Chapter 47: Chapter Forty -seven

Chapter 47

Edgar’s POV

I didn’t wait for another summons.

If my mother thought she could weave her games in the shadows, she had forgotten who she’d raised.

The moment the council chamber doors closed behind me, I headed for the east wing of the estate, her wing.

The air there always smelled faintly of roses and polished wood, as if the walls themselves had absorbed her taste for elegance. Two guards stood at her door, each wearing the neutral expression of men who knew better than to question the Alpha’s presence.

“Leave us,” I ordered.

They stepped aside instantly.

I didn’t bother knocking. The door swung open under my hand, and there she was, seated by the window, a porcelain teacup balanced in her fingers like a weapon disguised as civility.

“Edgar,” she said smoothly, as if my sudden appearance was the most natural thing in the world. “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

“You can drop the performance,” I said, closing the door behind me. “We both know why I’m here.”

Her lips curved faintly. “I imagine you’re going to tell me.”

I stepped further inside, the soft rug muffling my boots. “You’ve been speaking to the northern packs. Negotiating in my absence. Using the elders to deliver your terms.”

“My terms?” She tilted her head slightly, her silver hair catching the light. “That implies I hold any power here. I am merely offering advice.”

I laughed once, sharp, humorless. “Advice? Is that what you call arranging a marriage alliance without speaking to me?”

Her eyes glinted, but she kept her voice mild. “You’ve always been so dramatic, Edgar. I suggested a union that would benefit the pack. If the council finds it wise, that is their decision, not mine.”

I moved closer, my shadow cutting across her. “You know exactly what you’re doing. You want me bound to someone of your choosing. Someone who will bend to your will, and keep Lia out of the seat beside mine.”

For the first time, her smile cooled. “Lia Mason is not fit to be Luna.”

The words hit harder than I wanted to admit, but I didn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing it. “That’s not your call to make.”

“It is,” she said softly, “if your judgment is compromised.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides. “Compromised?”

“You are not well, Edgar.” Her gaze was steady, unflinching. “Your strength fades. You tire faster. The pack sees it, even if they pretend otherwise. And in your weakness, you cling to her as though she can shield you from reality.”

“Careful,” I warned.

Her voice didn’t waver. “You may not live to see the next winter if you refuse the alliance. And if you die without securing the future of the pack”

“That’s enough,” I snapped, my tone cutting the air between us.

But she didn’t stop. “then your legacy will be a ruined border, a fractured council, and a Luna with no authority. The northern packs will sweep in, and she will be powerless to stop them.”

I forced my breathing to steady. Anger was her favorite battlefield, it was where she always thought she could make me lose.

“What’s your real endgame?” I asked finally. “Power? Control? Or is this just about humiliating Lia?”

Her gaze was unreadable now. “My endgame is survival. For you. For the pack. If that means making hard decisions, so be it.”

“Hard decisions,” I repeated slowly, “like forcing your son to marry someone he does not want, to protect a throne you care more about than the man sitting on it.”

“If you believe the throne and the man can be separated, you have learned nothing,” she said coldly.

I turned away for a moment, my eyes on the polished cabinets along the far wall. My reflection in the glass looked tired. Shadows under my eyes. Lines at the corners of my mouth that hadn’t been there a year ago.

And maybe she saw it too. Maybe she thought that meant she’d already won.

“I’m not agreeing to your terms,” I said finally, turning back to her. “The council can vote, the northern packs can threaten, and you can whisper in every ear you find. I will not sign away my life for your comfort.”

Her voice turned silken again, a warning in disguise. “Be careful, Edgar. Refuse the alliance, and the council will take matters into their own hands. They have the power to overrule an Alpha they deem unfit.”

It was meant to frighten me. Instead, it hardened my resolve.

“Let them try,” I said.

For a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us was taut, stretched to breaking.

Then she set her teacup down with delicate precision. “You have two days. If by then you have not agreed to the marriage, I will consider other remedies.”

I stared at her, my pulse a slow, dangerous drumbeat. “Remedies,” I repeated.

Her smile was faint. “A mother protects her child. Even from himself.”

I stepped toward the door. “You’re not protecting me. You’re protecting the version of me you can control.”

And with that, I left, not trusting myself to stay in the same room without saying something I couldn’t take back.

The corridor outside felt cooler, but the weight in my chest was heavier. I didn’t go straight to my quarters. Instead, I headed for the war room, where Brann was waiting over the maps.

He looked up sharply. “Alpha?”

“Double the northern patrols,” I ordered. “And tell Soren to prepare a counterproposal for the alliance, one that doesn’t involve marriage or council seats.”

His brow furrowed. “The elders won’t like it.”

“They’re not meant to,” I said.

By the time I returned to my quarters, the sun was already high. Lia still wasn’t there. A knot tightened in my chest, not just from worry, but from the thought of her finding out what had happened in that council chamber.

She’d want to fight it. She’d want to stand beside me. And that was exactly why I couldn’t tell her yet.

Because this wasn’t just politics anymore. It was war, and my mother had just fired the first shot.