All Chapters of Married Off as a Breeder, She Became His Only Mate. : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Kieran's POVThe council chamber was fuller than I'd seen it in months, word of the border clearing having spread faster than I could control it. Every senior had turned out, along with half the ranked warriors who technically had no business sitting in on council matters but showed up anyway because fear made people forget the rules.Halric stood at the center of the room, alone, while the rest of us took our seats around him like a jury he hadn't asked for."Forty years." Dorric was on his feet before I even called the session to order, jabbing a finger toward Halric like an accusation made physical. "Forty years you sat on knowledge that could've changed how this entire pack handled the Thistlewood line, and you said nothing. Not when the engagement to Marisol was arranged. Not when the wedding date was set. Not until a healer had to go digging through sealed archives to drag the truth out into the light.""I explained my reasoning," Halric said, steady despite the weight of every

Briony's POVI didn't sleep. I lay in that narrow bed running the whole night over in my head, the council chamber, Halric's confession in the hallway, Kieran standing there agreeing to terms for my life like it was a treaty negotiation instead of a conversation he could've just had with me directly.By the time the sun came up, I decided I wasn't going to let it happen again.I found him in the war room, alone this time, no maps spread out, no trackers hovering with urgent news. Just him, sitting at the table with his head in his hands, looking like a man who hadn't slept either."We need to talk," I said, closing the door behind me.He looked up. "I figured you'd come find me.""Good. Saves me the trouble of explaining why I'm here." I pulled out the chair across from him and sat, forcing myself to meet his eyes instead of softening this the way I usually did when things got hard between us. "Last night wasn't a one-time mistake I'm willing to let slide, Kieran. I need you to actual

Kieran's POVBy the time we reached the east ridge, the fighting was already over.I could smell it before I saw it,blood, thick and fresh, carried on the wind well before the tree line broke open into the clearing where our watch post had stood. Twelve wolves at my back, all of us moving fast, all of us already braced for whatever we were about to find.We weren't braced enough.Two of my own lay in the clearing, cut down hard, no attempt made to hide what had happened here. Tomas, who stood that post for three years without a single incident worth reporting. Beside him, younger, barely past his first shift,a boy named Aric who I personally cleared for watch duty two months back, certain he was ready.He hadn't been ready for this. Nobody could've been."Spread out," I said, voice steady even though nothing in me felt steady at all. "Check for survivors, check the tree line, I want to know if they're still close."Sage was already moving, crouched low over Tomas, checking for a pulse

Briony's POV"This chamber is for council members and the Alpha only, going forward," Halric said, some of his old authority returning even in his diminished position, standing to address the room before things fractured further. "Mates and non-council guests need to step outside for the formal vote."I opened my mouth to argue and Kieran's hand tightened on mine under the table, a silent request rather than a demand. I understood it, even if I hated it,whatever happened in the next few minutes needed to happen without me sitting there as a physical reminder of exactly what they were debating.I left. Sage came with me, and we stood in the hallway outside the heavy chamber doors, close enough to hear the muffled rise and fall of voices without catching individual words."This is worse than not being there at all," I said, arms wrapped tight around myself. "At least in there I could see their faces. Out here I'm just imagining the worst.""You don't have to imagine long." Sage's jaw wa

Briony's POVHalric was already waiting when I slipped into the old training ring before dawn, wrapped in a heavy cloak against the cold, the sky still more black than gray above us."You came," he said, sounding almost surprised."You promised Kieran I'd get trained properly. Might as well start before the whole pack's awake to watch me fail at it." I pulled my own cloak tighter. "Where do we begin?""Begin by understanding what it isn't." Halric gestured for me to stand across from him in the center of the ring, packed dirt cold under my bare feet. "It's not a muscle you flex on command. Not like shifting, not like anything a warrior trains their body to do through repetition alone. The Anchor gift answers the need. Our task is teaching you to recognize what that actually feels like from the inside, so you can call it forward instead of waiting for an emergency to drag it out of you.""So how do I recognize it?""Think back. The healing house, with Faro. The window, with the intrude