Eighty One : Chains of the Council
Mara's POV
The iron doors slammed behind me, the door sound echoed like a cage locking shut.
“Move,” a guard snarled, shoving me forward. My knees hit cold stone, the chains biting deeper into my wrists.
Iron burned. My wolf whimpered inside, retreating beneath the weight of it.
I didn’t cry out. I wouldn’t give them that.
Two more guards dragged me through the corridor, their armor clanking. Torches burned blue along the walls, filling the air with smoke and the stink of fear.
Through the haze, I caught glimpses, shadows watching from balconies, robed figures whispering behind veils. The Council.
They’d been waiting for me.
“Bring her to the chamber,” someone ordered.
The guards yanked me upright. I stumbled forward, forcing my chin high, even as my wrists bled against the chains.
Every step closer, my wolf howled in my skull. Ronald.
I could still feel him, faint, distant, but alive. The bond pulled tight, as if he were running toward me.
Hold on, I told myself. Just hold on.
The doors opened into a vast stone hall. Pillars carved with snarling wolves towered over a circle of thrones. On each seat sat an Elder, cloaked, pale, and old as death.
“Silverfang,” one spat, voice dripping with scorn. “At last.”
“I prefer Mara,” I said flatly.
The nearest Elder sneered. “A name stolen from ashes.”
Chains rattled as they dragged me to the center of the floor. The iron collar around my neck hummed, cutting off my wolf’s strength completely. I felt naked without her.
“She carries the scent of Bloodfang,” another said. “The Alpha’s taint runs through her now.”
I met his eyes. “He’s not tainted.”
“Silence!”
The word hit like a blow, literal. The magic in the air thrummed, pressing against my skull. I swayed but didn’t kneel.
“You stand accused of false claim,” the head Elder said. His voice was steady, ancient, and cruel. “You are no heir. The Silverfangs are dead and you are a pretender, an instrument of division.”
“I didn’t ask for your stage,” I snapped. “You killed my family and now you call me a liar for surviving?”
Whispers rippled through the hall. The Elders didn’t like being spoken to like that.
One of them rose, face half-hidden by shadow. “You have bonded with a Bloodfang. A cursed union. The prophecy warns of this.”
My heart pounded. “The prophecy says nothing about curses.”
The Elder’s lips curved. “Then you’ve never read the true version.”
He gestured to the guards. They pulled at my chains, forcing me to my knees.
The iron bit deep again, blood slicking my hands. I clenched my fists and said nothing.
“You claim to carry the Silverfang blood,” the Head Elder said, “yet your wolf is silent. Why?”
“She’s not silent,” I said quietly. “You just can’t hear her.”
“Lies,” he hissed. “The chains suppress what little beast remains in you.”
My wolf stirred weakly, her voice a faint growl inside me. Don’t bow. Don’t break.
I lifted my head. “You’re afraid of me.”
The hall froze.
One of the guards struck me across the face. The sound cracked like thunder. My cheek burned, but I smiled through it. “If I wasn’t a threat, you wouldn’t need the chains.”
Gasps fluttered through the chamber. The Head Elder slammed his staff down. “Enough.”
But I’d already seen it, the flicker in his eyes. Fear.
Then the air shifted. A figure stepped out from behind the throne. Robes black as night. Voice smooth as venom.
“Tell me, Mara Silverfang,” he said. “Do you know who killed your father?”
I froze. The question came out too calm, too deliberate.
He moved closer until I could see his pale, scarred hand. “You think it was the Council who ended him?”
I didn’t answer. My pulse thundered in my ears.
He leaned in, breath cold against my ear. “Your mate did.”
The words hit harder than any blow.
“What?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Ronald Bloodfang. His father gave the order, yes, but the claws that ripped out your father’s throat… were your mate’s.”
My stomach twisted. “You’re lying.”
“Are we?” He tilted his head. “The bond hides much, little wolf. But under the Blood Moon, all truth is laid bare.”
He straightened, turning to the rest. “She’ll see it herself when the moon rises to its peak. Then we’ll all know what she really is.”
The other Elders murmured approval. My wolf screamed inside me, slamming against the chains, desperate to break free.
He’s lying. He’s lying.
But doubt crept in anyway, cold, poisonous.
The guards began to drag me back toward the holding cells. I didn’t resist this time. I just kept hearing those words over and over.
Your mate killed your father.
The iron collar burned against my throat. The halls blurred around me.
Somewhere beyond the walls, I felt a faint echo, a heartbeat that wasn’t mine. Ronald. Still coming and still fighting.
I gritted my teeth and whispered to the empty air, “If it’s true, I’ll make him tell me himself.”
The guard laughed under his breath. “You won’t live that long.”
But I smiled coldly. “You don’t know me.”
And as they threw me into the dark cell, the Blood Moon’s red light slipped through the bars, bright, pulsing, alive.
Something in the blade hidden beneath my sleeve answered.
A faint, silver glow.