Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty -five
Chapter 55
Edgar’s POV
The council chamber was colder than usual, though maybe that was just me. My body was still weak, my vision dimmer at the edges, but I stood tall at the long oak table, refusing the chair they offered. Sitting would only give them the illusion of victory.
The elders filed in one by one, their robes whispering against the stone floor. Their eyes cut toward me, then away, as though afraid of what they might see if they looked too long.
At the head of the table, Elder Malrick cleared his throat. “Alpha Nolan. We appreciate your presence. It shows respect.”
“Respect is earned,” I said flatly. “Get to the point.”
A faint murmur rippled down the table, but Brie’s voice sliced through it like silk over steel.
“The point, Edgar, is that the pack cannot survive in uncertainty.”
I turned slowly toward her. “And you’re here to clear that up for them, are you, Mother?”
Her smile was thin, poisonous. “I’m here to protect what you seem too stubborn to.”
Elder Malrick folded his hands. “We convened today to discuss a matter of stability. Your health, Alpha, has been compromised.”
“I’m standing here, aren’t I?”
“With difficulty,” another elder, Caelen, muttered.
My jaw tightened. “Say what you mean, Caelen.”
He leaned forward, fingers steepled. “We mean the pack cannot risk collapse. If you fall, we need someone strong enough, stable enough, to ensure Duskwood does not fall with you.”
Brie’s gaze flicked toward me, triumphant.
“And you’ve chosen someone,” I said.
Elder Malrick inclined his head. “We have considered candidates.”
“Considered or decided?”
The silence told me enough.
Brie broke it with her smooth, practiced voice. “They’ve decided. For your sake, Edgar. For the pack’s.”
“Say it,” I growled.
Malrick finally did. “You will take a new mate. One chosen by the council. A union that strengthens the pack’s alliances and guarantees succession.”
My hands curled into fists. “I already have a mate.”
“She’s gone,” Brie said sharply. “She left you. The council needs someone reliable. Someone who will stay.”
“You mean someone you approve of,” I snapped.
Her smile didn’t falter. “Someone the pack approves of.”
I leaned across the table, letting my voice drop low. “You don’t speak for the pack. You speak for yourself.”
Malrick interjected quickly, as if to keep the flames from spreading. “Alpha, this isn’t about personal vendettas. It’s about security. You must understand”
“I understand that you want me to bend.”
“We want you to live,” Caelen said.
I laughed, harsh and humorless. “You think a new mate will heal me? That a council-chosen bedmate will magically restore what was cursed?”
Brie’s eyes glittered. “Not restore. Replace. You are fading, Edgar. The pack needs more than fading strength. It needs continuity.”
“Continuity,” I repeated, tasting the word like poison. “Or control?”
Elder Malrick’s tone grew firmer. “This isn’t optional. The council has voted. If you refuse, we’ll call for a challenge.”
The chamber went deathly silent.
I bared my teeth. “You’d dare?”
Caelen met my eyes. “Better a challenge than a slow death that drags the pack down with you.”
Lia shifted beside me, her hand brushing mine beneath the table. Silent, steady. A lifeline.
I turned back to the elders. “And who is this miraculous candidate?”
Malrick glanced toward Brie.
She didn’t hesitate. “Lady Selene.”
The name hit like ice water.
My laugh was sharp, dangerous. “You want me to marry Selene? After her betrayal? After her schemes nearly killed me?”
“She regrets her mistakes,” Brie purred. “And more importantly, her family’s alliance could secure Duskwood’s future. Wealth. Influence. Troops.”
I shook my head slowly. “You disgust me.”
Malrick cleared his throat. “This is not a request, Alpha. It is a path forward. The only one we see.”
“Then you’re blind.”
Brie’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re dying.”
The words hung heavy in the chamber.
I took a slow step toward her. “If I die, it won’t be because I bent to you. It’ll be because I fought for what’s mine.”
“You think Lia will save you?” she asked coldly. “She’s already left once. She’ll leave again. And when she does, she’ll take your legacy with her.”
Lia’s voice finally broke through, clear and fierce. “You don’t know me.”
Every head turned.
Brie’s smile sharpened. “Oh, but I do. You’re the weakness Edgar clings to. And weaknesses break.”
“Enough,” I snapped, stepping between them. “This farce ends now.”
Malrick rose slowly. “Alpha, you cannot dismiss the council’s will. If you defy us, we’ll have no choice but to act.”
“Act?” I echoed. “On whose authority? Mine built these walls. Mine bled for this pack. And you would act against me?”
Caelen leaned forward. “We’re trying to protect Duskwood.”
“By stripping its Alpha of his choice?” I snarled.
“By ensuring Duskwood has an Alpha,” Brie countered.
Silence stretched. My heartbeat thundered, but my voice stayed steady when I finally said:
“You want to remove me? Try. Call your challenge. But know this, anyone who comes for me will pay with blood. And no council decree will shield them.”
Malrick exhaled slowly, a man trying to steady a ship in stormy seas. “We’ll adjourn. For now.”
The elders rose, robes whispering, eyes sharp. Some looked uncertain. Some looked convinced. All of them left the chamber colder than they had entered.
When the doors shut, only Brie remained.
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You can posture all you want, Edgar. But time is running out. Every second you waste clinging to that girl, you lose strength. You lose allies. And when you finally fall” Her eyes glittered. “I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”
I met her gaze, unflinching. “Then pray I don’t live long enough to drag you down with me.”
She smiled, cruel and patient. “Oh, son. You already are.”
And then she swept from the chamber, her perfume lingering like frostbite.
Lia touched my arm gently. “Edgar”
“I won’t let them do this,” I said, my voice rough. “Not to me. Not to us.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Then we fight.”
And for the first time since I’d woken weak and broken, I believed we could.