Chapter 18: The Council

The Council Hall was an ancient circular chamber built of stone and judgment. Twelve seats sat around a massive obsidian table. At the head of the table sat the High Elder, and to his right, sat my father and Liam.

They were discussing border patrols, looking bored and self-important.

When the heavy iron doors groaned open, the conversation died instantly.

Killian walked in first. He wasn't wearing a suit today. He was wearing full ceremonial Alpha regalia—a black military-style coat with silver embroidery that traced the history of the Royal line. He looked lethal. He looked like a King.

And holding his arm was me.

I wore white. A structured, elegant white dress that hugged my small baby bump just enough to be noticeable, paired with a gold blazer. I didn't look like a mistress. I looked like a matriarch.

"Killian," the High Elder sputtered, standing up. "You... you have no business here. You are an exile."

"I was invited," Killian said smoothly, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "By the silence of my enemies."

He walked straight to the head of the table—where the High Elder was standing.

Killian didn't say a word. He just stood there, staring at the old man with cold, blue eyes. The threat was palpable. Move, or be moved.

The High Elder swallowed hard, his face pale, and scrambled to the side.

Killian sat down at the head of the table. He pulled the chair next to him out for me.

"Sit, my Queen," he said loud enough for everyone to hear.

I sat. Directly across from my father and Liam.

Liam looked like he had seen a ghost. His eyes dropped to my stomach, then back to my face, filled with a mixture of longing and fear. My father just looked furious.

"This is an outrage!" my father slammed his hand on the table. "Elena, get out! You are a disgrace to this family. Sleeping with the enemy and parading your bastard around!"

"Careful, Alpha Vance," I said, my voice steady. "You might choke on your words. Like you choked on those lemon tarts."

My father froze. He knew I knew.

"What is the meaning of this?" Chloe, who was sitting behind Liam in the gallery, shrieked. "Kick them out!"

"Silence!" Killian roared. The power of his voice shook the dust from the rafters.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a thick document. It wasn't the burnt copy Chloe destroyed. It was the original, certified by Vance.

He slid it across the obsidian table. It spun perfectly, stopping right in front of the High Elder.

"Read it," Killian commanded.

The High Elder picked up the paper with trembling hands. He adjusted his glasses. As he read, his eyes grew wider and wider. His mouth fell open.

"This... this is impossible," the Elder whispered.

"Read it aloud!" Killian ordered.

The Elder stood up, looking at the entire council.

"DNA analysis confirms... the unborn subjects carried by Elena Vance are of the direct paternal line of Killian Blackwood."

He paused, taking a shaky breath.

"Genetic Markers confirm... Royal Lycan Strain. Double Dominant."

A gasp tore through the room. Chairs scraped against the floor as Council members stood up in shock.

"Royal?" someone whispered. "But the line was supposed to end..."

"It didn't end," Killian said, leaning back in his chair, his hand resting protectively on my knee. "It multiplied. She carries two."

"Twins?" The High Elder looked at me with new eyes. Not with disgust, but with reverence. "She carries the Heirs? The future Kings?"

"Yes," Killian said. "And according to the Old Laws, Book 4, Section 1... what is the penalty for harming a Royal Vessel?"

The High Elder looked at my father, then at Chloe.

"Death," the Elder said solemnly. "Immediate execution."

My father slumped in his chair, his face grey. Chloe let out a whimper of terror.

"I won't demand their heads today," Killian said, showing a terrifying amount of mercy. "But I will demand their allegiance."

He stood up.

"From this day forward, Elena is under the protection of the Council. If she trips, you catch her. If she is hungry, you feed her. If she bleeds... you bleed."

Killian looked around the room, his Alpha aura exploding outward, forcing every wolf in the room to lower their heads.

"Do you acknowledge the Heirs?"

The High Elder was the first to move. He walked around the table, stopped in front of me, and slowly, painfully, got down on one knee.

"I acknowledge the Royal Blood," he said, bowing his head.

One by one, the other Council members followed.

Even Liam.

I watched as my ex-boyfriend, the boy who broke my heart, slowly stood up, walked around the table, and knelt at my feet. He wouldn't look me in the eye. He looked defeated. Broken.

"I acknowledge," Liam whispered, his voice cracking.

Only my father and Chloe remained seated/standing, frozen in their humiliated defiance.

Killian smirked. He took my hand and kissed it.

"We're done here," he said.

As we walked out of the hall, leaving a room full of kneeling wolves behind us, I touched the Moonstone necklace.

I wasn't the rejected girl anymore. I was the Mother of Kings.

And my father? He was just a man who had bet on the wrong horse.