LOGINMabella's POVYou gave him an escape route,” Renner said as soon as he walked beside me in the hallway outside the council chamber. His voice was low, measured.“I did,” I answered.“Why?” he asked, not letting up. “After everything. The voicemail. The letters. Cael. All of it.” He paused. “You could have left the provision and watched fourteen packs come down on him. He’d have lost everything.”“I know,” I said.“So, why?”I kept walking.“If I ruin him, the Veron pack falls with him,” I said. “There are three thousand people there—none of them had any say in what Kiran Voss did.” I glanced at Renner as we kept moving. “The mandate protects territory. That means all of it, even the parts that were turned against me.”Renner went quiet.“That’s either very wise, or very soft,” he said, watching me.“Neither,” I told him. “It’s practical. Having a destabilized Veron pack at our border is a bigger headache in the long run than a defeated rival under a cooperation agreement.”Renner stud
Mabella's POVHe stopped just two feet from me.Up close, he looked even more exhausted than I’d noticed across the hall. All the composure he kept up started to look thin, like he was running on nerves and adrenaline and had finally noticed the floor was missing under him. His eyes stayed sharp, but the lines on his face were deep, and his jaw was clenched like a man who’s been tense long enough to forget there’s any other way to be.The whole hall was weirdly quiet.Nobody left during the break. Everyone watched."Luna Mabella," he said. His voice barely carried."Claimant," I answered.He studied me for a second."You know my name," he said, cautiously."Kiran," I replied. "Kiran Voss. Thirty-eight. Second son of the Veron Alpha’s senior adviser. You built your own faction in your pack for twelve years before you started working the outside. I know a lot more than your name."Something flickered across his face."You’re thorough," he said."Yeah," I answered. Simple as that.He gla
Mabella's POVI stood up.The whole hall went dead quiet."Thank you," I said to the council chair. I looked around the table slowly, letting my eyes meet every single Alpha. "I’ll keep this short."The claimant’s hands stayed still on the table in front of him."He filed a petition three days ago using old Ashborne succession law," I told them. "Then he withdrew it the same night. He pulled it back because the mandate was activated and he understood what that really meant. But he’s still sitting here. So the petition was never the real goal."Murmurs started spreading around the table."The real goal was this room," I continued. "He wanted all fourteen of you together so you could look at the Ashborne heir before I had any time to stand properly. He wanted to make me a question before I could become an answer."The murmurs died down fast. The hall became completely silent."I am not a question," I said simply. "I am the last Ashborne heir. Luna of the Crest pack. I’m carrying the fir
Alfredo's POVShe was still asleep when I woke.Grey light slipped through the small gap in the curtains. Early morning. The council grounds outside stayed completely quiet.I lay still and watched her.She slept on her side facing me. One hand tucked under her cheek. The other hand rested flat on her small round belly. Her hair spread loose across the pillow. Soft grey light touched her fuller breasts and the gentle curve where our pup grew.Six weeks ago she was Mabella Argent with cake on her face in our kitchen.Now she was this. The last Ashborne heir. My Luna. The woman carrying my pup with Wolflina strong and awake inside her. The one who would walk into a hall of fourteen Alphas without fear.Mine.That word hit me deep every single time.She opened her eyes.Looked straight at me. Fully awake in one second."You have been awake long," she said."One hour," I told her."Thinking too loud," she said."Yes."She studied my face."Tell me," she pressed."I was thinking about our
Mabella's POVThe door closed.All noise from the hall disappeared. The thick stone walls swallowed everything. The guest room stayed warm and quiet with soft lamplight. Just us.Alfredo turned the latch and locked the door.I let out a long slow breath. The dinner weight left my shoulders. No more careful talk. No more eyes watching me. No more politics pushing under every word."Come here," he said quietly from behind me.I turned.He leaned against the door. Jacket already off. Sleeves rolled up. He looked at me with that warm sure face he only showed when nobody else was around.I walked straight to him.He took my face in both hands. His thumbs moved slowly along my jaw. His eyes looked over every part of my face."Hi," I said softly."Hi," he said back."Long dinner.""Very long dinner.""The claimant raised his glass at me.""I saw." His thumbs kept stroking. "Tomorrow. Not tonight."I looked at him."Tonight is just this," he told me."Just this," I agreed.He reached behind m
Mabella's POV“There he is.”Fred said it quietly next to me as we rode through the council gates, and honestly, I’d already clocked the Veron claimant before Fred even bothered. He stood smack in the middle of the courtyard with his advisors, deep in some hushed conversation. As we rolled in, he looked up, the way someone does when they know their day has finally arrived.He was younger than I had pictured. Thirty-five, maybe forty. Built like a man who tries to make himself bigger than he really is—broad shoulders, stance so deliberate it’s almost theatrical. Presence wasn’t natural; it was crafted. Sharpened eyes, careful mouth. When those eyes landed on me, they stayed.I stared right back. Not away, not through him—just met his gaze direct, steady. He was the one who looked off first, not with any drama, just a quick check-in with one of his advisors. I tucked that away for later and kept riding.“He’s rattled,” Alfredo muttered.“He’s calculating,” I replied, not missing a beat.







