Chapter 43 Chains of Silver
LIRA POV
In the council chambers . I knelt on the cold floor, wrists bound behind my back, while the pack elders circled like vultures.
"Treason." Elder Selene's voice rang with finality. "Communication with known enemies of the pack."
"I didn't betray anyone." My voice came out steady despite the fear clawing at my throat. "I received a letter. That's not conspiracy."
"A letter you didn't report to your alpha." Elder John stepped forward, his amber eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "A letter offering alliance against your own pack."
"That's not what it said"
"Silence." Kael's command from his throne made my jaw snap shut involuntarily. The alpha compulsion burned through my veins.
I glared at him from my kneeling position. He sat rigid, his expression carved cold, refusing to meet my eyes.
Coward, Selwyn hissed. He won't even look at what he's doing to us.
"The evidence is clear." Elder Selene addressed the gathered pack members. "The Luna conspired with rogue alpha Darion Nightshade. The pack law demands punishment."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I caught sight of Aria near the back, her face streaked with tears. Thomas stood beside Kael's throne, his expression torn.
"What punishment does the council recommend?" Kael's voice was empty of emotion.
My heart clenched. He was really going to do this, let them punish me without lifting a finger to stop it.
"Silver chains." Elder John's smile was cruel. "Three days and nights, as a reminder of her place and her crimes."
Gasps echoed through the chamber. Silver chains weren't just punishment—they were torture for wolves. The metal burned skin, prevented healing, weakened the wolf spirit until you couldn't tell where pain ended and you began.
For Moonblood wolves, it was even worse. Silver amplified our power but at the cost of agony that could drive you mad.
"No." Thomas stepped forward. "That's excessive"
"The Beta does not speak for the alpha." Elder Selene cut him off. "Unless Alpha Kael wishes to show mercy?"
Every eye turned to Kael. I felt the bond pulse between us, felt his wolf Fenris clawing for freedom, desperate to protect his mate.
But Kael's human side won.
"The punishment is just." He said. "Let it be done."
The chamber erupted in shocked whispers. Some wolves nodded in approval while looked away, unable to watch.
"Kael." His name ripped from my throat. "Please."
Finally, finally, he looked at me. What I saw in his storm-gray eyes made everything worse—pain, regret, and determination.
"You made your choice." His voice dropped low enough that only I could hear. "Now live with mine."
Guards hauled me to my feet. I didn't fight as they dragged me to the center of the chamber, where silver chains hung from the ceiling.
The first chain wrapped around my wrist. Pain exploded up my arm, white-hot and vicious. I bit back a scream, refusing to give them the satisfaction.
"This could have been avoided." Elder John secured the second chain. "If you'd simply known your place."
"My place?" I gasped as silver bit into my other wrist. "Is that what you tell yourself while you torture someone for receiving a letter?"
"You plotted with rogues." He pulled the chains tighter, forcing my arms above my head. "Betrayed your alpha and pack."
"I did nothing!" The words came out as a snarl. "Nothing except consider my options after you all decided I was guilty before the trial even started!"
The third chain wrapped around my throat like a collar. I couldn't stop the whimper that escaped as silver burned my skin.
Through the haze of pain, I saw Kael's hands grip his throne's armrests hard enough to crack wood. The mate bond screamed between us—my agony became his, my suffering reflected through our connection.
Good. I pushed the pain through the bond deliberately, let him feel every second of what he'd allowed.
Kael's face went white. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he endured it, jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter.
"Alpha." Thomas moved closer, concern clear in his voice. "You're hurting yourself."
"I'm fine." But Kael's breathing came in short gasps.
"You're not." Thomas glanced between us. "The mate bond—every bit of her pain is yours too. You can't sit through three days of this."
"I can." Kael forced himself upright. "And I will."
"This is madness." Aria pushed through the crowd, her healer's instincts overriding caution. "You're torturing yourself as much as her!"
"That's my business." Kael's alpha command rolled through the room. "Everyone leave. Now."
The pack filed out slowly, casting glances over their shoulders. Elder Selene smiled with satisfaction. Elder John looked almost disappointed it was over so quickly.
When the last wolf departed, only Kael, Thomas, Aria, and I remained.
"Out." Kael's voice was rough.
"Kael" Aria tried.
"Now."
Thomas took Aria's arm gently. "Come on. Let's give them space."
They left reluctantly, the door closed with echoing finality.
Silence stretched between us, broken only by the sound of our ragged breathing and the chain links clicking softly as I tried to find a position that hurt less.
There wasn't one.
"Why?" My voice came out broken. "Why did you do this?"
Kael descended from his throne slowly. Each step looked like it cost him. When he reached me, I saw the sweat soaking his shirt, the tremor in his hands.
The mate bond was destroying him from the inside out.
"Because if I'd defended you, they would have challenged me." His hand reached up, almost touching my face before pulling back. "And then you'd have no protection at all."
"So this is protection?" I laughed, bitterly. "Letting them chain me like an animal?"
"Yes." His eyes met mine, raw with pain we both felt. "Because now they think I'm strong. Unmoved by the mate bond, capable of punishing even my Luna for the pack's sake."
"And tomorrow?" I asked. "When I'm still here, still burning? Will you sit on your throne and watch?"
"I'll endure it." His voice dropped to a whisper. "The same way you will."
"Martyr." I spat the word. "You're punishing yourself to prove some point about leadership."
"I'm keeping you alive!" The mask cracked, showing the anguish beneath. "Do you understand? If I'd shown weakness, if I'd let them see how much you mean to me, they would have demanded your death!"
"Maybe death would be better." The admission slipped out. "At least then I wouldn't have to feel you through this bond. Wouldn't have to know you chose them over me."
Pain flashed across his face—not from the bond, but something deeper.
"I didn't choose them." His hand finally touched my cheek, feather-light. "I chose to keep you breathing. Even if you hate me for it."
"I do hate you." But my voice wavered. "I hate that you're right. That this was the only way."
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. Both of us shaking with the effort of staying upright.
"Three days," he whispered. "Then you face the real trial. And Lira? You'd better win."
"Or what?" I breathed against his lips.
"Or I'll have to watch them execute you." His voice broke. "And that would kill me faster than any challenger's claws."
He pulled back before I could respond, climbing back to his throne with movements that spoke of barely controlled agony.
He sat with a straight spine and a cold face and we began our vigil.
Hours passed. The silver burned hotter, deeper, until I couldn't remember what it felt like not to hurt. My wolf Selwyn whimpered and retreated, unable to help.
But through the pain, I felt something else—power. The silver wasn't just burning me. It was changing me.
What's happening? I asked Selwyn.
Your bloodline, she whispered. Moonblood wolves don't just endure silver. Eventually... we consume it.
I looked at Kael through pain-blurred vision. He sat rigid on his throne, suffering through every second of my torture without complaint.
Foolish man. But as the first day bled into night, as my body learned the rhythm of agony, I felt my power grow.