Chapter 10: Council in Chaos

Kael’s POV

The emergency Council session is chaos barely contained.

"You knew about the poisoning," an alpha from Riverside Pack shouts at Marcus. "Three of my pups died and you told me it was our fault!"

"The grain shipments were contaminated with silver," another adds. "You said we stored them improperly. You lied."

Marcus's face is stone. "These accusations are based on unverified. . ."

"The Moonshadow verified them," a beta from Moonbrook interrupts. "And she's offering real solutions. Fair trade. No Council oversight. No more dead pups."

The hall erupts again. Alphas arguing with smaller pack leaders. Council members trying to restore order. It's unprecedented. In all my years attending these summits, I've never seen anything like it.

Nyra did this. In one session, she dismantled decades of carefully built alliances.

And I can't stop thinking about her standing too close in that corridor, admitting she doesn't know if she hates me.

"Order!" Marcus slams his hand on the table. "We will investigate the claims. Until then, no independent agreements will be. . ."

"You don't control us anymore," the Moonbrook representative says quietly. Firmly. "The Moonshadow showed us we have choices."

The word lands heavy. Choice. The same thing Nyra said she wanted.

Mira leans close to me. "This is bad. If the smaller packs break from Council authority. . ."

"I know." I watch another argument break out near the back. "We need information. Real information, not Council propaganda."

"About the poisoning?"

"About her." I keep my voice low. "The Moonshadow. Nyra. Whatever she's calling herself. I need to know where her power comes from. What she's capable of. What she wants."

Mira's expression sharpens. "You want me to investigate her?"

"Can you?"

She's quiet for a moment, assessing. "The rumors say Shadowpine Forest. Forbidden magic. But no one knows specifics."

"Then find specifics." I turn to face her fully. "Track her movements. Her allies. Her network. I need to know what we're dealing with."

"Kael." Mira's voice drops even lower. "Are you sure about this? Investigating her feels like. . ."

"Like what?"

"Like you're looking for a reason to either destroy her or save her. And I'm not sure which one scares you more."

The observation is too accurate. I don't respond.

Marcus finally restores some semblance of order, promising investigations and reviews. The smaller packs don't look convinced, but they settle. For now.

The session adjourns in tense silence.

I move toward the exit, needing air, needing space to think. The corrupted bond still throbs from the corridor encounter, a constant reminder of her proximity.

"Alpha Draven."

I turn. Dorian Cross approaches with that easy, aristocratic grace that always puts me on edge. Everything about him is controlled. Refined. Too perfect to be trustworthy.

"Walk with me," he says pleasantly.

It's not a request.

We move to a private alcove off the main hall. Dorian's pleasant expression doesn't falter, but his eyes are cold and calculating.

"That was quite a performance," he says.

"Which part?"

"The Moonshadow tearing apart everything we've built." He studies me. "You seemed... distracted during the session."

"I was listening."

"Were you?" Dorian's smile sharpens. "Because from where I sat, you looked like a man trying very hard not to think about something specific. Or someone."

My jaw tightens. "Get to the point, Cross."

"The point is she's destabilizing everything." He leans against the wall, casual and dangerous. "The smaller packs are already turning. How long before the ruling packs fracture? Before someone decides the old system isn't worth preserving?"

"We investigate her claims. If they're true. . ."

"They're true." Dorian says it matter-of-factly. "Marcus has been poisoning smaller packs for years. Keeping them weak. Dependent. It's effective if brutal."

The casual admission catches me off guard. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew." His expression doesn't change. "The question isn't whether the Moonshadow is telling the truth. The question is what we do about her."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning she's a problem that will only get worse." Dorian straightens. "She has forbidden power. She's building a network outside Council control. She's turning wolves against their alphas. And she's doing it all with that pretty moral superiority that makes people believe she's the hero."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting we eliminate the problem before it eliminates us." His voice stays smooth. Reasonable. "One omega with stolen magic against five ruling packs? The math is simple."

My wolf snarls inside my head. The bond flares violently at the implicit threat.

"No."

The word comes out harder than intended.

Dorian raises an eyebrow. "No?"

"We don't kill people for telling the truth about Council corruption."

"Even when that truth destroys pack stability? Even when it threatens everything we've built?"

"Yes."

Silence stretches between us. Dorian studies me with that calculating gaze, seeing too much.

"Interesting," he says finally. "The corrupted mate bond. I'd heard rumors but seeing it in action is fascinating. You can't think clearly about her, can you? She could burn down everything you've built and part of you would still protect her."

"That's not. . ."

"It is." He pushes off the wall. "Think about it, Draven. Really think. She's actively destroying your alliances. Turning smaller packs against you. Exposing secrets that destabilize pack structure. And yet when I suggest the obvious solution, you refuse without hesitation."

He's right. The realization sits heavy in my chest.

"She's not the enemy," I say.

"Then who is? Marcus? The Council?" Dorian's smile is sharp. "Or are you starting to realize the real enemy is a system built on lies? Because if that's the case, the Moonshadow isn't destroying anything. She's just revealing what was always broken."

He leaves before I can respond, his words hanging in the air like poison.

I stand there alone, the bond pulsing with awareness of Nyra somewhere in the building. The corridor conversation replays in my mind. Her voice. Her scent. The way she jerked back when I almost touched her.

You lost that right five years ago.

She's right. I did.

But I defended her anyway. Refused Dorian's suggestion without thinking. Chose her safety over pack politics.

Why?

The bond is one answer. Corrupted or not, it ties me to her in ways I can't fully control. My wolf recognizes her as mate, and protecting her is instinct.

But it's more than that.

I've spent five years burying guilt beneath duty, convincing myself the sacrifice was necessary. That leadership means choosing the pack over personal happiness. That I made the right call.

Then she walked into that hall. . .powerful, dangerous, untouchable. . .and every justification I'd built crumbled.

She survived. Not just survived. Became something I never imagined. Something that terrifies me because it proves I was wrong about everything.

She wasn't too weak to stand beside an alpha. I was too weak to stand beside her.

And now she's dismantling the system I chose over her, and I can't bring myself to stop her. Can't even consider Dorian's suggestion without my wolf going feral.

Because deep down, beneath the guilt and the regret and the corrupted bond, there's something worse.

Hope.

The desperate, foolish hope that maybe it's not too late. That maybe if I can prove I've changed, if I can help her tear down the system that destroyed us both, she might. . .

What? Forgive me? Choose me?

I lean against the wall, closing my eyes.