CHAPTER 81

JARRETT'S POV

The ice melted by sundown, not all of it though. The lake would still hold for another few weeks.

But the red circle at center ice was gone, washed away by torchlight and ten thousand footsteps. By the time we came down the ridge, it looked like any other frozen lake again.

Now we were in the shrine.

It wasn’t built for meetings, it was built for warnings. It had stone pillars, old claw marks scored deep into the rock, a hearth that hadn’t been lit in 26 years. The air smelled like snow and iron and old treaties nobody wanted to remember.

Helena sat on a bench carved from the ridge itself, in front of the hearth with just her training leathers and the faint gold under her skin that came and went like breathing.

Around her, in a circle, sat twelve wolves.

One from each pack that had been elected. That was the rule she’d given them at dawn, and they’d obeyed it.

Frostfang sent Mara, a scout with frost in her braids and a bow across her back.

Blackriver sent Dren, who’d lost a brother to Lucian’s cells and still had the scars to prove it.

Ashen Peak sent an old omega named Silas who’d kept their records for 40 years and could recite every treaty by heart.

Even the rogues sent someone. A girl, maybe 17, with a scar across her throat and no pack name. She didn’t sit. She leaned against a pillar like she was ready to run.

They all looked at Helena. Then at me. Standing two steps behind her right shoulder.

“The Council is dissolved,” Helena said again, like she needed to hear it herself. “This is the First Council of the Packs. No bloodlines. No secrets. No veto.”

Silence ensued then the fire popped.

Then Mara from Frostfang cleared her throat.

“What are we voting on first, Crown-Bearer?”

“Food,” Helena said. “Shelters. The cells in the east wing. Who goes free. Who stands trial.”

Dren snorted. He didn’t bother to hide it. “And him?” He jerked his chin at me.

All eyes turned.

I didn’t flinch. My ribs still ached under the bandages. My hands were barely steady.

Helena answered before I could. “He stands trial. But not for treason. For concealment. For being part of the old plan.” She looked at me. Her eyes weren’t gold. Just steady. “He told the truth on the ice. In front of everyone. That buys him a trial instead of a pyre.”

“Convenient,” Silas muttered. The old omega didn’t look up from his notes. “That the liar is the one standing behind you.”

Helena’s jaw ticked. The gold flickered once under her skin.

“He’s not standing behind me,” she said. “He’s standing with me. And he’s not holding my hand. I’m holding his. There’s a difference.”

That shut them up.

We worked until the torches burned low and the shadows climbed the pillars.

Food stores from every pack, pooled and inventoried. The Obsidian Vault reinforced, with rogues on rotation instead of Council guards. Amnesty for anyone who’d been forced into Lucian’s army. Trials for the ones who’d volunteered.

We argued about borders. About the youth league starting again. About whether the shrine should stay a warning or become a hall.

And the Crown.

“The Crown doesn’t need blood,” Helena said when it came up the third time. “Lucian lied. The old texts lied. It’s not a weapon. It’s a burden. And I’m carrying it. Not you. Not the packs. Me.”

Mara frowned. “Then what happens if it burns you out?”

“Then I’ll deal with it,” Helena said. “But I’m not making anyone else pay for it.”

“Then what do we do about the bond?” Mara asked quietly. “Between you and him.”

I felt every wolf in the room look at me. Twelve sets of eyes. Measuring. Judging.

Helena didn’t answer right away. She looked at the fire. I watched it burn down to embers. Then at me.

“We let it be what it is,” she said. “Not a tool. Not a leash. Not part of the plan. A choice. Mine. Hi.”

Silas wrote it down.

Afterwards, when the others filed out, she didn’t move.

I stayed too.

The shrine was quiet. The wind outside had died. Somewhere far off, a wolf howled like it was calling to us.

“You did good there,” I said. My voice sounded too loud in the stone.

“I did what I had to,” she said. “Same as you on the ice.”

We sat like that for a while. No Crown. No packs. No trial. Just the fire and the cold and the space between us that wasn’t empty anymore.

“Helena,” I said.

She turned.

“About what I said on the ice. That falling for you ruined the plan.”

She nodded, waiting for me to spew the rest.

“It did,” I said. “And I’d ruin it again. A hundred times. A thousand.”

Her eyes went gold for half a second. Not a flare. Just heat. Like the fire reflected in them.

“I know,” she said. “That’s why I picked you to stand behind me. Because you’d choose me even when it cost you everything.”

She stood and stretched. The gold under her jaw faded back under her skin.

“Come on. You need sleep. And bandages. And you’re going to teach me how to play again. Properly. No Crown. No magic.”

“One period?” I asked, falling into step beside her.

“One period,” she said. “No whistle. No crowd. Just us.”

We walked out of the shrine together. The ridge was dark. The lake below was black glass, reflecting the stars.

At the mouth of the tunnel, Kael was waiting. He looked at me, then at Helena, then back at me. His face was carefully blank.

“Did the First Council go okay?” he asked.

Helena glanced at me. A small, tired smile. The first real one I’d seen in weeks.

“It did,” she said. “We’re playing on the same team.”

Kael nodded. “Good. Because the ice is gonna be busy tomorrow. Kids want to skate again. They’ve been asking since the chains came off Lucian.”

Helena stopped. I looked down at the lake.

“Then we’ll let them,” she said. “No treaties. No blood. No stakes. Just a game.”

She started down the path. I followed.

Behind us, the shrine stood empty. The fire inside it had gone out. In front of us, the packs were building fires in circles. Laughing. Arguing. Cooking.

Lucian was in chains in the Obsidian Vault.

The Council was gone.

And for the first time in 26 years, the future wasn’t written in prophecy or in blood.

It was written by us. In what we chose tonight.

As we reached the foot of the ridge, Helena slowed.

“Jarrett,” she said, quiet.

“Yeah?”

“If the trial comes... and they want to sentence you...”

“I know,” I said. “I’ll stand for it.”

She bumped my shoulder with hers just once.

“Not alone,” she said. “We play on the same team. Remember?”