Chapter 29 Chapter 29
AMINA
The air in the Vale Tower Atrium felt like it was made of glass—thin, sharp, and ready to shatter.
Since Rian’s return from the Morgan Hall emergency session, the atmosphere hadn't just been tense; it had been toxic. I could feel it through the Mate Bond—a jagged, vibrating frequency of Rian’s barely contained fury and something much worse: his exhaustion. He was fighting a war on ten different fronts, and I was the explosive at the center of it all.
I had tried to stay low, hiding in the communal gardens on the fortieth floor, attempting to pretend I was just another resident and not a political death sentence. But I should have known Kira wouldn't let me breathe.
"Step away from the ledge, Amina. Your 'stability' is currently under review."
I turned, my heart doing a slow, painful roll in my chest. Kira stood at the entrance to the glass-walled garden, flanked by four Enforcers I didn't recognize. They weren't Rian’s personal guard; they were internal security, the kind who answered to the Pack, not just the Alpha. They carried silver-mesh restraints, the kind meant to neutralize magic and Lycan strength alike.
"Stability review?" I asked, my voice steadier than I felt. The Earth Pulse thrummed under my skin, reacting to the sudden spike of aggression in the room. "I wasn't aware I had an appointment."
"It’s unscheduled," Kira said, her smile not reaching her cold, predatory eyes. She looked triumphant. "Given the reports of the energy spikes in the training room, the security board has mandated an immediate biometric and psychic evaluation. For the safety of the Tower."
"This is bullshit and you know it, Kira," I snapped. "You're trying to drag me into a holding cell."
"I'm following the code," she countered, her voice raising just enough to catch the attention of the pack members lingering in the hall. "A compromised Alpha might overlook the risks of an unstable Hybrid, but I will not. Secure her."
The Enforcers stepped forward. I braced myself, the kinetic energy already coiling in my palms, ready to drop the floor beneath them. I knew I shouldn't, it would only prove her point, but I wasn't going to be a sacrificial lamb.
"Stand down."
The voice didn't come with the bone-shaking weight of an Alpha Command. There was no psychic shockwave forcing everyone to their knees. Instead, it was a cold, razor-sharp edge of authority that sliced through the room.
Rian walked into the gardens. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week. There were shadows beneath his amber eyes, his jaw set in a permanent snarl but he didn't look weak. He looked like a man who had finally stopped caring about the rules.
"Alpha," Kira said, bowing her head slightly, though the gesture was dripping with mockery. "We’re just performing a standard stability check. Protocol 4-C. The Board—"
"The Board reports to me, Kira," Rian interrupted, stepping between me and the silver-mesh restraints. He didn't touch me, but the heat of him, the sheer protective wall of his presence, made the Mate Bond roar with a sudden, fierce relief. "And I have already signed off on Amina's biometric data for the morning. Her levels are within the parameters established by Alpha Haddad."
Kira let out a short, biting laugh. "Haddad. Always with the scientific jargon, Rian. You’re hiding behind spreadsheets and lab reports while a walking violation of the Lunar Pact lives in your suite. The Pack doesn't want data points. They want the Law."
"The Law is being interpreted by a Council that is currently rotting from the inside out," Rian said.
A collective gasp went up from the witnesses in the hallway. You didn't say things like that. Not in public. Not when the Council had ears everywhere.
"Be careful, Alpha," Kira warned, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You’re sounding like a traitor."
"I’m sounding like a man who has seen the ledgers," Rian countered. He took a step toward her, his eyes burning with a terrifying clarity. He wasn't using his power to crush her; he was using the truth to dismantle her. "You want to talk about Pack Law? Let’s talk about Alpha Alarie’s illegal silver trade in the South District. Or Seraphina Thorne’s 're-education' camps that haven't seen a survivor in three years. The Council doesn't want Amina dead because she’s a threat to the Shroud. They want her dead because she’s a threat to their monopoly on power."
I stared at his back, my breath hitching. He was doing it. He was burning the bridges. He wasn't physically fighting them; he was exposing the foundation of their entire world as a lie to protect me.
"That magic she carries?" Rian continued, gesturing vaguely toward me. "It's not a sickness. It’s the original balance. And the Council is terrified that if she learns to control it, their reign of terror ends. So, Kira, if you want to take her, you do it on the grounds of protecting a corrupt regime. But don't you dare call it 'security protocol.'"
The Enforcers hesitated, their eyes darting between Rian and Kira. The logic was landing. The pack members in the hall were whispering, the seeds of doubt Rian had planted already starting to sprout.
Kira’s face went pale, her composure finally fracturing under the weight of his verbal assault. She realized she had lost this round. She couldn't detain me without looking like a puppet for a corrupt Council.
"Fine," Kira spat, signaling her men to retreat. "Keep your 'asset,' Rian. Keep your secrets and your Hybrid. We’ll see how long your 'scientific' shield lasts when the truth about the Vale bloodline starts to leak."
Rian stood his ground until they were gone, his shoulders rigid. The silence that followed was heavy, a suffocating pressure that made my skin itch. The pack members dispersed quickly, afraid to be seen near the man who had just declared war on the Council.
Rian turned to me. His face was a mask of exhaustion, his hands trembling slightly at his sides.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice low.
"You shouldn't have said those things," I whispered, reaching out but stopping before I touched him. "Rian, you just painted a target on your back for her."
"The target was already there," he said, a grim smile touching his lips. "I just made it easier for them to see."
He started to lead me back toward the elevator, but Kira was waiting at the corner of the hallway, her shadow long and dark against the white marble. As we passed, Rian didn't look at her, but she stepped into his path, her eyes locked onto mine with a terrifying, knowing light.
She leaned in, her voice a low, lethal murmur that skipped the ears of the remaining guards but slammed into the Mate Bond like a physical blow.
"I have proof of your grandfather's treachery, Alpha," she whispered, her smile turning into something jagged and final. "The Vale lineage didn't survive the Sundering War because of strength. It survived because of a bargain with the shadows. Your bloodline is flawed, Rian. Rotting at the root."
She leaned closer to me, her breath cold against my ear.
"And when you fall—and you will fall—your little Hybrid will be the first thing the Pack burns to purify the mess you've made."
Kira turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing like a funeral march.
Rian froze. The Mate Bond didn't just vibrate; it went cold, a dead, hollow sensation that made me want to scream. He didn't look at me. He stared at the spot where Kira had been standing, his face going completely bloodless.
Whatever she knew, it was the one thing he couldn't defend against with logic.
"Rian?" I asked, my voice shaking. "What did she mean? What treachery?"
He didn't answer. He just gripped my arm and pulled me into the elevator, the doors sliding shut like the lid of a coffin.