Mag-log inMALIA'S POV The council chamber doors shut behind us with a heavy thud. Only then did I realize I'd been holding my breath. I let it out slowly, my shoulders sagging with it.“Three out of ten.” The deep voice beside me made me glance sideways.“Excuse me?”“Your performance.”“Performance?”“You were supposed to convince council members you belonged here.”I wasn’t proud of my acting back there, but was ranking my acting skills the first thing he could talk about after what just happened?"Everything went well in the end, didn’t it?" I say trying to catch up to his long strides down the hall. "It did." Relief barely had time to settle before he added, "I expected better." “Better?"Draven didn't slow his pace. His hands were clasped behind his back as he strode through the corridor, every servant we passed lowering their heads before he even reached them. "You allowed the council to dictate the pace of the meeting."My brows shot up. "They were firing questions at me from every d
MALIA'S POV“excuse my boldness, but which question should I answer first?” I choked out, my voice almost foreign to my ears.The questions were to many… The eyes pinned on my every move. I didn’t know my fingers had tightened in my lap, until I felt a larger hand settle over them.My gaze fell on them, my hands were trembling, despite my efforts to keep them still. Shit, the room was affecting me more than I’d like to admit. And he must’ve noticed because he finally spoke. “If there isn’t any point you aim to get with the random questions. I say get sraight to the point carol.” His tone was calm, and not once did he look my way."your majesty, we have a duty that extends beyond any one individual." She turned toward Draven. "The Crown does not belong to one King. It belongs to the kingdom."A murmur of agreement followed."For over eight centuries," another elder continued, "the throne has been protected by the strongest bloodlines among our people.""Every King. Every Queen. Every
MALIA'S POV My feet stopped before my mind could. The chamber stretched far wider than I'd imagined. Sunlight poured through towering arched windows, spilling across polished stone floors and a massive crescent-shaped council table that dominated the room. The Nearly fifty men and women occupying its seats were each dressed in ceremonial robes embroidered with silver thread. Some looked elderly enough to have witnessed generations of rulers. Others appeared younger, their sharp eyes no less intimidating. At the center sat Mikyal. His hands rested loosely on the carved arms of his chair, his expression impossible to read. He wasn't smiling or frowning. He was simply... watching me. Draven. And everyone. My pulse quickened. Then I noticed Two chairs Placed alone before the council Facing every member. Facing every pair of eyes. My stomach lurched. Those chairs hadn't been dragged there moments ago. This wasn't the brief introduction Mikyal had mentioned down
MALIA’S POVMy heart skipped.The older man’s smile widened as we approached, though the moment his eyes settled fully on me, it faltered for the briefest second.“….you weren’t lying?” He sounded genuinely stunned.“I don’t make a habit of lying to you, Father,” Draven replied, a trace of impatience creeping into his otherwise calm tone.Father.The word landed a second too late.This…This was Mikyal Thornefield. The former Alpha of thornhold territories.The man whose name alone was enough to make powerful Alphas lower their voices. Stories about him had spread across every pack I’d ever visited. Some called him the greatest ruler the werewolf world had ever known. Others simply called him merciless. How had I forgotten whose house I was walking into?My pulse lurched.Draven’s hand settled more firmly against the small of my back, pulling me half a step closer. To anyone watching, it looked natural. Protective, even, but to me, it felt like a warning.“Well,” Mikyal said, recoveri
MALIA’S POV Draven’s hand didn’t leave the small of my back until we reached the car. The pressure wasn’t rough, but it wasn’t gentle either. It was firm enough to steer me forward without a word, as though he’d already decided where I belonged and expected my feet to follow. Somehow, in the middle of everything that had happened, I’d forgotten about my ankle. The sharp ache that had followed me since the fall had disappeared beneath the overwhelming relief of walking away from Silver Claw. I was free. Or at least… I wanted to believe I was. A guard opened the rear door before we reached it. Draven waited just long enough for me to climb inside before following after me. The door shut with a muted thud, sealing us inside the quiet car. The engine came to life. No one spoke. Outside, Silver Claw slowly disappeared behind us. The towering gates grew smaller with every passing second until they vanished beyond the winding road. I should have felt happy. Instead, a
EMIL’S POV My attention remained fixed on the stone table as Councilman Jerry calmly explained the finer details of the agreement. Trade routes. Tariffs. Royal protection. Benefits capable of elevating Silver Claw far beyond its current standing. Every Alpha on the continent wanted access to the King's trade network. Very few ever received it. Across the courtyard, Ajax excused himself before leading Malia back into the pack house to collect her belongings. My jaw tightened. I hated that. Hated watching another man walk beside her as though he belonged there. Every instinct I possessed urged me to stop them. To tell Malia she wasn't leaving. To remind everyone she was still my chosen mate. But instincts didn't build strong packs. Reason did. If I challenged the Alpha King now, I already knew how it would end. Silver Claw would lose. My pack would lose. And if I intended to get Malia back... Then I needed patience. Jerry continued explaining the agre
MALIA’S POV “Drop the gun, Malia.” His voice came out low and sharp enough to slice through the cabin. But I only tightened my grip around the silver gun, flicking the safety off with trembling fingers. My chest rose unevenly as another wave of dizziness hit me, though I refused to let him see
MALIA’S POV “You’ll die the moment you cross the border.” The words echoed inside my head long after I left Flora standing in the forest. Die. No. I tightened my grip around the strap of my bag and forced my legs to keep moving through the trees. Flora had to be wrong. She spent too
MALIA’S POV He was still kissing her. His hand rested against her ass while she let out a soft little moan into his mouth, like this was something they had done a hundred times before. The room suddenly felt too large, the voices too distant, the air too thick to breathe properly. For a secon
MALIA’S POVWithout another word, he rolled off the bed and stood.“Tell them we’ll be down shortly.”“Yes, Alpha.”The omega rushed out, the door clicking shut behind her.Silence dropped back into the room like a weight.I reached for my phone on the nightstand, frowning when I saw the time. Some







