Chapter3
1113 Words
“The council session is dismissed. Further directives will be announced at dawn.” Derek’s voice cut through the silence. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic.
But it ended everything.
The council members bowed and began to disperse in murmurs.
Roman remained still.
Olivia’s mom gently touched her arm.
“Come with me.” Olivia barely nodded, her legs felt weak as she followed her mother out of the chambers.
Behind her, she could still feel Roman’s gaze.
The doors closed softly. Her mother gestured her to sit but Olivia remained standing.
“I can’t do this,” she said immediately. Her voice broke.” He was Lysandra’s husband. Lysandra was my sister.”
Her mother’s face tightened, but her voice remained calm.
“Sit.”
Olivia sat.
“You think this is a betrayal to your sister?” Her mother asked gently.
“Yes,” her answer came fast. “ How am I supposed to become a queen beside the man my sister loved most? How am I supposed to take her place?”
“You are not taking her place,” her mother said firmly. “ You are continuing what she died protecting.”
The words stacked harder than she expected.
Olivia’s chest tightened.
Her mother moved closer.
“Lysandra did not die by accident.”
Olivia’s breath caught.
“You know that,” her mother continued. “ Her death was planned. And she knew she was in danger.”
Olivia shook her head slowly. “No..”
“She protected you,the night she died. That night she chose you because she knew the power you carry”.
Silence filled the room.
Tears burned Olivia’s eyes.
“If you refuse this, then her sacrifice becomes meaningless, " her mother’s voice hardened.
You are not doing this because of fate. You are doing this not just for the pack but for Lysandra and your future. Do not let her death be in vain.
Olivia’s hand trembled in her lap.
For the first time, it wasn’t about love.
It was about survival.
In another wing of the palace, Roman stood beside the oak of the table. Derek stood on his right and Marcus, the royal advisor, stood on his left.
Roman exhaled slowly.
Roman tells them he wants peace for the territory and the next generation. He doesn’t want to rule a broken pack.
“Then you cannot ignore the priestess,” Marcus said.
Roman’s jaw tightened.
He still insisted that it feels wrong to marry Olivia but Marcus interrupted and told him Lysandra works have chosen strength.
Roman eyes darkened, he turned to Derek and asked him if he had any suggestions.
Derek hesitated for half a second too long.
“If Olivia becomes Luna,” he said carefully, “ her power would tie the pack together, but it will also make you untouchable.
“And that is a problem?” he asked quietly.
Derek forced a neural expression, “ power always creates enemies.”
“Before the priestess had left earlier, she had given a final warning.”
Before sunset on the seventh day, she must be seated as Luna. If the bond is denied, tragedy will follow.
Marcus' voice broke the silence, the seventh day is near.
Roman’s shoulders squared.
He asked Derek to summon the astronomer.
Derek stiffened.
“We will choose the date and prepare for the ceremony,” Roman’s voice was steady now.
“I accept Olivia as my fated mate.”
Derek’s stomach twisted.
Claire sent a letter to Derek asking him to come to her territory immediately.
Minutes later, he was on his horseback.
He didn’t notice the second rider in the shadows behind him.
It was the Alpha’s younger brother, Adrian, who had been watching him for some time and decided to follow him.
Clarie’s chambers were dimly lit.
She smiled when Derek entered.
“So,” she said softly. “It is official now.”
“They are calling the astronomer,”Derek replied.
Claire laughed once. “Then we are running out of time.”
One of the three council members replied, “ We move to the next phase.”
“The public declaration has been made, now we create doubt.”
Claire approaches Derek slowly and tells him if the pack begins to believe that Olivia’s power weakens the Alpha, instead of strengthening him, fear will grow. And fear divides.
Derek's jaw tightened.
Claire clapped her hands once.
A young maid was brought forward. She was nervous and pale.
“She works inside the palace kitchens,” Claire said. A small mixture in the Alpha’s food daily.
Derek’s eyes flashed. “Poison?”
“Not enough to kill, "Claire replied calmly.
Just enough to weaken. Slowly.
“And the rumors?” One council member asked.
“I will speak what I am told, the maid said.”
“You will tell them that ever since Olivia awakened, the Alpha has grown weaker. That her power drains him, Claire said.”
Adrian remained among the hidden trees.
He watched Derek exit Olivia’s territory.
Watched him mount his horse and watched the gates closed behind him.
His expression darkened.
Why will the Alpha’s right hand man visit their greatest enemy?
Adrian jumped on his horse. He rode quickly to make sure he got to the palace before Derek.
When Derek dismounted near the eastern wall.
“Interesting ride,” Adrian said.
Derek froze. The resemblance to Roman was clear, some sharp jaw, same piercing eyes but colder.
“Where were you,” Adrain asked calmly.
Derek forced a small laugh. “Scouting . Security matters.”
Adrian stepped closer. “In Claire’s territory?”
“You are mistaken, Derek replied.
“I followed you,” Adrian said, raising his voice.
He seized Derek by the collar and drove him back against the cold stone wall.
“Do not mistake my silence for blindness,”he said, voice low and deadly. “ If anything happens to my brother or to Olivia, I will not forgive you.”
Derek’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t fight back.
“You are overstepping, " Derek warned.
“No,” Adrian whispered. “I am watching.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Adrian released him with a shove.
“Pray I am wrong,” he added.
Derek straightened slightly.
The torches flickered between them. The air felt tight and dangerous.
For a second, it seemed one of them might shift.
A palace guard burst through the eastern doors.
“My lord!” he shouted, panic breaking through his voice. “The king….”
From the inside palace, something heavy crashed.
And then came a scream.
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