CHAPTER 6 – The Moonlight Promise

(Afnan’s POV)

The mansion feels different in daylight.

Less like a home, more like a trap disguised in gold.

Sunlight crawls through the tall windows, turning the dust in the air into glitter. The guards at my door pretend not to stare, but I can feel their attention like claws scraping my skin.

Delph hasn’t come back since dawn. I can still smell him, though pine and rain and the ache of everything unsaid.

Part of me hopes he stays away; another part listens for his footsteps.

The twins nap on the rug near the hearth. They sleep easily, unaware of the storm outside these walls. I envy them for it.

A soft knock makes me stiff. When I open the door, a small, gray-furred wolf pup messenger rank bows low and shifts back into human form. He can’t meet my eyes.

“The elders request your presence this evening,” he says. “For questioning.”

My stomach drops. “Without the Alpha’s order?”

He hesitates. “They said the Alpha already agreed.”

He’s lying; I can hear it in the tremor of his voice.

Delph wouldn’t hand me over so soon, not after the way he’d looked at the twins.

So the Council is moving faster than I thought.

“Tell them I’ll come,” I say quietly, and close the door before he can see the fear in my face.

By dusk the corridors are alive with whispers.

Even the portraits on the walls seem to watch me as I walk.

The Council chamber is dimly lit, the torches burning blue instead of gold, a sign that whatever happens here won’t be recorded.

Six elders wait behind a semicircle of carved stone. Serena stands near them, wrapped in a gown of silver lace that shimmers like a snare.

“Afnan,” Elder Varr greets, voice dripping with false warmth. “So good of you to join us.”

I keep my chin high. “The guards said the Alpha requested it.”

Varr’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “He… delegated the matter.”

Lie. A big one. But I say nothing.

Serena moves closer, a predator disguised as a hostess. “You’ve caused quite a stir, my dear. The pack is confused. You appear after two years with children, surely you understand the questions that arise.”

“I understand,” I say evenly, “that the Council has no right to demand answers from an omega under protection.”

Varr chuckles. “You are bold. But protection from whom, exactly? Us? The rogues? Or the Alpha you deserted?”

My wolf bristles under my skin. “I left after I was rejected. That’s not desertion, it's survival.”

The room hums with disapproval. Serena’s eyes gleam.

“There are whispers, Afnan,” she says softly. “Whispers that you’ve consorted with enemies of the pack. That your children may not be… pure.”

The words hit like claws.

I take a slow breath. “Those are dangerous lies, Luna.”

“Then prove them false,” she purrs. “Allow a Blood Oath Test. End the rumors.”

The elders nod, murmuring agreement.

They think they have me cornered.

I glance around the chamber, searching for weakness, for cracks. That’s when I see Ruhn, the youngest elder, avoiding my gaze. His scent carries fear. Not of me, but of something larger.

“Why so eager for a test?” I ask. “What do you gain from the truth?”

Varr’s smile falters. Serena’s expression tightens.

“Enough,” she snaps. “You’re in no position to question this Council.”

“I think I am,” I say, stepping forward. “Because you’re not after the truth. You’re after control. You want Delph distracted, doubting, while you strip him of power.”

The silence that follows is electric. Even Ruhn looks at me now, startled that I said what everyone already suspects.

Serena recovers first. “Careful, omega. Accusing the Council of treason is punishable”

“By whom?” I interrupt. “You? Or the Alpha you serve only when it suits you?”

Her eyes darken, but before she can answer, footsteps thunder down the hall.

The doors swing open, and Delph fills the doorway, fury rolling off him in waves.

“What is this?” His voice shakes the chamber.

Varr rises smoothly. “An informal inquiry, Alpha. We meant no disrespect”

“Lies,” I whisper before I can stop myself.

Delph’s gaze snaps to me, then to Serena. “You went around me.”

Serena places a delicate hand on his arm. “We only wanted to protect the pack”

He shakes her off like she burns. “I told you she was under my protection.”

Varr tries again. “Alpha, surely you see”

“I see a Council that forgets its place.”

The torches flare, responding to the power in his voice. The elders step back.

For the first time, I watch the Council bend under him, not because of fear, but because his authority finally feels real.

Delph turns to me. “You’re leaving. Now.”

I hesitate, half expecting another command I’ll have to fight. But his eyes, gray, storm-bright, hold something different this time.

A promise.

I nod, gather my cloak, and follow him out.

Behind us, the Council’s whispers rise again, sharp and cold.

Back in the corridor, he walks beside me in silence until we reach the end of the hall. The moonlight pours through the glass ceiling, washing his face in silver.

“They’ll come again,” I say quietly. “They won’t stop until they get what they want.”

His jaw tightens. “Then we won’t give it to them.”

“We?”

He glances down at me, a rare, small smile ghosting across his lips. “For now.”

For the first time since I crossed the border, I almost believed him.

But as I look up at the moon through the glass, I make a promise of my own silent, fierce, and dangerous.

They won’t take my children. Not the Council. Not Serena. Not even him.