COUNCIL FIRE

CHAPTER 32

"The Alpha's personal feelings," Elder Wren declared, her voice carrying to every corner of the chamber, "cannot be allowed to compromise Blackthorn's security. Whatever is happening between you and the surrogate needs to end."

Roman didn't raise his voice.

"I was presenting a security report."

"You were presenting excuses."

"I was presenting evidence. An unidentified wolf crossed our northern boundary and withdrew before our patrol reached him. My trackers are following the trail."

"Following it where?"

"Northeast, beyond the creek."

"And you have no name."

"Not yet."

"No pack. No motive. No explanation." Wren turned toward the council. "Yet we have a woman living under the Alpha's roof whose position was never fully explained to this body, and an intruder who appeared just as her situation became the subject of gossip among neighboring packs."

A murmur traveled down the long table.

"That's speculation," Roman said.

"Is it?"

"Do you have evidence connecting Mira to the intruder?"

"I have a pattern."

"You have a series of events. You haven't established a connection between them."

Wren's gaze remained steady.

"Then answer a simple question, Alpha. Can you separate your feelings for this woman from your decisions about Blackthorn's security?"

"Yes."

"Can you?"

"I just answered you."

"Then why does every report presented to this chamber bend around her?"

Someone shifted in their chair. Another council member studied the papers before him.

I sat at the far end of the table, my hands folded in my lap, listening to a room full of people discuss me as though I weren't present.

I'd had enough.

"Elder Wren."

Every head turned.

"You've said my name several times without once addressing me directly," I said. "So let me ask you something. What evidence do you have that I've compromised Blackthorn's security?"

Wren's eyes narrowed.

"I never accused you of doing so."

"You implied it."

"I said the timing was concerning."

"Then explain what's concerning. Did I invite the intruder? Did I leak information? Did I open a gate?"

"No one has accused you of those things."

"Then why am I the subject of this meeting?"

"Because leadership means anticipating danger, Miss Vale. Not waiting for disaster to arrive with a signed confession."

"That sounds reasonable," I replied. "But anticipating danger isn't the same as proving someone caused it."

For the first time, Wren paused.

I continued before she could answer.

"If your trackers find evidence connecting me to the intruder, bring it before the council. I'll answer every question. But until then, you're asking everyone here to treat me as a liability because of circumstances I didn't create."

"Mira," Roman murmured.

I glanced at him.

"I've got this."

"I know. I only"

"Let me."

He stopped.

Wren leaned back in her chair.

"The surrogate arrangement is unusual. Your status remains unclear. The Alpha's attachment to you is obvious. Those are three concerns converging on one person."

"Three circumstances," I corrected. "You've chosen to call them risks."

"Is the distinction important?"

"It is to me."

"Of course it is. You're the one at the center of them."

"Does that make me guilty of something?"

"It makes you a potential liability."

The word landed heavily.

I felt Roman go rigid beside me.

"That's enough," he said.

Wren turned toward him.

"Is it? Then answer this, Alpha. If another wolf crosses that boundary tonight, will you be thinking about Blackthorn or about her?"

"I'm thinking about both right now."

"That isn't an answer."

"It's the only honest one."

Wren rose slightly, placing both hands on the table.

"Honesty. Is she worth what she's costing you?"

"Careful."

"Is she worth a divided council? A breached territory? A pack that is beginning to wonder who its Alpha answers to?"

Roman's expression hardened.

"Elder Wren, you will not question her worth in this chamber again."

"Or what?"

His voice dropped.

"Or you'll discover that being an elder doesn't place you beyond the consequences of deliberately provoking your Alpha."

The room fell silent.

I saw two council members lean back.

Wren's mouth curved into a small, satisfied smile.

And suddenly I understood.

She wanted Roman angry. She wanted him to look like a man whose judgment disappeared whenever someone challenged the woman he cared about.

"Roman," I whispered.

"She"

"Look at their faces."

He glanced down the table.

Several council members were watching him with visible unease.

"That's what she wants," I continued. "Don't give her a reason to claim you're proving her point."

His jaw worked.

For one terrible second, I thought he'd ignore me.

Then he exhaled slowly, and the tension in his shoulders eased.

"You're right," he murmured.

"Win," I whispered back.

He looked at me.

"That's the plan."

At the far end of the table, Corvin remained motionless, his fingers steepled before him. His eyes moved from Roman to Wren, then across the council members as though he were calculating something.

I couldn't tell what.

Wren straightened.

"Since the Alpha has made his position clear, I'll make mine. I propose that Miss Vale be temporarily relocated to the secure facility on the western ridge."

Roman's answer came immediately.

"No."

"It is not your decision alone, Alpha. This is a matter of pack security."

"What kind of facility?" I asked.

"A secure residence. Guarded and properly maintained."

"Guarded by whom?"

"Council-appointed wardens."

"Who decides when I leave?"

"The wardens would manage access."

"Who decides who visits me?"

"The council would oversee visitation."

"And Roman?"

Wren hesitated.

"He would be informed of your condition and general wellbeing."

"Informed," I repeated. "Not permitted to visit without approval."

"Visitation would be determined according to security needs."

"So I'd be protected from the Alpha's influence."

"From the distraction his attachment creates."

"That isn't protection," I said. "That's a cell with better furniture."

A few council members shifted uncomfortably.

Wren's expression remained composed.

"It's a precaution."

"Against what?" I asked. "You haven't established that I'm responsible for the intrusion. You haven't established that moving me would prevent another one."

"The risk is not limited to your actions, Miss Vale. You may be a target."

"Then investigate the person targeting me. Don't punish me for being the target."

"That's a convenient argument."

"It's also a reasonable one."

Roman leaned forward.

"The threat is outside our walls. Put the wardens on the northern boundary. Secure the ridge. Follow the scout's trail and investigate whoever may have sent him. But don't remove someone from her home when you have no evidence that doing so would improve our security."

Wren's gaze sharpened.

"You're certain she isn't a risk?"

"I have no evidence that she is."

"Based on what?"

"Based on the facts we have."

"Your personal trust is not evidence."

"Neither is your suspicion."

A quiet murmur of agreement moved through part of the room.

Wren pressed her lips together.

"Very well. The council will vote."

Roman sat back.

"Proceed."

Wren stood.

"All in favor of temporarily relocating Mira Vale to the western ridge facility?"

Hands rose around the table.

I counted them.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Five members supported the motion, including Wren.

My stomach tightened.

"All opposed?"

Roman's hand rose immediately.

Four others followed.

Five against.

The room went still.

"Five to five," Corvin observed.

"Then the motion fails," Roman said.

"For now," Wren replied.

Her composure was almost more unsettling than anger would have been.

"Five members of this council believe relocation is necessary, Alpha. You should consider what that means."

"It means five members voted for a proposal unsupported by sufficient evidence."

"It means half this council believes your personal attachment may be clouding your judgment."

"And the other half disagrees."

"Today."

The word hung in the air.

Wren gathered her papers.

"Next time, the result may be different."

The meeting broke apart in uneasy conversation.

Roman remained seated, staring at the table.

"That was close," he said.

"Closer than you expected?"

"Much closer."

"You thought you had their support?"

"I thought the evidence would matter more than it did."

I pulled out the chair beside him and sat.

"Perhaps the evidence isn't what they're voting on."

He looked at me.

"What do you mean?"

"They're voting on whether they trust you to make decisions when I'm involved."

His expression tightened.

"That shouldn't be a question."

"But it is."

He rubbed his face.

"I'll speak to them individually."

"Carefully."

"I know."

He looked at me again.

"You handled yourself well in there."

"I was terrified."

"It didn't show."

"It will later."

A faint smile crossed his face.

Then someone called to him from the doorway.

"I'll be a minute," he said. He stopped, reconsidered, and added, "Please wait here while I speak to them."

"Better."

He left.

The chamber gradually emptied, leaving me alone among the long table and abandoned papers.

"Miss Vale."

I turned.

Elder Wren stood a few feet away.

She had waited until the last council member disappeared through the doors.

Her expression had changed. The cold political calculation was still there, but something more difficult to identify had replaced the satisfaction I'd seen during the meeting.

"You argued well," she said.

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I assumed as much."

She studied me.

"I don't dislike you."

"That's difficult to believe."

"I imagine it is."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then she glanced toward the doorway Roman had used.

"May I tell you something?"

"Would it matter if I said no?"

"Probably not."

She stepped closer, lowering her voice.

"He has already lost someone he loved. He carries that loss more deeply than he allows anyone to see."

My chest tightened.

"Lyra."

Wren nodded.

"Whatever you believe is happening between you and Roman, don't assume that his feelings will make him invulnerable. He has spent years blaming himself for what he couldn't protect."

I stared at her.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you should understand what you're asking him to risk."

"I'm not asking him to risk anything."

"Not deliberately, perhaps."

Her words stung.

"Are you warning me about him, or threatening me?"

For the first time, something resembling genuine surprise crossed her face.

"Neither."

"Then what do you want?"

She studied me for another moment.

"I want Blackthorn to survive what is coming. I want an Alpha who can make decisions without allowing fear to rule him. And I want people to stop confusing personal affection with proof that a situation is safe."

"Then help us find the wolf."

"I intend to."

"Instead of trying to remove me."

"Those things aren't mutually exclusive."

"They should be when you have no evidence against me."

A faint, tired expression crossed her face.

"You think evidence is always available before danger arrives."

"No. I think the absence of evidence doesn't give you the right to take away someone's freedom."

Wren held my gaze.

For a moment, I thought she might argue.

Instead, she smoothed her sleeve.

"Be careful, Miss Vale."

"Of what?"

"Of believing that being chosen makes you safe."

The words settled between us.

Before I could ask what she meant, she turned and walked away.

I remained in the empty chamber, one hand resting against my stomach.

Was that a warning?

A threat?

A genuine attempt to protect me from a future she believed I couldn't see?

I had no idea.

And that uncertainty frightened me more than a direct accusation would have.

Because if Elder Wren truly believed Roman was in danger of losing himself again, then perhaps she knew something about his past that I didn't.

And if she was using that knowledge to frighten me away from him, I needed to discover why.

I rose and headed toward the door.

The council had voted against relocating me.

But five members had wanted me removed.

And I couldn't stop wondering what would happen the next time Elder Wren asked them to choose between my freedom and their fear.