Chapter 40 Kaden's POV
The council chamber was tense when I walked in.
Victor Voss sat at the head of the table in my seat like he owned the place. He was a large man, broad-shouldered and imposing, with steel-gray hair and cold eyes that assessed everything with calculating precision. Three of his personal guards stood behind him, their hands resting on their weapons.
The elders were already seated. Elder Marcus, Elder Rowan, Elder Vera, and the others. Their expressions were troubled and worried.
"Alpha Kaden." Victor said, not bothering to stand.
"Thank you for joining us. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."
I moved to stand across from him, refusing to take a subordinate position. "You requested an emergency meeting. I'm here to state your business."
"My business is simple: you are holding my daughter in your cells on charges of attempted murder. I want her released."
"She poisoned a member of this pack and faces trial."
"Your evidence is circumstantial at best. A vial found in her room? Anyone could have planted it."
"The substance matches what was found in the victim's system."
"Which proves nothing about who administered it." Victor leaned forward.
"You are making accusations without proof, Kaden. And in doing so, you are creating a political disaster."
"I'm enforcing pack law."
"You are being reckless." Victor's voice hardened.
"Do you have any idea what releasing my daughter from that coronation has done to our families' alliance? What 's done to your pack's reputation?"
"I'm more concerned with justice than reputation."
"Are you?" Victor pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. "Because from where I am sitting, your priorities seem confused."
I opened the folder Inside were documents. Reports. Analysis of Blue Moon Pack's resources, defenses, trade agreements.
"What is this?" I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew.
"An assessment of your pack's current state. Commissioned by me, of course." Victor smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
"Your borders are understaffed, your trade routes are vulnerable. Your alliances are shaky at best. And with the recent Erebus attacks, you've lost key warriors you can't afford to replace."
He wasn't wrong, every point he made was accurate.
"You need allies, Kaden, strong allies. My family provides significant resources to this pack. Protection trade connections, political support." He paused.
"All of which disappears the moment my daughter is convicted of a crime she didn't commit."
Elder Marcus cleared his throat. "Alpha, perhaps we should consider-"
"No," I said firmly.
"You haven't heard what I was going to say."
"I don't need to, the answer is no. Selena attempted murder. She faces consequences."
Victor's expression didn't change. "Then let me be clearer about what you're risking. Without my family's support, your trade agreement with the Western packs dissolves.”
“Your access to their territories for passage is gone. The political backing we have provided when other Alphas questioned your leadership has withdrawn."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm stating facts you are an Alpha with a pack under siege. You have lost warriors, you have mysterious enemies targeting you. And now you want to alienate one of your strongest allies over an omega servant."
He tilted his head. "That is not leadership that is pride."
"It's justice."
"It's foolish."
Elder Rowan spoke up. "Alpha Kaden, we need to think practically here. Victor makes valid points. We can't afford to lose his family's support, not now, not with everything else we are facing."
"So we just ignore that his daughter tried to murder someone?"
"We release her to her family's custody," Rowan said. "Ban her from pack lands to make it clear she won't be Luna. But we don't imprison her, we don't create enemies we don't need."
I looked around the table and every elder was nodding. Every single one of them agreed with Victor.
"This is exactly what she wants." I said. "To avoid consequences. To walk away unpunished."
"She'll be punished," Victor said. "By her family. In our own way. You have my word."
"Your words mean nothing to me."
Victor's eyes narrowed. "Then perhaps you should ask yourself what does mean something to you. Because from where I'm sitting, you're willing to sacrifice your entire pack's stability to protect one insignificant wolf."
The words stung because they echoed what everyone had been saying. What even I had worried about.
But Elara wasn't insignificant. She was my mate, the mother of my child.
And she deserved justice.
"I will release Selena." I said finally, and saw relief flash across the elders' faces.
"But she is permanently banned from Blue Moon Pack lands. If she sets foot here again, she'll be arrested on sight.”
“And the arrangement is void, she will never be my Luna. That decision is final and non-negotiable."
Victor studied me for a long moment. "Acceptable."
"And I want it in writing a formal agreement that your family will honor the ban and not retaliate against this pack for Selena's actions."
"Done." Victor stood. "I'll have my lawyers draw up the documents. Selena will be released into my custody tomorrow morning."
He walked out without another word, his guards following.
The elders began talking among themselves, clearly relieved that the crisis had been averted.
I felt sick.
I'd just released the woman who'd tried to kill Elara. Let her walk away with barely a slap on the wrist.
All because I didn't have the strength to stand against political pressure.
I left the council chamber without speaking to anyone. I walked through the hallways in a daze.
I found myself at Elder Miriam's quarters without really meaning to. She was the only one who might understand. The only one who wouldn't judge me too harshly for what I'd just done.
She answered the door in her nightgown and robe, her silver hair loose around her shoulders.
"Kaden? It's three in the morning."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just... I needed to talk to someone."
She studied my face, then stepped aside. "Come in."
Her quarters smelled like herbs and old books. She led me to her small kitchen and immediately began making tea, moving around with the ease of someone who'd done this a thousand times.
"Sit.” She ordered.
I sat.
She placed a cup in front of me, then began pulling ingredients from her pantry. Flour. Eggs. Butter.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Making bread. I think better when my hands are busy." She began mixing ingredients with practiced efficiency. "Now tell me what happened."
So I told her about Victor's demands. About the elders siding with him. About releasing Selena.
Miriam listened without interrupting, her hands kneading dough in steady, rhythmic motions.
When I finished, she was quiet for a long moment.
"You did what you had to do," She said finally.
"I let her go. I let the woman who tried to kill-" I stopped myself.
"Kill who, Kaden?"
I looked at her. Really looked at her. Miriam had been there when I was born. He helped raise me after my mother died. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was her.
"Elara is my mate," I said quietly. "My fated mate, I rejected her and now she is pregnant with my child."
Miriam's hands stilled on the dough. She didn't look shocked, just sad.
"I know." She said,
"You know?"
"I suspected from the moment you brought her back. The way you looked at her. The way you protected her. An Alpha doesn't act that way over a servant."
She resumed kneading. "When did you reject her?"
"Seven weeks ago the morning after we... after we mated."
"Why?"
"Because I was terrified. The bond was so strong. It felt like I was losing control. Like she had power over me that I couldn't fight."
I ran my hands through my hair. "So I pushed her away before she could have that power."
"And now?"
"Now she hates me and she remembers everything. Tonight she told me she doesn't think she can forgive me."
Miriam shaped the dough into a loaf and placed it in a pan. "Can you blame her?"
"No."
"Good at least you are not completely blind."
She washed her hands and sat down across from me. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know if I want to fix it or prove to her that I've changed. But how do I do that when every decision I make seems to hurt her more?"
"You start by being honest with her, with yourself, with the pack."
"I can't tell the pack. Not yet. Not with everything else happening."
"Why not?"
"Because they're already turning against her. Calling her cursed. Blaming her for the attacks. If they find out she's my rejected mate carrying a blessed child..."
I shook my head. "They'll tear her apart."
Miriam was quiet for a moment. "Your father used to say the same thing."
The mention of my father made me stiff. "What?"
"When he was courting your mother. The pack didn't approve. She wasn't from a powerful family. Wasn't considered suitable for an Alpha. He kept their relationship secret for months because he was afraid of what the pack would say."
"I don't see how that's relevant."
"Because eventually, he had to make a choice. The pack's approval or the woman he loved. He chose her. Publicly. Proudly. And yes, some pack members were upset. But most of them came around when they saw how happy she made him."
"My father was a better man than I am."
"Your father was a man who made mistakes just like you. The difference is, he learned from them." She reached across the table and took my hand.
"You're not your father, Kaden. You're your own person. And you get to decide what kind of Alpha you want to be."
I looked down at our joined hands. "I don't want to be like him in one way."
"What way?"
"He loved my mother so much that when she died, he fell apart. Stopped leading and stopped caring. He let the pack suffer because he couldn't bear the pain of losing her."
I met Miriam's eyes. "I don't want to love Elara so much that losing her destroys me."