Chapter 28 The Demands
Thoran:
I had known this moment was coming long before the sentries ran through the lower corridors calling for the council. You don’t hide something like my daughter forever, not after blood has been spilled in human territory.
The council chamber felt colder than usual when I entered, though the torches along the walls were burning steady. The carved stone beneath my boots carried the weight of centuries, and today it felt like it was watching us, waiting to see if we would fail like so many before us.
Elder Korran stood at the head of the chamber, leaning slightly on his staff, his face unreadable. Elder Sara sat rigid to his right, her sharp eyes already fixed on the three figures standing across the council table. Elder Ron remained standing, arms folded, jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jump.
The representatives had not waited for us.
Snowpack.
Stoneclaw.
Ashfen.
They stood where no outsider had stood in generations, their presence alone an insult.
I took my seat slowly, forcing myself to breathe evenly. I was Alpha here. Father came second, no matter how my chest burned.
The Snowpack emissary spoke first, as I had expected.
“You are hiding her,” he said. His voice was calm, but there was no mistaking the accusation beneath it. “And you insult us by pretending otherwise.”
Elder Sara leaned forward slightly. “You stand in Emerald territory. Watch how you speak.”
He did not even glance at her.
“She killed one of ours,” he continued. “A trained tracker. Sent to observe, not provoke. He never returned.”
I did not deny it. There was no point.
“And now,” he added, “she has killed a human.”
The words settled over the chamber like frost.
Stoneclaw’s representative stepped forward, his broad shoulders blocking part of the torchlight. “Not just any human,” he said. “A woman tied to a physician. A physician who works with research groups that study anomalies. That makes this problem larger than pack politics.”
My hands curled into fists beneath the table.
“She is contained,” I said evenly. “Emerald Pack has taken responsibility for her actions.”
Ashfen’s emissary finally spoke, her voice quieter but no less sharp. “You failed to contain her when she returned from the dead. You failed when she lived in the city. You failed when she formed attachments.”
Her eyes flicked toward me, knowing exactly where to strike.
“You let her bond with the doctor.”
The word hit harder than I expected.
Doctor.
Neel.
I had not learned about him through rumor or council whispers. I had learned through our watchers in the city. Emerald Pack had eyes everywhere, even among humans who did not know what they were serving. When a human woman died violently in an underground garage, tied to a physician already flagged for unusual encounters, it drew attention. When the same physician vanished from his routines, missed work, stopped responding like a man in shock should, it drew more.
And when one of our ward-seers touched the residual energy left behind in that garage, they felt her.
Not just Tasha’s magic.
Her intent.
“She altered him,” Elder Ron said quietly, answering the unspoken question. “Not his body. His mind.”
Snowpack’s emissary nodded. “Your seers confirmed it. Memory disruption. Not human science. Her doing.”
I swallowed hard.
“They don’t know the truth,” I said. “They only know he remembers nothing. Not her. Not the dead woman. That is why he has not spoken.”
“And if that changes?” Stoneclaw asked. “If human authorities dig deeper? If scientists notice the gaps in his mind?”
Ashfen’s emissary folded her hands. “Then every pack that hides among humans becomes a target. Not just Emerald.”
The chamber filled with low murmurs as the weight of it sank in.
“She has exposed us,” one voice said.
“She brings war to our doorsteps,” another added.
Elder Korran struck his staff against the stone floor once. The sound echoed sharply, cutting through the noise.
“You are here to state your demands,” he said. “Do so clearly.”
Snowpack did not hesitate.
“We demand custody of Tasha.”
The words landed like a blow to my chest.
“You don’t have that right,” I said, rising halfway from my seat before forcing myself back down. “She is Emerald blood.”
“She is a threat,” Snowpack replied. “And your judgment is compromised.”
Stoneclaw nodded slowly. “You are her father. That alone disqualifies you.”
“She is bound,” Elder Sara said. “Contained. Training under strict wards.”
“And how many has she killed while ‘training’?” Ashfen asked. “One spy. One human. How many before you admit you’ve lost control?”
Silence stretched between us.
“You want her dead,” I said finally.
Ashfen tilted her head. “We want security. What happens to her after depends on her usefulness.”
Elder Ron slammed his palm against the table. “She is not a bargaining chip.”
“She is worse,” Snowpack snapped. “She is a walking extinction event.”
Elder Korran lifted his staff again, his voice calm but unyielding. “Emerald Pack will not surrender one of its own.”
Snowpack’s emissary stepped closer to the table.
“Then hear this clearly,” he said. “This is your warning. Not a threat.”
Stoneclaw joined him. “If she kills again...anyone, pack or human...and you still refuse to hand her over, there will be war.”
Ashfen’s emissary finished it quietly.
“Not pack against pack. All packs against Emerald.”
The words rang louder than any shout.
“You will be hunted,” she continued. “Your lands stripped. Your secrecy destroyed. We will side with humans if we must, expose you if we must, to eliminate her.”
My heart pounded so hard I thought they might hear it.
“You have one cycle,” Snowpack said. “Prove you can control her. Or surrender her.”
They turned and left without waiting for permission, their footsteps echoing through the chamber long after the doors closed behind them.
When the chamber finally emptied, the silence felt unbearable.
“They will not wait,” Elder Ron said quietly.
“They will not forgive,” Elder Sara added.
Elder Korran looked at me then, his eyes heavy with something close to sorrow.
“If she breaks free again,” he said, “they will not stop until she is dead.”
I closed my eyes for a moment.
I saw my daughter bound in stone and runes. Fighting herself. Learning patience where rage once ruled.
And beneath it all, I felt the truth settle into my bones.
We were not just trying to save the packs.
We were racing against the moment my daughter decided she no longer wanted saving.