Chapter 46: Chapter Forty-six

Chapter 46

Edgar’s POV

The knock at my door came just after sunrise, sharp, insistent, the kind that carries the weight of bad news.

Brann, my most trusted guard, stepped inside without waiting for permission. His face was grim.

“Alpha,” he said, bowing his head briefly, “the elders request your presence. Privately.”

“Privately?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes. “What matter requires secrecy at this hour?”

“They would not say.” His tone held the faintest edge of apology. “They asked for you alone.”

My gut tightened. The elders knew better than to exclude Lia from matters of governance now, at least if they wanted to avoid my suspicion. This felt deliberate.

I rose from my chair, tugging my coat into place. “Did they send word to others?”

“No, Alpha. Only to you.”

That told me everything I needed to know. Whatever they planned, they wanted no witnesses.

The council chamber was dim when I arrived, the heavy drapes drawn against the pale morning light. The elders sat in their semicircle, but the formality was gone. There were no scribes, no guards stationed inside, only the six of them and me.

Elder Marcus gestured to the seat at the center. “Please, Alpha. Sit.”

I didn’t. “You summoned me for a private discussion. Speak your piece.”

Elder Rowan leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “We could have spoken in open session, but this, is a matter best kept from public ears.”

“Public ears,” I said flatly, “or Lia’s ears?”

That drew a few sharp glances. Marcus recovered first. “This is not about her. It is about the future of the pack.”

I forced myself to keep my expression unreadable. “Go on.”

Rowan’s voice was smooth, almost pleasant. “While you were… indisposed, certain cracks in our defenses became apparent. Our alliance with the northern packs hangs by a thread. Trade is slowing. Their patrols have withdrawn from the border.”

“I am aware of the situation,” I said.

Marcus’s mouth thinned. “Then you must also be aware that if the alliance fails, our enemies to the east will move in before winter.”

“They can try,” I said.

Rowan’s eyes glittered. “They won’t need to try if the northern packs do nothing to stop them.”

I folded my arms. “You didn’t call me here just to state the obvious. Get to the point.”

It was Marcus who delivered the blow. “The northern packs are willing to renew the alliance, but only if we give them a seat on the council. Full voting rights.”

I almost laughed. “No.”

Rowan’s brows lifted. “You refuse before hearing the terms?”

“I refuse because giving them a seat is handing them a foothold. Today it’s a vote in the council. Tomorrow it’s a say in our laws, our succession. You don’t invite a wolf to dinner unless you’re ready to lose the meat on your plate.”

A murmur rippled through the elders, but no one disagreed openly.

Marcus’s gaze sharpened. “There is an alternative.”

I knew before he said it whose idea it was.

“Your mother,” he continued, “has suggested a marriage alliance. You would take a partner from the northern packs, cementing the bond without altering the council’s structure.”

The words were measured, but I heard the trap in them.

A partner of her choosing. A partner who was not Lia.

I didn’t answer immediately. Instead, I walked a slow circle in the center of the chamber, letting my silence stretch until it was almost uncomfortable.

“My mother,” I said finally, “no longer holds any authority here. Her suggestions mean nothing.”

“Perhaps not legally,” Rowan said softly, “but her influence remains. And she is… persuasive.”

I met his gaze head-on. “If this is her way of removing Lia, she’s wasting her time.”

Marcus’s tone turned sharp. “This is not about your personal attachments. It is about securing the future of the pack.”

“My personal attachments are part of that future,” I shot back.

The air in the room cooled several degrees.

Soren, the only elder whose loyalty I trusted completely, spoke for the first time. “The Alpha’s choice of partner is his own. To force his hand would be a breach of our law.”

Marcus’s jaw tightened. “No one is forcing him. We are presenting options.”

“Options?” I said, letting the word drip with contempt. “One option is surrendering our sovereignty. The other is surrendering the woman I” I stopped myself before the rest slipped out.

Rowan’s smile was faint but cutting. “You may find your choices… narrower than you think, Alpha. The council will reconvene in two days. By then, you will give us your decision.”

I left the chamber with my pulse pounding, my teeth clenched so tightly my jaw ached.

The corridors felt longer than usual, the walls closing in as my mind turned over every word. This wasn’t just political maneuvering, this was an ambush. My mother had finally found a way to attack me where I was most vulnerable, and she’d enlisted the council to do it.

When I reached my quarters, Lia wasn’t there. The absence felt sharper now, more dangerous.

Brann was waiting outside my door. “Alpha?”

“Keep the guards doubled,” I told him. “No one enters my quarters without my permission. Not even an elder.”

His brows drew together. “Understood.”

Inside, I poured a drink I didn’t need and didn’t want, staring into the dark liquid as if it could tell me how to stop what was coming.

I knew the truth. My recovery had bought me time, but not safety. They weren’t going to wait for me to slip, they were going to push until I fell.

And the first shove had already been delivered.