Chapter 15: Pressure

Pressure doesn’t announce itself.

It tightens.

By midday, the pack was rigid with it.

Patrol routes were reassigned without notice. Supplies were delayed. Two warriors loyal to no one but the pack were quietly relieved of duty. Nothing dramatic. Nothing that could be openly challenged.

Control dressed up as order.

Iria noticed all of it.

She stood in the central courtyard when the announcement came—formal, polished, meant to sound neutral.

“By council decree,” the herald said, voice carrying, “all non-essential movement within the territory is restricted until further notice.”

Murmurs rippled outward.

Iria didn’t move.

Non-essential was a word with teeth.

Kael appeared at her side moments later, close enough that she could feel the heat of him without touching.

“They’re testing you,” he said under his breath.

“They’re testing you,” she corrected.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “You’re the leverage.”

“Then stop letting them pull,” Iria replied.

The summons came that evening.

Not public.

Not polite.

Two guards appeared at Iria’s door, expressions stiff, eyes averted.

“The council requests your presence.”

Iria smiled faintly. “Requests.”

She didn’t ask Kael for permission.

She didn’t need to.

The chamber felt smaller at night.

Torches burned low, shadows long and intentional.

Lorien stood when she entered. “Thank you for coming.”

“You didn’t give me a choice,” Iria replied, taking a seat without being offered one.

“That’s not how authority works,” Lorien said coolly.

“No,” Iria agreed. “That’s how fear works.”

A flicker of irritation crossed his face.

“We’re concerned,” Eldric said carefully. “Your actions are accelerating instability.”

“Instability existed before I spoke,” Iria replied. “I just stopped pretending it didn’t.”

Lorien folded his hands. “You’re influencing wolves who don’t understand the consequences.”

“I understand them,” Iria said. “That’s why I’m speaking.”

“You’re not Alpha,” another councilor snapped.

“No,” Iria said calmly. “But neither are you. Not really.”

Silence followed.

“That kind of language is dangerous,” Eldric warned.

“So is removing an Alpha in secret,” Iria shot back. “So is lying to the pack. So is pretending unity exists where it doesn’t.”

Lorien’s voice hardened. “Watch yourself.”

Iria leaned forward. “Or you’ll what? Silence me? Confine me? Use preservation law again?”

The room went cold.

Eldric exhaled sharply. “You know too much.”

“Yes,” Iria said. “And that scares you.”

Lorien straightened. “This ends now. You will cease involvement in pack affairs.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll be considered a destabilizing element.”

Iria’s lips curved. “Say it plainly.”

Lorien met her gaze. “We will remove you.”

Kael felt it before he heard it.

The bond flared hard—sharp, urgent.

He was moving before the guard finished speaking.

“Iria’s been detained,” the man said quickly. “Council order.”

Kael didn’t slow.

He entered the chamber like a storm restrained too long.

“What did you do,” he said, voice low and lethal.

Lorien turned calmly. “We contained a threat.”

Kael’s eyes went to Iria—standing, unbowed, furious.

“That’s not a threat,” Kael said. “That’s accountability.”

“You’re blinded,” Lorien snapped. “She’s destabilizing everything.”

Kael stepped forward. “No. She’s exposing you.”

“This is exactly why she’s dangerous,” Eldric said. “You won’t act against her.”

Kael’s gaze hardened. “Try me.”

The air thickened. Wolves in the chamber shifted, instincts screaming.

Lorien lifted his chin. “If you interfere, you confirm every fear we had about your judgment.”

Kael didn’t hesitate.

“Then let them fear,” he said.

He moved to Iria’s side.

Placed himself between her and the council.

A clear line.

A choice.

Silence crashed down like a held breath finally released.

“You’re declaring sides,” Eldric said quietly.

Kael’s voice was iron. “I’m ending the illusion that there weren’t sides already.”

Later, when the corridors were quiet and the guards reassigned, Iria stood with Kael in the dim light outside the Alpha quarters.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.

“Yes,” Kael replied. “I did.”

“That was a declaration.”

“Yes.”

She studied him. “You just made me impossible to ignore.”

Kael met her gaze. “You already were.”

The bond hummed—not warm, not tender—but solid. A shared understanding forged under pressure.

“They won’t stop,” Iria said.

“No,” Kael agreed. “They’ll escalate.”

“So will I,” Iria replied.

Kael nodded once. “Good.”

Because the pack was no longer balancing on silence.

It was bracing for impact.

And everyone could feel it coming.