Chapter 61 Standing Up For Myself

Chapter 61 Standing Up For Myself
Aurelia

“No, we can’t have a female as our commander!” Of course, it was Ravina who objected first.

The sound that tore from her wasn’t human. It lashed the council chamber, and her fist followed, slamming the oak table hard enough to make the iron goblets scream against the wood.

The sound ricocheted off the stone walls, a challenge thrown down in the silence. It dared anyone to speak against her.

Unease rippled through the gathered shifter elders and warriors. Their heads dipped low, one after the other, their shoulders shifting to show discomfort and silent agreement.

I did’nt flinch when their eyes cut to me, edged with suspicion, and threaded with resentment.

Every stare felt like claws raking across my skin.

Zhayad sat rigid beside me, his powerful frame coiled with barely leashed tension. His hand rested on the arm of his chair, his fingers flexing once, as if fighting the urge to reach for me. 

The mate bond between us thrummed softly, though there was still something bruised and wary about it.

I drew in a slow breath, then rose from my seat.

The movement was unhurried. I refused to remain seated like some fragile ornament at the Alpha’s side. 

“Right about what, Ravina?” My voice cut through the murmurs, calm but edged with steel. I folded my arms beneath my breasts and met their stares head-on. “About your insecurities? War is at our gates. Loyalty in this pack flips faster than a leaf in the wind. We need a commander who would bleed and die for Onyx Fang, not a chameleon who shifts allegiance the moment the power balance changes.”

A heavy silence crashed over the room. One of the senior male shifter elders leaned forward, his scarred fingers stroking his thick gray mustache. 

His eyes narrowed on me with cold assessment. “And you would?” he asked, skepticism leaking from his words. “Die for this pack?”

Zhayad’s jaw tightened beside me. I felt the hot flare of protective fury through the bond, but he held his tongue. This was my fight now.

I lifted my chin and looked every single one of them in the eye. “My mate is the Alpha of this pack,” I paused to let it sink in.

“My heart, my body, and my soul are bound to him. If laying down my life saves him, if it saves us, then I will do it without hesitation.”

I heard Zhayad's sharp intake of air. 

For a heartbeat, I almost believed I’d reached them.

Then Ravina let out a bitter, mocking laugh. She shook her head slowly, her lips peeling back to bare her teeth.

“No, you haven’t answered anything,” she spat, clenching hee fists on the table. “For years we were powerful, untouchable, formidable. The strongest shifter pack in the region. Until your father, Cassian Varkis, that harbinger of death and ruin, came and burned everything we loved. And you expect us to believe his own blood suddenly wants to save us?”

The accusation stung, but I refused to let these people see how it hurt me. 

Whispers erupted again, louder this time, laced with fear and old grief. I felt the sting of it, but I didn’t flinch. 

Instead, I smiled, even in the face of accusation. 

“I’ll forgive your doubt, Ravina,” I said softly, tilting my head, “if you can explain why you still sit at this table after conspiring to have me driven out. After your repeated betrayals. After your title as matron was stripped. Yet here you are, slithering back into sensitive council meetings like you still belong. We all know what you are.”

The room exploded. Voices clashed over one another, growls, accusations, shouts. The tension that had been simmering finally boiled over.

Ravina shot to her feet, her face flushed with fury. 

“Alpha, your Luna—”

Zhayad raised one hand. The single gesture silenced the room faster than a blade to the throat.

His voice, when it came, was low, dark, and laced with quiet authority that made the hairs on my neck rise.

“She is our Luna,” he said. The words carried weight, finality. “And she speaks the truth. Every soul in this room knows it.” His green eyes swept over the council methodically. “I have given you the benefit of the doubt time and again, Ravina, despite your… suspicious movements. Do you truly want to know why I still allow you here?”

Ravina’s eyes darted around frantically. The trap she’d set for me had snapped shut around her own throat. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

She reminded me of a fish out of water, the kind Lila and I used to catch with our bare hands. The memory caused a lump to form in my throat. Lila, my once upon a time best friend.

Zhayad leaned forward slightly, his presence filling the entire chamber.

“You're still here, because even a traitor can still be useful,” he said, each word more deliberate than the last, “until they are not.”

The silence that followed was deafening. I lowered myself back into my seat, my heart pounding from the adrenaline rush that usually accompanied talking to such a large number of people.

Through the bond, I felt a flicker of something warm and fierce brush against me,.pride, perhaps. Or hunger. Zhayad’s gaze slid to mine for a brief, charged moment, heavy with everything we hadn’t yet said to each other.

Ravina sank slowly into her chair, pale and trembling with suppressed rage.

I kept my expression composed, but inside, the fire still burned.

Just when I thought we were finished with that segment of the meeting, Lance cleared his throat, leaning forward with that careful, calculated expression he always wore when he thought he was being clever.

“But one thing remains unclear to us all,” he said, his voice smooth but laced with challenge. “If she were any ordinary shifter from the lower ranks, would you still crown her commander, Alpha?”

The question landed like a gauntlet thrown at Zhayad’s feet. I felt the shift in the room immediately, the subtle straightening of spines, the sharpening of gazes. 

They were waiting. Hoping, perhaps, that Lance would expose some weakness in their Alpha’s judgment.

Zhayad didn’t even glance at him at first. His powerful frame remained relaxed in the massive carved chair, one finger tapping slowly against the armrest. But I felt the storm brewing through our mate bond.

“If you have a point, Lance,” Zhayad finally said, his voice a low rumble that carried the unmistakable weight of command, “make it. Quickly.”

Lance swallowed but pressed on, emboldened by the murmurs of agreement rippling around the table.

“Why her? She’s powerful, yes, but she’s also Cassian Varkis’s daughter. A witch. And now you want to hand her control over our warriors in the middle of an impending war?”

He was smarter than I’d given him credit for. He’d struck at the heart of the pack’s deepest fear.

Zhayad finally turned his head, fixing Lance with a stare so intense the beta visibly tensed. For a long moment, the Alpha said nothing. 

The silence stretched on for a long moment until I decided I’d had enough.

I rose slowly from my seat, the legs of the heavy chair scraping against stone. Every eye snapped to me. Good.

“My magic has evolved,” I said, my voice clear and steady, carrying across the chamber. “It’s no longer the weak, hidden thing I once feared.”

Ravina, who had been sulking in bitter silence, lifted her head. A spark of genuine curiosity, and malice flickered in her eyes.

“Oh?” she drawl. “Can you fly now, little witch? How impressive. Every broom-riding hag can do that.”

Snickers and low laughter erupted around the table. The sound grated against my nerves like claws on glass.

I smiled. It wasn’t kind. “Flying?” I tilted my head. “It’s too simple. Too limited. Useful only for running away.” My gaze swept the room, locking onto Lance. “I can do something far more useful.”