Bound to my Awakening

The Executive Council

Draven's POV

"She tried the barrier three times before dawn," Vance said, setting an encrypted glass slate onto the edge of my mahogany desk.

"Your wards held, but the girl doesn't know when to stop."

"She isn't meant to stop," I replied, staring through the floor-to-ceiling glass at the sun rising over the Citadel towers. "She’s a wild creature locked in a chrome box. Any feedback from the medical scan?"

"Nothing standard," Vance muttered, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his tactical vest.

"Her vitals spike every time you move within twenty feet of her door. The bond is chewing through her raw energy like kerosene."

"Keep the guards outside her chamber. If she asks for anything sharp, deny it."

"She already tried to bribe the washerwoman for a hair pin," Vance offered, a faint smirk touching his mouth.

"She’s sharp, Draven. And angry."

"She’s a liability, and probably an asset," I corrected, turning away from the window. "Which is why Lyssandra is waiting on floor forty-two with half the executive board."

"Lyssandra brought three pack elders with her," Vance warned, his tone instantly sobering. "She logged the border breach as an unsanctioned security hazard. She’s coming for the girl’s head."

"Let her try," I said, sliding my coat on and heading for the private lift.

The doors to the executive boardroom split open five minutes later, exposing a polished obsidian table surrounded by twelve of the highest-ranking pack leaders in the eastern territory.

Lyssandra sat at the far end, her fingers tapping a steady rhythm against a silver stylus.

"You're late, Draven," Lyssandra said, her voice echoing off the glass walls before the lift doors even finished closing.

"I own the building, Lyssandra. The clock starts when I sit down." I pulled out the leather chair at the head of the table and sat, ignoring the cold stares of the three elders seated beside her.

"State your agenda so I can return to work."

"My agenda?" Lyssandra laughed softly, leaning forward. "My agenda is the unregistered stray currently occupying your private residence."

"That matter is internal," I said smoothly.

"Internal?" Elder Thomas chimed in, his deep, aged voice rattling in his chest.

"An unbranded wolf reeking of human settlement is sleeping on the top floor of our central fortress! The Vire pack demands her immediate removal."

"The Vire pack does not dictate security protocols inside the Citadel," I replied, locking eyes with the old man until he looked down.

"She isn't just a safety hazard, Draven," Lyssandra cut in, her blue eyes narrowing into ice slits. "Our corporate merger is set to finalize at the end of the quarter. My board will not sign a multi-billion-dollar territorial agreement while our Alpha harbors a nameless rogue."

"She isn't a nameless rogue," I said.

"Then what is she?" Lyssandra demanded, slamming her palm onto the glass table.

"Who is her Alpha? What pack raised her? Why does her energy signature spike the border sensors like a biological weapon?"

"Her origins are classified under executive privilege," I told her, keeping my voice flat.

"This conversation is over."

"It isn't over!" Lyssandra snapped, standing up from her seat.

"I am invoking Article Four of the Pack Charter. Any unsanctioned stray found within Citadel walls without a legal pack brand must be executed or cast out to the boundary guards."

"Article Four applies to trespassers," I said, leaning back in my chair. "She is not a trespasser. She is under my personal sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?" Lyssandra sneered, stepping away from the table.

"You expect us to believe this is political? Look at yourself, Draven! You reek of her! You're so compromised by that girl that you can barely focus on this summit!"

"Careful, Lyssandra," Vance warned from his position by the double doors, his hand resting casually near his sidearm.

"I will not be careful!" she hissed, turning her full fury back onto me.

"You're risking the stability of three territories for a stray you picked up out of the dirt! What happens when the Crown finds out you're hiding a magic signature inside the Citadel?"

A red light flickered on my desk console, signaling an incoming transmission from our border outposts. I tapped the display without breaking eye contact with her.

"Speak," I commanded the console.

"Sir…," a voice crackled through the speaker.

"Sensors on the eastern perimeter just flagged a royal executioner scout. They've crossed into the lower valley."

Silence fell over the boardroom. The elders exchanged pale looks, while Lyssandra's jaw tightened.

"Did they breach the border?" I asked calmly.

"No, sir. They're tracking an energetic pulse. They'll reach the outer gates by nightfall."

"Increase perimeter security by two shifts," I ordered, cutting the line.

I stood up from the head of the table, towering over the room as my Alpha aura rolled out across the obsidian floor, heavy enough to force two of the younger board members to bow their heads.

"You heard the report," Lyssandra said, though her voice wavered slightly under the weight of my aura.

"The Crown is hunting her. Hand her over to the border guards before they burn this Citadel to the ground."

"I am the master of this territory," I said, walking slowly toward her end of the table. "The Crown does not dictate terms inside my city, and neither do you."

"If you protect her, you forfeit the merger," Lyssandra threatened, her fingers clenching into fists at her sides. "The Vire family will withdraw every dollar of funding by midnight."

"Then pull your money," I replied, stopping two feet away from her and looking down into her pale face. "And if I catch one of your enforcers near the top floor of my building, I won't just break the merger, Lyssandra. I will wipe your pack off the registry."

"You're mad," she whispered, her eyes wide with shock. "She’s going to ruin you."

"Get out of my boardroom," I said softly.

Lyssandra held my gaze for a second longer before turning on her heel and marching out, the three elders scrambling to follow her down the private corridor.

Vance stepped up beside me as the heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

"The Crown's scouts are moving fast, Draven. You can't hide her in the penthouse forever."

"I don't need forever," I said, turning back toward the glass window overlooking the city. "I just need her to stop trying to kill herself on my security grid.”