Chapter 201

Betty's POVThe tunnel leading back to the Council Hall felt longer than it did coming down. Maybe because I knew what was waiting at the other end. Maybe because my legs were heavier than they had been hours ago, the baby pressing low against my hips, exhaustion pulling at every part of me that had been running on nothing but adrenaline and stubbornness since before sunrise.Nina walked beside me, matching my pace without making it obvious she was slowing down for me. Behind us Damon, Blaze and Colt moved in formation with Adrian and Lucien, carrying the evidence cases between them, their voices low and focused as they finalized every detail for what was about to happen inside that chamber.The closer we got, the harder my heart pounded. Not the fast, sharp kind of fear I had felt during the fights or the chases or the moments when someone pointed a weapon at someone I loved. This was different. Slower. Deeper. The kind of dread that settles into your bones when you know the finish l

Chapter 202

Damon's POVI stood at the center of the Council chamber with every person I loved standing behind me. Betty on my right. Blaze and Colt flanking her. Nina and Rocco just behind them. Adrian and Lucien near the evidence table with every document we had bled to recover spread out and ready.The Chairman was brought forward in chains, the iron clinking against the stone floor with every step. His guards positioned him at the center of the platform where every Alpha leader in the room could see him clearly. Despite the torn clothes, the dust, the bruises on his wrists from the restraints, the old man still carried himself like he was the one running this room."This is a farce," the Chairman announced before anyone else could speak, his voice ringing through the chamber with practiced authority. "Every document you have seen today was manufactured by Damon to justify his seizure of power. He has manipulated this woman." His eyes cut briefly toward Betty. "Used her bloodline as a weapon.

Chapter 203

Betty's POVThe Chairman's laugh settled into my bones like poison. He was chained, surrounded, outnumbered and outvoted, and he was still smiling like a man holding the last card in a game everyone else thought was already over.Something about it made me think instead of panic."Which record is missing," I asked Lucien, crossing the space between us before Damon could start issuing orders.Lucien's hands were still shaking as he rifled through the evidence cases. "The original Council directive from twenty-three years ago. The one containing the names of every person who helped the Chairman authorize the attacks against the Crown Bloodline and the allied packs."My stomach dropped. I remembered that document. I had seen it hours ago when Adrian first pulled it from the underground chest. A full page of names, signatures and positions, every single person who had knowingly helped the Chairman destroy my mother's investigation."If someone took that record," I said slowly, the pieces

Chapter 204

Blaze's POVWe tracked the Chairman's man through back roads and abandoned trails for almost two hours before the old building appeared through the trees. It sat at the edge of a territory that used to belong to a pack nobody talked about anymore, one of the many that disappeared after the Chairman decided they knew too much.Vance's hideout. Or what was left of it.I spotted the vehicles first. Three of them, parked at bad angles like the people who drove them arrived in a hurry and didn't plan on staying long. Two guards stood near the front entrance, but their weapons were lowered and their posture was wrong. Not alert. Exhausted. Like men guarding a door because nobody had told them to stop yet."How many inside," Damon murmured through the radio."Six that I can see," Colt reported from the eastern flank. "Maybe more.""Rocco?""Western side is clear. No runners."We moved in fast and quiet. The guards at the front barely had time to raise their weapons before our men had them fa

Chapter 205

Nina's POVThe guard's voice crackled through the radio so fast I barely caught the words. "Multiple vehicles approaching from the north road. No alliance markings. Moving fast."My whole body went cold, but my mind went sharp. I had been waiting for something like this ever since Damon rode out with the others. The Council Hall was too important, too full of evidence, too full of people the Chairman needed silenced. Leaving it behind was always a risk, and now that risk was pulling up to the front gate."How many," I demanded, crossing the main hall toward the entrance where Owen's guards were already scrambling into position."At least four vehicles. Maybe more behind them."I turned to the room. Lucien was standing over the evidence table, his face draining of color as he understood what was happening. Adrian had already moved toward the side entrance, checking the locks. Betty stood near the center of the chamber, her hand on her stomach, her eyes locked on mine with the kind of s

Chapter 206

Colt's POVI kept my body between Betty and the fighting the entire time. Every instinct I had, every reflex trained into me through years of battles and close calls, all of it narrowed down to one single purpose. Keep her safe until this was over.Damon and the Chairman circled each other at the center of the hall, blades drawn, the torchlight throwing their shadows across the ancient stone walls like something out of a story that had been waiting centuries to reach its ending. The Chairman moved well for a man his age, faster than I expected, his strikes carrying the kind of precision that only comes from decades of practice.But Damon was faster.Two of the Chairman's remaining guards broke from the walls and rushed toward Damon's exposed side. Blaze intercepted them before they made it three steps, crashing into the first one shoulder-first and sending him spinning into a pillar before pivoting to catch the second with a hook that dropped him flat. He didn't even break stride, jus