Chapter 84 And You Will Leave Without My Children
Elana stood up from the small wooden table where she had been watching the fire. Her movement was sharp, cutting through the thick atmosphere of panic in the cabin.
"That's enough of that," Elana said firmly, her voice leaving no room for argument. She walked over to where Leela was pacing a hole in the rug. "Fennigan is not senseless, Leela. He is an Alpha. He knows exactly how to keep his wolf in check, especially when his family’s survival depends on it."
Leela spun around, her eyes wild, clutching the sobbing Briar tighter to her chest.
"He's too calm, Elana!" Leela argued, her voice cracking. "I've been in his head for years. I know his quiet, and I know his rage. This isn't either of them. I've never felt this kind of... of ice in his veins before. It’s terrifying. This is not my Fenn."
Elana didn't flinch at the outburst. She stepped into Leela's space, her expression softening just enough to show the mother beneath the Luna.
She reached out, taking Leela firmly by the upper arm.
"Sit," Elana ordered gently but with undeniable force. She guided Leela toward the small velvet sofa and pushed her down next to Ginny.
Briar, sensing the shift in authority, hiccuped and buried her face in Leela’s neck, her cries quieting to whimpers.
Elana stood over them, looking down at her daughter-in-law.
"This is your Fenn," Elana corrected her, her voice low and fierce. "He is your husband, your mate, and the father of your children. But do not forget, Leela... he is also my son."
She leaned down, placing a hand on Leela’s knee, grounding her.
"I raised that boy," Elana said. "I watched him learn to walk, and I watched him learn to lead. I know the steel that is in his spine. That 'ice' you feel? That isn't him losing control. That is him locking it down."
Elana looked into Leela’s fearful eyes.
"He is doing what he has to do to stand in front of that monster and not tear his throat out," Elana promised. "He is calculating. He is precise. And I promise you, on my life and yours, he will not do anything to put you in danger. He would stop his own heart before he let a single ember of the war he's fighting there, touch this cabin."
While back at the packhouse, Fennigan didn't back down an inch. The air between them was still crackling with the static charge of the lightning strike, but High Judge Vane seemed to recover his arrogance as quickly as he had lost it.
He straightened his spine, meeting the Alpha’s golden glare with a cold, bureaucratic sneer.
"I am the Voice of the High Council," Vane hissed, refusing to break eye contact even as sweat beaded on his forehead. "And I have no intention of leaving this property without those assets. You can summon all the thunder you want, Blackwood. It changes nothing. The law is absolute."
Fennigan laughed. It was a dark, dangerous sound that made the hair on Jax’s arms stand up.
"The law?" Fennigan repeated, his voice dropping to a whisper that cut through the silence like a razor. "You want to talk about the law? Let’s talk about the law of the land, Vane. The one you swore to protect."
Fennigan took a half-step forward, forcing Vane to rock back on his heels to avoid a collision. They were practically sharing breath now.
"You and your Council have done nothing but destroy," Fennigan accused, his voice thick with disgust. "You poisoned the Whisper Wind territory. You let it rot. You ignored the pleas of the packs living there until the land was screaming in pain."
He jabbed a finger into Vane’s chest, hard enough to leave a bruise through the expensive suit.
"We have done nothing but try to heal the wounds you caused," Fennigan snarled. "My wife—the woman you are currently threatening—almost gave her life to fix your mistakes. She poured her soul into that earth. She bled for it. She nearly died because of your negligence."
Fennigan grabbed Vane’s lapels, yanking him close. The enforcers raised their weapons, but Damon shifted the shotgun, and Jax took a step forward, his knife glinting, daring them to try.
"So do not stand on my porch and tell me about the law," Fennigan roared, shaking the High Judge. "You have no moral standing here! You are a parasite in a suit!"
He shoved Vane back. The Judge stumbled, catching himself on the hood of his SUV.
"You will leave," Fennigan commanded, the Alpha tone in his voice hitting everyone in the yard like a physical blow. "You will get in your overpriced car. You will turn around. And you will not come back here."
Fennigan pointed to the gate.
"And you will leave without my children," he finished, his voice final. "They are not yours to take. They never were."
Vane straightened his jacket, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred. He looked at Fennigan, then at the shotgun in Damon’s hands, and finally at the empty windows of the house. He knew he had lost the battle today. He didn't have the manpower to fight an Alpha, a retired Alpha, and a Beta on their home turf without catastrophic losses.
"Fine," Vane spat, signaling to his men. "We will leave."
He opened the car door, pausing with one foot inside. He turned back, his eyes cold and dead.
"But this isn't over, Blackwood," Vane promised, his voice devoid of any emotion. "We will be back. And when we return, we will bring the full force of the Guard. We won't knock. We won't ask."
He looked directly at Fennigan.
"And next time," Vane whispered, "we won't leave without the children."
He slammed the door.
The convoy peeled out, gravel spraying across the yard, the black SUVs tearing down the driveway like a funeral procession in reverse. Fennigan stood on the porch, watching the dust settle, his chest heaving, the echo of the threat hanging heavy in the mountain air.