw tightened.
Several people gasped.
Liranae's heart began pounding.
The secret was out.
The council member continued.
“The Alpha teacher has formed a mate bond with the student.”
Whispers erupted throughout the chamber.
Liranae lowered her eyes.
She could feel the judgment already.
The same judgment she had experienced her entire life.
Only now it was worse.
Because everyone knew.
Kaelan was her mate.
Headmaster Arven raised his hand.
The room quieted.
“Is it true?”
Kaelan looked at Liranae.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then:
“Yes.”
The word seemed to shake the entire chamber.
Liranae's fingers tightened around her notebook.
She didn't know what she expected to feel.
Embarrassment.
Fear.
Maybe happiness.
Instead, she felt exposed.
Everyone now knew something deeply personal about her.
And she hated it.
She stood.
Kaelan looked at her.
“Liranae?”
She walked toward the doors.
A council member called after her.
“You cannot simply leave.”
Liranae stopped.
She turned around.
Then she lifted her notebook.
She wrote one sentence.
You asked for the truth. You have it.
Then she walked out.
The doors closed behind her.
Kaelan stared at them.
Headmaster Arven sighed.
“You're allowing her to become too independent.”
Kaelan looked at him.
“No.”
His voice was cold.
“She's becoming herself.”
He turned toward the doors.
The council member stepped forward.
“You're making a mistake.”
Kaelan stopped.
“What mistake?”
“Protecting her.”
The man's eyes narrowed.
“She isn't simply a healer.”
Kaelan's expression changed.
“I know.”
“You don't understand what she carries.”
Kaelan turned.
“Then tell me.”
The council member smiled.
“That is exactly what we're trying to determine.”
Outside the chamber, Liranae walked through the corridor alone.
She could hear every whisper.
“That's her.”
“The healer.”
“She is Kaelan's mate.”
“Did you see what she did?”
“She shouldn't even be here.”
Liranae kept walking.
The words hurt.
But not like they used to.
Before, she would have lowered her head.
Now she kept it raised.
She reached the academy courtyard.
The moonlight touched her face.
She closed her eyes.
For the first time, she tried to speak.
Nothing came.
She tried again.
Her throat burned.
Then, barely audible, a broken sound escaped.
“L...”
Liranae froze.
She covered her mouth.
She had heard it.
A sound.
Her sound.
She tried again.
“Li...ranae.”
The word came out weak and cracked.
But it was there.
Her name.
She laughed through her tears.
Then she heard footsteps behind her.
She turned.
Kaelan stood several feet away.
He had heard her.
His expression softened.
“You did it.”
Liranae smiled.
It was the first genuine smile he had seen from her.
She touched her throat.
Then pointed at herself.
Kaelan nodded.
“You found your voice.”
Liranae shook her head.
Not completely.
She knew that.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
But it was a beginning.
Kaelan walked toward her.
He stopped just before reaching her.
“You don't have to rush.”
She nodded.
He smiled.
“I've learned something about you.”
Liranae raised an eyebrow.
“You don't like being told what to do.”
She smiled again.
“And you have a dangerous habit of running toward things that could kill you.”
She crossed her arms.
Kaelan laughed quietly.
It was the first time she had heard him laugh.
The sound surprised her.
Then the silver mark on her neck suddenly burned.
Kaelan's smile disappeared.
Liranae turned toward the forest.
Something was there.
A presence.
Watching.
Her new senses caught it immediately.
Kaelan's body tensed.
“Behind me.”
Liranae didn't move.
She looked into the darkness.
Two silver eyes appeared between the trees.
A wolf stepped into the moonlight.
It was enormous.
Its fur was almost completely black.
But around its neck was a silver marking identical to the one on Liranae's skin.
Kaelan stared.
“That can't be.”
The wolf growled.
Liranae stepped forward.
The creature lowered its head.
Not threatening her.
Bowing.
Kaelan grabbed her arm.
“Liranae, don't.”
She gently pulled away.
The wolf looked directly into her eyes.
And suddenly, the voice returned.
You are the last.
Liranae's breath caught.
The wolf disappeared into the forest.
She stood frozen.
Kaelan rushed toward her.
“What happened?”
Liranae looked at him.
Her lips trembled.
Then she whispered:
“It... spoke.”
Kaelan went pale.
“What did it say?”
Liranae stared toward the forest.
“It called me... the last.”
Kaelan's expression changed completely.
Because he knew something she didn't.
There was only one bloodline in their ancient records that had ever been called the last.
And that bloodline had been believed extinct for more than three hundred years.
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