LOGINMaeve
The Councilwoman cleared her throat. "Luna Caine..."
"I entered the Blood Hunt voluntarily," I said, my voice carrying across the wide chamber. "I was not carried off on my way home from the market."
Somewhere behind me, Cassian made a small, suspicious choking sound.
"I entered because I wanted Ronan," I went on. That was not entirely true, not at the very beginning, so I corrected myself. "I entered because I wanted Ronan to catch me. My re
RonanMaeve went limp in my arms, all the warmth and fire in her body draining away at once. For one horrible second, the entire world stopped with her.“Maeve.”Nothing.Blood ran from her nose, streaking across her mouth and down her chin as her head fell heavily against my chest.“Maeve.”Still nothing.Fear hit harder than Sovereign Hunger ever had, cold and sharp, sinking its claws deep into my ribs. I lifted her before anyone could touch her, her body far too light against mine.“HEALER!”The shout tore through the courtyard, raw and ragged, echoing off the stone walls. Council guards scattered out of my path.Good. Anyone stupid enough to stand between me and the infirmary was going through a wall.Holt hurried beside me, her boots ringing against the paving stones. “The medical wing is east.”“Move.”She did.Someone was shouting about Evander behind us. I didn't care. He was restrained, and he wasn't getting away. Maeve wasn't opening her fucking eyes, and that was all that m
Maeve“He's trying to run.”Ronan's eyebrows lifted. I smiled, and then I reached for him. Not physically. For the bond. For Caine.For the enormous, impossible thing inside me that I had only just started learning how to use. Ronan's expression changed immediately.“Maeve?”“Evander activated his little containment protocol because he thinks I'm dangerous.” Silver slid beneath my skin, and my pulse thundered. “So maybe we should stop disappointing him. He's still on Council territory.”Holt frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”I didn't know how I knew. I just did. When I had forced Isolde's army down at Caine, I hadn't reached for individual wolves.I had reached for the land, for every wolf standing inside the boundaries I recognized as mine to command. This wasn't my territory, but the Council compound had boundaries too. Old ones. Power lived here, and authority lived here.And after everything Evander had done, after the Council itself had recognized him as acting
Maeve"We stop waiting for permission."Ronan said it calmly. That was somehow worse than shouting it would have been.His hand tightened around mine as another scream echoed from the corridor beyond the sealed Council doors. Then something hit them, hard, and the entire frame shook in its stone housing.Councilor Holt spun toward the guards. "What is happening out there?"Nobody answered.Evander did. He smiled that fucking smile, the one that made my skin crawl. "You should have accepted containment."I looked at him. "You should have learned when to shut the fuck up."Silver flickered through my eyes, and Evander's attention dropped immediately to them. Even now, even with his entire life falling apart around him, he was still studying me, measuring, cataloguing. I hated him for it.Another crash hit the doors. One of the Council guards drew his sword, the other following his lead, but not toward us. Toward the entrance. That was when I realized something. They were scared too. Wha
RonanSomewhere beyond the council chamber, an alarm began to ring.The alarm changed everything, though not because it frightened me. It changed everything because Evander smiled, and that alone told me everything I needed to know.The first bell rang somewhere beyond the Council chamber. Then another followed. Then three sharp blasts in quick succession, echoing off the high stone walls.Every Council guard moved at once, their boots striking the floor in perfect unison. The main doors slammed shut with a force that rattled the air, and heavy iron locks dropped into place with a grinding finality.Maeve's hand tightened around mine, her fingers cold. "What does that mean?"Theron was already on his feet. "Council lockdown."Marek turned toward the sealed doors, his brow furrowed. "Why?"Nobody answered him.Evander did not move from the truth circle. The two guards who had approached to take him into custody suddenly stopped mid step. One touched his ear as though listening to some
Maeve"How much did Gideon Cross pay you?"The Council chamber went silent. Not quiet. Silent. The kind of silence that has weight to it, that presses against the ears and makes the old stone feel closer than it did a breath ago.Evander stared at Ronan across the long stretch of polished floor. For the first time since we arrived, he didn't look polished. His face hadn't collapsed. He wasn't sweating. He hadn't suddenly become some nervous criminal caught with blood drying on his hands.But something had changed, small and cold and unmistakable. The smile was gone. That was enough.One of the Council members reached for the letter with a slow, careful hand. "Director Rooke."Evander finally dragged his eyes away from Ronan. "This is highly irregular."I laughed. Every head in the chamber turned toward me."That's your response?"His expression hardened into something stony. "You arrived with documents recovered under circumstances this Council has not independently verified.""Cross
RonanEvander should have stopped while he still looked reasonable. He didn't."The Council has never documented a living Crowned Sovereign pair," he said.Maeve sat beside me with her shoulders squared and silver threaded through her dark hair, a small bright line against all that darkness. I could feel irritation building through our bond, warm and sharp under my skin. Not fear. Never fear.Evander mistook her silence for permission. "What exactly occurred when Silver Crown attempted to retrieve you?"Maeve's eyes narrowed. "They trespassed.""I am aware of the political circumstances.""Then why ask?""I am asking about your abilities."I went still."Queen Regent Isolde reported that every wolf present was forced to kneel," Evander continued."Almost every wolf," Maeve said.His attention shifted to me. "Yes. Alpha Caine remained standing.""Yes.""Why?""We don't know," Maeve said with a shrug.Elowen spoke from behind us. "We have theories.""Such as?""The completed Crowned Sove







