Chapter seventeen:A pack divided

The arena fell silent as Brian and Alex stood beneath the moonlight, glowing strands of bond-energy still weaving around them like living fire. The council, assembled in their high stone seats, watched in stunned silence. No one spoke.

Until Silva did.

“This… this is manipulation,” she spat, stepping forward. “A trick of pheromones and timing. I will not bow to a bond built on broken rules and scandal!”

Elder Donovan stood slowly, his expression unreadable. “You saw the glow. The bond is real.”

Silva’s eyes narrowed. “So what? It doesn’t change the law.”

Daniel stepped forward from the crowd, his voice cutting through the cold air. “Then maybe it’s the law that needs to change.”

Gasps rippled among the wolves.

Rachel joined him, her face calm but resolute. “This bond—Brian and Alex—it’s not the first time the Goddess has chosen an unexpected path. The pack has forgotten that the bond is sacred, not selective.”

“You’re biased,” Silva growled. “That’s your son and your mate’s son. You can’t be trusted.”

“Then trust the bond,” Rachel replied. “Or have we fallen so far that even divine will is dismissed?”

Brian took Alex’s hand and stepped forward to face the council.

“We didn’t ask for this,” Brian said. “We didn’t plan it. We hated each other because we were afraid. Because we were raised to believe this kind of love was wrong. But we couldn’t escape it. The bond won’t let us.”

Alex lifted his chin. “You can exile us. You can ignore us. But you’ll never undo what the Moon Goddess has already written in our blood.”

Elder Donovan turned to the crowd of wolves surrounding the arena, scanning the faces—some torn, some uncertain, others clearly angry.

Then he spoke.

“This pack has thrived for generations because of unity. But that unity has come at a cost—silencing those who were different, casting out those who didn’t conform. The world outside our territory is changing. Other packs have adapted. And perhaps… it is time we do, too.”

He turned back to the council members.

“I vote in favor of accepting the bond.”

Two elders nodded in agreement.

But Silva’s voice rang out. “And I vote against it. This will tear the pack in two.”

Donovan looked to the remaining elder—a frail Beta named Elder Mae, known for rarely speaking.

Mae raised her head. “I’ve lived through four alpha transitions, three wars, and countless bondings. I’ve seen ambition destroy more than love ever has. And what I saw tonight… was not rebellion. It was fate.”

She looked directly at Brian and Alex.

“I vote for the bond.”

The vote was passed—3 to 1.

But the damage was done.

Half of the pack erupted into applause. The other half turned away in disgust, growling low, their eyes filled with fury.

Silva stormed out of the arena.

The pack was no longer whole.

Later that night, while the council argued about logistics, territory, and new laws, Alex and Brian sat in their cabin, holding each other in the firelight.

“We did it,” Alex whispered.

Brian nodded. “Yeah. But at what cost?”

Outside, howls echoed—some celebratory, others mournful.

The pack was no longer united.

And a storm was coming.