Ridah’s POV
The council hall smelled like old stone and older grudges.
High ceilings, iron pillars, a dais where seven elders sat like they owned the truth. Pack enforcers lined the walls, hands on weapons, eyes on me like I might combust any second.
Good. Let them watch.
I stood in the center of the floor, bare feet against cold stone, wrists bare. No chains this time. Forsaken had made sure of that. He stood to my right, blood still dried on his jaw from last night, posture saying _touch her and die_.
The bond between us hummed low and steady. Locked. Permanent after the full moon.
Elder Mara stepped forward from the dais. Her face was still pale from what she’d seen in the moon chamber.
“Ridah Hale,” she said. “You stand before the council for violation of the Binding
