Chapter 71 SENTIMENT OR EQUALITY
RAGNAR’S POV
The council chamber smells of ink, sweat, and old pride I've always detested..
Scrolls are spread across the central table with their wax seals broken– who even uses scrolls in this day and age?
Scrolls lay all over the place with amendments scribbled in the margins across it.
Elders line the curved stone walls like carved statues with their stern, immovable and unimpressed expressions.
And at the head of it all, I stand like a guilty criminal on the stand.
“Read it again,” Elder Malvek says dryly, tapping the parchment with one crooked finger. “The clause regarding command projection during combat.”
I don’t look down.
I memorized it the moment they tried to slip it in the cracks of the long list of ”necessary laws” like I wouldn't notice it.
“In any sanctioned challenge,” I recite evenly, “each Alpha must project their Alpha Command before the first strike to establish dominance and prove rightful authority.”
A murmur of approval ripples through the gathered Alphas.
Of course it would.
“It is tradition,” another Alpha adds smoothly. “Without dominance, what are we proving?”
That your dick size grows smaller every time and only pathetically bullying an Omega would help with your wounded ego.
I clasp my hands behind my back to keep from curling them into fists.
“And what,” I ask calmly, “happens when one of the participants cannot project an Alpha Command?”
Silence.
Then, a few knowing looks.from everyone.
They all know who I'm talking about.
Elder Torin’s lips twitch faintly. “Then perhaps,” he says mildly, “that participant should reconsider stepping into an Alpha’s arena.”
There it is.
“He’s not stepping into an Alpha’s arena,” I reply, my voice sharpening. “He’s defending my pack’s right to stand unchallenged with this farce of a challenge you're all pushing for.”
“And yet,” Torin continues, folding his hands over his cane, “he is still an Omega.”
The word hangs heavy.
Not an insult.
But a verdict.
Across the table, Alpha Darius leans forward. “You cannot expect centuries of combat law to bend because you’ve grown…well attached.”
The implication coils under my skin.
“This challenge was issued to undermine my authority,” I say flatly. “If you stack the laws to guarantee his defeat, then you are not testing strength. You are orchestrating his execution.”
Low murmurs.
A few approving, more disapproving.
One of the younger Alphas clears his throat. “It’s not orchestration. It’s simply reality. Omegas do not command. They endure.”
I met his gaze without blinking.
“Then remove the projection clause and speak only when you're spoken to boy.”
The chamber stills.
That gets their attention.
“You would erase a foundational display of Alpha legitimacy?” Malvek demands.
“I would adjust it,” I correct. “If dominance must be proven, then let it be proven through endurance, skill, or strategy. Not through a biological advantage only some possess.”
Torin’s eyes narrow. “You are rewriting the laws for one wolf.”
“I am preventing a legal loophole from becoming a weapon against all Omegas who would like to be a part of the challenge, now and in the future.”
“Or,” Torin counters softly, “you are just afraid.”
The word lands deliberately.
Elder Torin would do much good in the pack if he put his manipulative mind to its good use instead of challenging me.
My wolf stirs inside of me with irritation sparking under my ribs.
“Afraid?” I echo.
“That if he fails under traditional standards,” Torin continues, “it will reflect poorly on you.”
I step forward slowly.
“It will reflect poorly on all of us,” I say. “Because if a group of Alphas must rely on stacked laws to defeat one Omega, then perhaps the title of Alpha of Alphas you're all panting for is already hollow.”
A ripple of tension moves through the room.
Darius exhales sharply. “You’re risking division from other packs Ragnar.”
“I’m preventing it.”
“You’re provoking it.” He counters.
“Well good,” I snapped.
The word cracks through the chamber.
“Because I’m tired of pretending the current structure is fair. We claim strength but fear reform. We claim dominance but panic at the smallest form of equality.”
“You speak of equality as though it does not threaten the pack order,” Torin says coldly.
“Order that cannot survive fairness deserves to fall.”
That earns a sharper reaction.
A few Alphas bristle openly now.
“You would destabilize the realm over a mere Omega?” Darius presses.
“I would stabilize it,” I correct. “If the law must apply to him, then it must apply equally to all. We will remove the projection clause and replace it with a stamina assessment or combat assessment but it would have to cater to all wolves.”
Malvek exchanges a glance with Torin.
“This reeks of bias,” Torin says finally.
“Everything reeks of bias,” I reply. “The question is whether we correct it or not.”
Silence falls heavy again.
They don’t like that I’m pushing for a change of their ‘sacred laws’.
They don’t like that I’m forcing them to say out loud what they’ve long hidden like turtles under “tradition.”
If it were up to them, Omega's would still be slapped shut and only allowed to pop babies all their lives with no exception or excuses.
One of the scribes clears his throat nervously.
“Perhaps,” Malvek concedes slowly, “a temporary amendment could be considered for this challenge alone.”
A few Alphas protest immediately.
“This is how it starts. It's one challenge now but soon it'll be another, then another and finally it'll become a precedent!”
“We cannot bend rules every time a little sentiment interferes–”
“Sentiment?” I cut in sharply at the young loudmouthed wolf.
I thought I warned him to keep shut.
My control thins as I grimly imagine brutal ways to keep him shut.
After the crazy week I've had, I'd say I earned it.
I feel it bubbling inside of me before I cut it short immediately.
Having an Alpha's guts strewn across the great council chambers is not exactly good PR for me. Especially since I'm here to protest against one of the important founding laws.
Another law I don't want to break is the no violence law in the council chambers.
But for a brief moment, I imagine how it'll be and how it'll feel.
The stupid young Alpha in front of me protesting even though he's probably never fought a war doesn't know how lucky he is.
Forget the good leader title I have. If we were outside and he challenged me, I'd show him why even after I fought against several stronger and older Alphas, I was the only one left standing.