CHAPTER 3

"The Council has convened," Captain Jex Rylan stated, his voice akin to the clang of a cell door slamming shut. "Rhea Mooncrest, step forward."

The Council Chamber, its vaulted ceiling and stone seats, was crypt-like. It was the Circle of Governance, where our pack's law was chiseled in stone, but it was more like an abattoir. Elder Theon Vale sat on the middle throne, with Elder Garrick Stonehelm and Elder Marla Fenwick on either side. Theon's gaze was a physical weight, crushing me. He saw me as not human but a problem to be solved.

"Rhea Mooncrest," Theon stated, his tone lacking warmth. "You have been called in to account for your part in the. disturbance. at the Omega Presentation. An interruption of this kind is an egregious transgression."

I stood my ground, Micah standing guardfully behind me. I felt his calming aura, a shield to keep out Theon's smothering presence. I kept the Elder's cold stare at bay. "With all due respect, Elder, the accident was not my fault. The bonds chose us. I did not choose them."

A rumble of discontent came up from the benches where the Alphas were sitting. They sat in a row, each of them guarded, their faces furious and humiliated. Ash's eyes, still smeared with that deadly gold, glared a hole right through me.

"Technicality," Theon growled. "The Alphas have all agreed that this. bond. was a misstep. An aberration. And as the Omega, it is your responsibility to bring about its severing. Have you made your decision?"

Marla Fenwick, the only female elder present, cut in. "The bond is holy, Theon. We have to be careful with this.".

"Warning is for the weak, Marla," Theon growled, silencing her. "This matter involves the future of our pack. One Omega cannot be allowed to disrupt the natural order." His eyes turned to the Alphas. "Ash Ryder, Zane Valez, Kai Wolfe, Blaze Draven. You speak for yourselves. Do you support this anomaly?"

Blaze Draven stood, a snarl of a wild one on his lips. "I will not do it! I would rather die than be mated to a Mooncrest. She is not strong. My pack and my honor demand that I refuse this farce. You are correct, Elder. It is a shame."

My heart, pounding with fear, stopped. Numbness washed over me, icy cold. I had known it was what I was anticipating, but to hear it, to feel it through the bond, was a shock. He did not like me. The bond, created to be a bond of love and destiny, was one of disgust.

"And you, Zane?" Theon prodded.

Zane Valez, for the first time in my recollection, wasn't grinning. His face was a deathly pale, haunted mask. "The bond… it's real," he confessed, his voice little more than a whisper. "But… I-I don't know. This isn't… this isn't what a mate bond feels like. It feels like a curse." He stared at me, a flicker of true fear shining in his eyes. "It's a mistake.

Kai Wolfe, ever the thinker, settled into his seat. "One of the first loyalties of an Alpha is to the pack. A bond that threatens the security of the Silverfang Pack cannot be allowed. Elder, I concur with Blaze. This bond has to be severed. I will do what it takes to sever it." His icy, logical tone was a hammer blow, slamming into me with a finality that was more painful than Blaze's out-and-out hatred.

"Ash Ryder?" Theon concentrated now on the most powerful of them all.

Ash had not spoken, risen slowly to his feet. His gaze was still on me. His mouth a thin, bitter line. "The bond is there," he stated, his voice a low growl that made me tremble. "And it's strong. But." He paused, his eyes flashing with an inner struggle. I felt the disorienting mixture of possessiveness and anguish coming from him through our connection. He was the one who endured it most deeply, the one most instinctively reactive. "But I cannot… I cannot let it stand."

Theon's grin was triumph in itself. "You see, Rhea? All four of our strongest Alphas agree. They've had their turn. Now, you. We need only your public denial to make this Council decision final. Do you, Rhea Mooncrest, deny the lunar bonding to Alphas Ryder, Valez, Wolfe, and Draven?"

The hall was silent, except for the anxious whispers of the pack members. I could feel their collective gaze upon me, their curiosity and their judgment. I remembered my mother, Lira, and the revolution in her eyes in that portrait. I remembered Micah's promise to me. And I looked at the four Alphas. The boys who'd turned my life into a living hell. The men who were now bound to me, and yet still so ready to be set free. I recalled the pain they had inflicted, and the pain they were suffering currently.

"No," I said, my own voice firm and unyielding.

The one word hung in the air, a peal of a new dawn. A gasp swept through the onlookers.

"What did you just say?" Theon's voice was a cold whisper.

"I said no," I repeated, my gaze sweeping across the Alphas, alighting briefly upon each of them. "I will not reject the bond. You can't force me to do it."

Blaze sprang forward, held back by two guards. "You cunning Omega! It's all a joke to you, isn't it? To embarrass us? To bring us to our knees? I deny you! I deny you! I DENY YOU!"

I felt a burning surge of agony, a brutal ripping in my heart, as Blaze's refusal echoed through the bond. It was a body blow, a hurt that left me breathless.

"Blaze Draven's refusal is on record," Theon sneered, his eyes blazing with anger. "But the bond requires a mutual rejection. And you, little Omega, are making this difficult.".

"Bond is my destiny," I stated, trembling slightly at Blaze's rejection, but my resolve unshakeable. "And it is sacred. You cannot profane a bond made by the lunar spirit itself with your laws."

Low hiss sliced through the tension in Kai's voice. "It is not destiny, it is sickness. A curse. And we will find a way to cut it, with or without your assistance. Your defiance will bring only more agony to all of us.".

"And what of my pain, Kai?" I bit back at him, the hurt and fury of all those years finally breaking to the surface. "What of the pain you and your friends inflicted on me? Of the pain you still inflict on me? Does that amount to nothing?"

Zane then finally broke his silence, a raw desperation in his voice. "Rhea… don't do this. You have to understand. You're our brother's sister. And we… we were cruel. We were in the wrong. But this isn't the way to get vengeance. Please. Let us go. Let this end."

"Revenge?" I laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "This isn't revenge, Zane. This is a sad twist of fate. But I am not the one who will break a sacred vow. Not after what happened to my mother."

"Your mother was an anomaly," Theon burst out, standing. "And so are you. Your obstinacy will not just destroy you, but it will result in ruin for our pack. The packmates are already talking. They see this for what it is: a sign of chaos. You are a threat, Rhea Mooncrest. And as a threat, you must be dealt with."

Micah stepped closer, his posture stiff. "Elder, you can't threaten her! She's a Mooncrest. She has rights."

"Rights which she is forfeiting with each aggressive word," Theon snarled. "This is my final offer, little Omega. You spurn the bond, and you will be detained on the Mooncrest Estate until your first heat has passed and your standing in the pack has been re-evaluated.". If not, you shall be robbed of your family name, your guardians, and you'll be subject to the guardianship and care of the Alphas bound with you. They'll have total right to enforce compliance upon you to do the will of the pack. Do you want that punishment?

"

I glared at the Alphas. Blaze, burning with a fierce anger. Zane, torn and frightened. Kai, planning his next move. Ash, his jealousy a burning, suffocating weight on my soul. They were my torturers. And now, Theon was prepared to give them complete control over me. It was a worse death than death.

"Theon, this is not fair!" Marla Fenwick cried out.

"The pack requires discipline, Marla. And this Omega is threatening it," Theon asserted, his eye a frozen warning to her.

I took a breath, the dust and rebellion bitter on my tongue. I looked at Theon, the Alphas, the murmuring crowd. And I spoke with every modicum of courage I could muster, the last dregs of my agony giving way to a fierce, searing fire. "Then I will lose my family name," I said. "Because I will not give up the bond. And I will not be governed by you, or by anyone else."