All Chapters of The Alpha’s Rejected Luna and Her Five Daughters: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

They rode for the holding as soon as the council had been summoned for two days’ time, the same urgent pace that had carried them there once before during the false alarm on the eastern road — except this time, the danger waiting at the end of the ride was confirmed rather than suspected. Rhea met them at the gate, alerted by the sound of approaching riders, her expression shifting from wariness to relief once she recognized them clearly in the torchlight. “Alpha. Luna.” She glanced between them, reading the tension in both their faces. “Something’s happened.” “Drogo’s coming,” Kael said, dismounting. “In person, with a full delegation, in two days’ time. He intends to make a claim on Amira before the council directly.” Rhea’s face paled. “Then the girls are safer here than anywhere he’d think to look.” “That’s why we’ve come to bring them back,” Bonita said. “I want them at the main settlement, where I can see them, not hidden somewhere I have to trust reports about while Drogo

Drogo’s party crested the ridge overlooking the settlement just after midday, banners Bonita hadn’t seen in months snapping in the wind, the sight of them pulling something cold and old up through her chest despite every ounce of strength she’d built since the banishment. Kael stood beside her at the settlement’s edge, his posture carrying none of the uncertainty she felt privately, his men arrayed at a respectful distance — enough to show strength, not enough to suggest provocation. “You don’t have to stand at the front,” Kael said quietly. “No one would think less of you for watching this from within the council hall instead.” “I would think less of myself,” Bonita said. “I’ve spent ten years learning what it costs to hide from that man. I won’t start again now, of all moments.” The delegation drew closer, and Bonita’s eyes found Drogo himself at its center — older than she remembered, or perhaps simply more worn, something rigid and strange in his bearing that hadn’t been there

Torin was still catching his breath, blood drying along his temple, when Bonita found her voice again. “She’s gone,” she said. “Rhea. Where.” “With them,” Torin said grimly. “She left with Drogo’s men the moment they had Mira in hand. Didn’t fight it, didn’t hesitate. Walked out like she’d been waiting for exactly that moment.” Kael’s expression had gone very still, the particular stillness Bonita had learned to fear more than his anger. “Tell me everything. From the start. Every detail, Torin, however small it seems.” Torin nodded, steadying himself against the ruined gate post. “It happened fast, but I’ve replayed it enough times in my head already to be certain of the order. Drogo’s men didn’t breach the perimeter by force. Rhea opened the gate herself, before they’d even fully arrived — I saw her standing there, waving them through, calm as anything. I didn’t understand what I was looking at until it was already too late to stop it.” “She let them in,” Bonita said, the words

The council chamber filled before midday, every seat occupied, the atmosphere carrying none of the uncertainty that had marked previous sessions. Word of Rhea’s betrayal and Mira’s capture had already spread through the settlement overnight, and Bonita could see the change it had wrought on faces that had once hesitated to fully embrace her cause. Bertram opened the session without preamble. “This council has heard enough diplomatic patience where Drogo is concerned. Yesterday he stood in this hall and threatened violence if his demands weren’t met. Last night, his men proved he meant every word of it, taking a child through treachery rather than open confrontation.” His old voice carried a fury Bonita hadn’t heard from him before. “I propose this council formally declare Blackthorn territory an enemy of this pack, and authorize whatever response the Alpha deems necessary to recover the girl and answer this act of war.” The vote, when Kael called for it, passed with a unanimity that

The message went out the following morning, carried by one of Kael’s most trusted riders under a flag of parley — a formal response to Drogo’s implied deadline, carefully worded by Kael and Bertram together after hours of deliberation over every phrase. Alpha Drogo — this council acknowledges your stated terms regarding the exchange of your daughters. We propose an alternative location for any such exchange: the neutral ground at the eastern trading post, three days from now, witnessed by representatives from both territories in equal number, with no more than twenty armed escorts permitted from either side. We further require immediate confirmation of Mira’s continued safety and unharmed condition before any further terms are discussed. Failure to provide such confirmation will be treated as an act of war requiring immediate response. Bonita read the message three times before it was sent, searching for any weakness Drogo might exploit, any wording that left room for the kind of ma