Chapter 50

Chapter 50
Rowan’s POV

The council room had never felt so stuffy.

Not when I was a boy sitting in this same chamber, learning from the older Alphas. Not when I took over this pack from my father. Not even during the worst years of the rogue wars.

But today it felt suffocating.

Too many voices. Too many opinions. Too much blame.

All of it aimed at one person.

Lyla.

“Our Alpha’s judgment is compromised,” Elder Grant said, his voice full of artificial calm as he leaned back in his chair. “We don’t doubt your intention, Rowan. But your protection of this outsider is becoming dangerous for the entire pack.”

“Outsider?” I repeated, louder than I meant to. “She’s lived here for half a year. She works here. She serves this pack every single day. She has done nothing wrong—”

“She is not one of us!” Dalia’s father shot back, slamming a hand down. “And now, because of her, someone breached our borders. Someone poisoned her inside your own house. What happens when they come for others? For my daughter?”

I stared at him, but before I could speak, another Elder joined in.

“Alpha, we respect what you’ve done for this pack. But your refusal to remove the threat is putting us at risk. A decision has to be made.”

I knew what they wanted me to say.

I also knew what I was never going to say.

“She is not a threat.”

“You don’t know that,” one Elder insisted. “What if she’s being tracked? What if she’s being used as a way into our borders? We don’t know who she is aligned with—”

“She is not aligned with anyone,” I cut in sharply.

Silence.

Everyone stared at me.

Everyone except Dalia.

She just watched me with a satisfied tilt of her head, like she had finally won.

She folded her arms and let out a quiet sigh. “We wouldn’t be here if you’d seen this earlier, Rowan. I told you she didn’t belong with us. But you didn’t listen.”

She turned toward the council.

“If he won’t protect us, then someone has to.”

There it was.

Her push, challenge and ultimatum.

My wolf stirred beneath my skin, ready to surface.

Before I could speak, a voice came from behind me.

“We all know what this is really about.”

Damon.

He walked in through the side door, shoulders raised, expression sharp. He wasn’t supposed to be here. This was a council-only meeting. But he stood beside me anyway, choosing his side without hesitation.

Dalia rolled her eyes. “Oh, wonderful. Of course the Beta is here to defend her.”

Damon didn’t even look at her. His eyes were pinned on the Elders.

“You’ve all eaten the food she makes. You’ve accepted her kindness. You’ve used her talent, her hands, her time. Now that she’s the one in danger, you want her out. That’s not caution. That’s cowardice.”

Murmurs spread around the table.

Elder Grant straightened. “This is not about emotions, Beta Damon. This is about the welfare of the entire pack.”

“And she is part of the pack,” Damon said firmly.

“She was never meant to be,” Dalia's mother snapped.

Before I could respond, Dalia stepped forward, voice low and urgent.

“She doesn’t belong here. She never did. And now you’re jeopardizing the peace of the entire pack for her. If you want to keep her here, fine then everyone should know what they’re risking. Even I don’t feel safe anymore.”

That was it.

That was the trigger.

My wolf surged inside me, not just angry, but territorial. Protective. Close to the edge.

“Don’t speak like you’re the victim,” I said to her, the words sharp enough to cut.

Dahlia blinked, startled.

Her father stood up immediately. “You will not speak to my daughter like that.”

“Then tell your daughter to stop manipulating the situation,” Damon snapped, stepping fully into the room. “She’s the one who went into Lyla’s room at night with guards accusing her of theft. Turns out she just fabricated the story to cause commotion. You didn’t think we’d find out about that?”

Gasps swept the room.

Dalia face went pale.

She opened her mouth to deny it but I took a step forward, voice low with control.

“I warned you about targeting her. You didn’t listen.”

Dalia’s expression twisted. “You’re defending her over your own Luna-to-be. Do you even hear yourself? You’ve lost sense of what matters.”

What matters.

My vision blurred for half a second.

The pack. The people. The safety. The deception. The poisoning. The betrayal.

And beneath all of it—

Lyla, her face when she collapsed, her tears when she was accused, her fear when she thought she had to leave.

Something inside me snapped. My wolf tore through my control. I didn’t shift fully but the entire room felt the force of him.

Furniture rattled. Windows shook. A low, dangerous growl filled the chamber even though my mouth hadn’t moved.

Everyone froze. Even Damon. Even Dalia.

Nobody breathed. Nobody spoke.

And for the first time since this meeting started,  they finally stopped seeing Lyla as the threat…

…and saw me instead.

The air in the council room shifted; sharp, charged, and dangerous.

I could feel my wolf right under my skin, pressing to break through, to defend, to destroy whatever or whoever stood between him and what he wanted to protect.

Every Elder stared at me now. Not Damon. Not Dahlia. Not Lyla.
Me.

Fear flickered in their eyes, even the ones who never flinched during war.

The room stayed frozen for a solid second until Elder Bryce finally cleared his throat.

“Alpha Rowan,” he said slowly, like he was trying not to set off a bomb, “we are not here to provoke you. We only want to settle this matter—”

“This matter,” I interrupted, “should never have become a council issue. It should’ve stayed between the people involved. But it has been twisted. Weaponized. Lied about.”

My gaze landed on Dalia.

She didn’t flinch but her eyes gave her away. She was nervous now. Maybe for the first time since this began. Maybe for the first time since she stepped into this pack thinking she owned it.

Damon stepped up beside me, voice low. “Rowan, take a breath.”

I didn’t look at him but I heard him.

Calm wasn’t easy right now.

Especially when Elder Jasper stood and said, “The truth is, Alpha, this girl—”

“Her name,” I said sharply, “is Lyla. And you will use it.”

A few Elders exchanged looks, but Jasper continued, stubborn as always.

“As I was saying, Lyla has become a point of conflict in the pack. For the safety of all, it may be better if she is removed.”

“Removed?” Damon snapped. “She’s a person, not a piece of furniture.”

“She is a risk,” Dalia replied with cold satisfaction. “No matter what you two think.”

“You tried to frame her,” Damon fired back. “You went into her room at night and tore it apart just to build a case against her. And you call her the danger?”

Dalia’s parents stiffened. Her father pointed toward Damon. “You’ve lost control of your Beta, Rowan. He’s out of line.”

“No,” Damon said without hesitation. “What’s out of line is pretending this is about safety when it’s about jealousy. Ego. And fear of losing control.”

Dalia’s mother gasped. “How dare you speak to her that way—”

“I’m speaking to the truth,” Damon said, steady and unshaken. “And the truth is, Lyla is not the problem. She never was.”

“Enough.”

My voice was too calm, the kind of calm that made the room go silent.

I looked at every person sitting before me.

“I have led this pack without failure since the day I took the oath. I have protected every single one of you, through wars, raids, rebellions, famine. I have never turned my back on this pack. Not once.”

Silence.

“And I won’t start today. Not because of gossip. Not because of fear. Not because of manipulation.”

Dalia shifted, looking irritated that this wasn’t going her way anymore.

One of the Elders spoke up again.

“Then we leave the decision in your hands, Alpha. But if something happens because she stays—”

“If something happens,” I said, voice like steel, “it will be handled. By me. Not this council.”

I stepped back.

“Meeting adjourned.”

One by one, they rose. Nervous. Quiet. Some still seething. Some still afraid. But the one thing they weren’t anymore…

Was loud.

Only Damon stayed. And Dalia.

Dahlia rose slowly, her eyes locked on me like she was studying a stranger. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said softly. “Because eventually, you’ll have to decide what matters more, your pack or some girl who doesn’t even care about you.”

That hit something deep.

Before I could respond, she turned and walked out, her parents close behind her.

The moment they were gone, Damon exhaled. “They won’t let this go,” he said. “They’ll keep pushing. And Dalia… she’s not slowing down.”

“Let her push,” I said, but my voice was low, tired. “I’m done entertaining this.”

“But Rowan—”

“I said I’m done.”

Damon didn’t move at first.

Then he said quietly, “This wasn’t just about council protocol. This was also about her. You’re not just angry at them. You’re angry at me.”

I didn’t answer.

He waited.

“Say it,” he finally pushed.

I turned toward him then, and whatever he saw on my face, he exhaled hard, like he already knew.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep her safe,” he said. “You know that.”

“Are you?” I asked.

His jaw set, but he stayed quiet.

“She looks at you like you’re the sun,” I said. “And all you do is pull her closer to a war she’s not ready for.”

“And what about you?” His voice was sharper now. “You act like you don’t care when everyone can see you’d burn the entire pack to the ground for her.”

That stopped me.

Because he was right. And I hated that he was.

We stood there, not Alpha and Beta, not brothers in arms but rivals with the same center.

Lyla.

Damon looked away first.

“I’m not your enemy, Rowan,” he said. “But if you turn her into some kind of trophy in your head, something you can’t have, something I shouldn’t have then we’re both going to lose her.”

He walked out then, leaving me alone in a room that suddenly felt too big…

…and too quiet.



Silence settled over the empty council room after Damon left. The kind of silence that didn’t bring peace... just pressure. The walls felt too close. The air too thick. Every word said in the last hour still hung in front of me like I couldn’t escape it.

Coward.
Jeopardizing the pack.
Choosing her over your own fiancée.
She doesn’t belong here.

Lyla’s face kept flickering through my mind; pale, tired, confused. The way she looked the night she’d been poisoned. The way she tried to be brave even when she didn’t feel safe. And the way she kept trying, over and over, to stay useful, to be kind, to belong.

And they still looked at her like she was a problem.

I leaned forward, bracing my hands on the long council table. My wolf paced inside me, restless, angry, not satisfied by anything that had happened because nothing was actually fixed.

Nothing was safe.

A knock came at the door... sharp, hesitant.

I already knew who it was.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, and Dalia stepped in. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying, but her posture was still perfect. Controlled. Masked.

“I thought you’d be in your office,” she said softly.

“I wanted quiet,” I replied.

She nodded slowly and walked further into the room, heels tapping lightly against the wood.

“I know you think I’m attacking her,” Dahlia said, voice barely above a whisper. “But I’m not doing it out of jealousy, Rowan. I’m doing it because I want to feel safe in my own home. I want my pack to be safe. That’s all.”

I didn’t answer.

Because I could tell she believed what she was saying.

She stood across from me, twisting one of her rings around her finger. “I don’t know what she means to you. I’ve stopped trying to understand that. But I need you to hear me — I’m not your enemy.”

For the first time today, her voice trembled.

“I’m scared. And maybe I’m wrong. But I can’t pretend everything is fine when strangers are breaking in, poisoning people, dragging old danger into our pack. You’re asking me to trust when I’m not even sure you trust yourself around her.”

Her eyes searched mine.

And I hated that she was both wrong and… a little right.

“I just want my place back,” she whispered. “I want to feel like I belong here, too.”

That was the first thing she’d said today that didn’t feel like a performance.

But I still didn’t have it in me to comfort her.

Not when all I wanted, all I feared was that Lyla might never feel safe here again.

I stepped back, rubbing the tension in my forehead. “Dalia… I don’t know how to fix any of this right now,” I admitted quietly. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

She stared at me, eyes shining again. “Then start by choosing,” she said softly. “Because whether you want to or not, eventually everyone else will force you to.”

She left the room then not angry, not smug; just exhausted.

And once again, I was alone.

Only this time, the silence felt heavy.

And everything in me, every instinct, every memory, every chord of loyalty pulled toward one direction.

Not the pack.
Not the throne.
Not Dalia.
Not even Damon.

Her.

Lyla.

My wolf let out a quiet, frustrated growl inside me, and I dragged a hand down my face.

Was protecting her going to cost everything I’d built?

Was losing her going to cost even more?

My thoughts spiraled, chasing themselves in circles as I stepped out of the council room and headed back to my office.

But the moment I reached the hallway... 

Damon was there.

He didn’t speak at first.

Neither did I.

We just stood there,  two men on opposite sides of the same war.

Finally, he said, “She’s awake again.”

My heart kicked against my ribs.

“She’s still weak,” Damon continued. “But she’s stable. She asked about you.”

I looked at him sharply and regretted it when I saw the flicker of pain in his expression.

“She thinks you hate her,” he added quietly. “She doesn’t know what’s happening behind the scenes. She just knows she keeps hurting people, and she doesn’t want to keep being a burden.”

She thought that?

After everything I’d fought for?

I wanted to move. To go to her. To tell her she was wrong. That she wasn’t the problem. That I—

But I didn’t move.

Because Damon took a step closer and said the last thing I expected:

“I’m not asking you to step aside,” he said quietly. “But I am asking you… to make up your mind. Before she breaks.”

And then he walked away, leaving me standing there, torn wide open.

I didn’t follow him.

Not yet.

Because I knew exactly what he meant.