Chapter 169 The Account
The council chamber was quieter than the arena had been.
Kane and Aria stood before them.
“We are here regarding the child,” Kane said. “Emma Cross. We are requesting guardianship.”
The head elder looked at him for a moment.
“We will hear the request,” he said. “But first we require a full account. Devon of the Crimson Lake pack challenged for dominion over seven territories and died in that circle. Before this council rules on anything further, we need to understand how it began.”
Kane nodded once.
“Then we will tell you.”
The elder gestured for them to proceed.
“Devon and I were rivals from the beginning,” Kane said. “We never hit it off. There was always something between us that neither of us named.”
“Did you know why?” the elder asked.
“No,” Kane said. “Not until recently.”
He glanced at Aria.
She took it from there.
“Devon was Victoria’s fated mate,” she said.
The chamber stilled.
The head elder’s gaze sharpened.
“Victoria,” he said. “The same woman Kane was engaged to for three years.”
“Yes,” Aria said. “She was his fated mate. He knew it. She knew it. And she rejected him.”
A quiet shift moved through the elders.
“She chose Kane instead,” Aria continued. “Devon never said a word about it. He stood beside Kane, worked alongside him, during the fight without ever explaining the root of the rivalry.”
The elder looked at Kane.
“You had no knowledge of the bond?”
“None,” Kane said. “Devon kept it to himself. I can only assume that watching the man your mate chose over you, day after day, year after year, does something to a person.”
“And then,” Aria said, “Kane ended things with Victoria after the truth about Moon fever came to light.”
The older woman at the far end of the table leaned forward slightly.
“Devon lost his fated mate to a man who did not even want her,” she said.
“Yes,” Aria said.
The room held that for a moment.
The head elder’s expression remained measured.
“Continue,” he said.
Aria steadied herself.
“Devon and I met around the time Kane came back into my life,” she said. “We spent time together. He made his interest clear. We went on a date or two but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Kane’s jaw tightened beside her.
He already knew. Hearing it said plainly in a formal room was still a different thing.
The head elder folded his hands on the table.
“So Devon lost his fated mate to Kane,” he said slowly. “Then developed feelings for another woman who also chose Kane.”
“Yes,” Aria said.
“And he still said nothing.”
“No,” Kane confirmed. “He kept the rivalry. He kept his composure. And he kept coming back.”
The older woman spoke again.
“Then Alexander rose,” she said. “And Devon allied with you.”
“He did,” Kane said. “And for a long time I believed it was because he understood what Alexander represented. A threat to every territory, every pack, every person in this region.”
He paused.
“I was wrong about that. Or at least, I was incomplete.”
“Explain,” the elder said.
Kane looked at Aria briefly before continuing.
“Alexander was the reason Victoria rejected Devon,” he said. “He gave his daughter no choice but to be with me. Devon did not help us defeat Alexander out of loyalty but revenge.”
A quiet moment passed.
“And after Alexander fell,” the head elder said, “Devon had no reason left to stand beside you.”
“None that served him,” Kane said.
“So he pivoted,” the elder said. “The territorial claim. Victoria.”
The chamber was silent for a long moment.
Then the head elder nodded once.
“And Amanda,” he said. “Where does she fit in?”
Aria took a breath.
“Amanda was my half sister,” she said. “I did not know she existed until recently.”
She folded her hands in front of her.
“We don’t know how Devon met her. We believe he recognized who she was and saw an opportunity. Amanda was angry. She had her own damage, her own grievances. Devon positioned himself as someone she could trust.”
“He used her,” the elder said.
“He told himself he was helping her,” Aria replied. “Amanda was volatile. She had access to channels Devon could not reach on his own. He kept her close enough to be useful and far enough away that he could still stand in this territory and call himself loyal.”
“And people were hurt,” the elder said.
“Yes,” Kane said. No elaboration. No excuse.
The elder nodded.
“And the child,” he said. “Emma.”
Aria felt Kane’s attention shift to her.
“Amanda was not in a position to raise Emma safely,” Aria said. “Devon knew that. He inserted himself into her life early. Became her caretaker. Her protector.”
“He loved her,” Kane said.
The words came out without ceremony.
Aria looked at him.
Kane held the elder’s gaze.
“Whatever else he was, whatever he did, he loved that child. That part was not a strategy.”
The elder studied him for a moment.
Then he looked at Aria.
“You are here to claim guardianship,” he said.
“Yes,” Aria said. “Amanda was my sister. That makes Emma my niece. She has no one left. And she belongs with family.”
The head elder was quiet for a moment.
Then he rose slightly from his seat, his attention moving past Kane and Aria toward the doorway behind them.
Aria turned.
She had not heard them come in.
But they were there.
Leo and Lily stood just inside the entrance, and between them, small and quiet and holding both their hands, was Emma. She could not have been more than four. Her eyes moved slowly across the unfamiliar room until they found Aria.
She did not cry.
She did not pull away from the twins.
She simply looked at Aria the way children look at someone they have already decided to trust. Carefully. Openly. Without the defenses that come with time.
Leo said something to her quietly.
Emma looked up at him.
Then back at Aria.
And smiled.
Small. Uncertain. But real.
Aria felt something shift in her chest that had nothing to do with power or law or any of the things that had filled the last several days.
Beside her, Kane was still.
But she felt his hand find hers.
His fingers closed around hers without a word.
The head elder looked at the children for a long moment.
Then he sat back.
“The council has no objection,” he said.