The council chamber emptied in stunned silence.
No one stopped Kael as he carried me through the broken doors and into the upper halls. No one dared. His power rolled off him in lethal waves—raw, unrestrained, warning every wolf in the keep that this path was not to be challenged.
My head rested against his chest. I could feel his heart—strong, frantic, furious—pounding beneath my ear. With every step he took, the bond pulsed between us, still aching from the cruelty of the chains.
I had never been held like this.
Not carefully.
Not protectively.
The corridor opened into the Alpha’s private wing.
Guards snapped to attention at both ends of the hall, eyes wide as Kael’s scent flooded the space.
“Out,” he ordered curtly. “All of you.”
“But Alpha—”
“Now.”
They moved instantly.
The
