Chapter 6

Rowan spoke with quiet conviction.

Every word was strong. Every word was certain.

I looked at him standing there and felt his determination to protect me.

His tall, powerful back was straight as a fortress wall, holding danger at bay.

I knew then that I had not chosen wrong when I entrusted my life to him.

He had no great house behind him, but he stood firmer than anyone.

He always treated me with careful courtesy, yet I had never realized he had also made me someone he would protect.

The sheer force coming off him left Garrick collapsed on the ground.

Garrick pointed a shaking finger at Rowan, struggling to get the words out.

"How dare you. That's Damian we're talking about..."

"Get out."

Rowan's voice was calm.

Garrick said nothing more. Terrified of provoking Rowan again, he scrambled out of the courtyard in humiliation.

The courtyard went quiet again.

"If Damian comes, just hand me over—" Before I could finish, Rowan patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you. Leave this to me."

His eyes were still clear, as though nothing in the world could shake him.

"Rowan... how are you going to handle this?" I caught his sleeve. "His pack is so much bigger than ours. If he uses force, we'll..."

I did not finish. Rowan led me into the study.

He brought out an ancient-looking wolf statuette carved in black and red and polished it gently, as though it were his most precious possession.

Rowan looked at me with his clear eyes. "Every pack Alpha has one of these. It lets us send messages to the Alpha King, who can settle disputes through the Pack Alliance Council."

"But would the Alpha King really intervene in a matter like this?" I asked, worried.

Rowan went on. "The Alpha King has expressly forbidden war between packs without cause. Damian's pack is strong, but if he attacks us without a reason he'll answer to the Alpha King for it.

"What happened today was Damian testing us. It was theater for every other pack to see.

"If you had gone back with him and been locked inside his territory, our bond wouldn't have stopped him from controlling you."

He paused, then continued.

"If you refuse to visit him, that gives him the excuse he needs." Rowan smiled bitterly. "He'll say he was mortally wounded and that his one wish was to see you, but you were too cold to come. His pack will work itself into a rage. Then he'll show up at our door, ill and injured, demanding an explanation. Who will say he's in the wrong?"

My hands closed into fists.

Damian. Well played.

Two birds with one stone.

The more I thought about it, the more defeated I felt. I had never expected Damian to be this vicious. I had endured him for five years, believing that finding a mate would free me, only to learn that he had never considered letting me go.

It was not that he couldn't bear to lose me. It was that he couldn't bear to lose a puppet he controlled completely.

Whether I went back or not, he had counted on Rowan's pack being small, and on his own strength being so great that no pack would dare speak up for us.

"So we just accept it?" My voice shook a little.

"No. We still have a chance."

Rowan looked at me with a smile.

"He thinks he controls everything. He thinks we're toys in his palm.

"But he's overlooked one thing: even the weakest pack has a lifeline granted by the Alpha King."

When he finished, he spread out a map and marked it with many small red circles and one large one.

"All these small circles are packs the Blackwood Pack has trampled. The big one is Damian's territory." The small circles ringed the large one on every side.

Rowan picked up the wolf carving again and said slowly, "All I have to do is bring these packs together to petition the Alpha King for a council, and then bring our charges before him there."

My eyes brightened. I had never expected the usually unassuming Rowan to have thought everything through so clearly.

The hope that had gone out in me caught fire again.

"We can charge him with seizing other packs' land without cause, with slaughtering their people... and with trying to force a married woman to be his so-called Luna."

Rowan's tone remained calm.

"But do we have proof?" I asked, worried.

"Whenever the Blackwood Pack overran another pack, some people escaped. The list of crimes they've committed is endless, and those survivors are living witnesses. All we have to do is go first, and they'll follow."

His voice stayed level.

"Right now, the council and the Alpha King are our only hope."

Without another word, Rowan placed the wolf statuette in my palm. It was cold, yet somehow it warmed me.

I gripped it hard, like a drowning person grabbing the last piece of driftwood.

Just then, a clamor of footsteps and barking dogs erupted outside the courtyard. A guard came running in, white-faced.

"Alpha! Luna! We have trouble!

"The Alliance enforcers are here!"

"They say... they say you assaulted the Blackwood Beta without cause and broke the peace between packs. They're taking you in for questioning!" The shouting carried in from beyond the wall.

The wolf statuette slipped from my hand and clattered against the floor.