66

66
Thalia's POV

The candle on the table had burned almost to the base, its flame a quivering stub that threw long shadows across the chamber walls. My body still trembled as though it had only just returned from the fire-drenched nightmare, and the mark on my shoulder pulsed with a faint, stubborn heat. Nancy hadn’t released my hand since I’d screamed, her grip fierce, her knuckles white.
Her eyes searched mine with desperation. “Thalia, tell me you’re still here. Tell me you didn’t lose yourself in there.”
“I’m here,” I whispered, though my voice wavered. I didn’t feel entirely here. Part of me still stood in that fiery world with Jaden’s wolf staring me down. My skin reeked faintly of smoke though no fire had touched it.
Nancy pulled me closer, clutching me against her chest like she might shield me with her own body if she could. “You said his name,” she whispered against my hair. “You called for him as if he owned you. Do you know what that means, Thalia? To everyone who heard you?”
I stiffened. “Who heard me?”
Her eyes darted toward the door. “The guards outside. Maybe more. Sound carries in these halls. Whispers spread fast.”
The realization twisted my stomach. The pack had already judged me once today; now they would have a new story to weave, another reason to see me as corrupted, claimed.
Nyra broke her silence from the corner, her voice even, calm in a way that made me ache with frustration. “Let them whisper. Their words don’t decide who you are.”
Nancy’s head snapped toward her. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to carry his mark, or fight visions that rip you out of your body. They’ll twist this into proof that Thalia belongs to him—and that she’s dangerous.”
Her words struck me harder than she intended. Dangerous. The way the elders had looked at me replayed in my mind—calculating, fearful, like I was a ticking curse waiting to spill over.
I pulled away from Nancy’s hold and stood, though my knees shook. “Maybe they’re right.”
Nancy gasped. “Don’t say that.”
“What else am I supposed to think?” My voice cracked as it rose. “Every time I try to push him away, I get dragged deeper. Every time I fight, it hurts worse. And now my body betrays me—calling his name, reaching for him when I don’t want to. If that isn’t dangerous, then what is it?”
The silence after my words was heavy. Nyra stepped forward at last, her gaze piercing as though she could see through every fracture in me.
“Dangerous doesn’t mean doomed,” she said softly. “The bond isn’t only a chain, Thalia. Sometimes it’s a mirror. It shows you what you’re too afraid to admit.”
I wanted to scream at her, to demand that she stop speaking in riddles and tell me what she truly knew. But the truth in her eyes kept me frozen. She knew something—something about this bond, about me—that she wasn’t saying.
The door rattled with a sudden knock, sharp and authoritative. Nancy stiffened, but Nyra only tilted her head, as if she’d been expecting it.
“Thalia,” came a deep voice muffled through the wood. “The Alpha Council requests your presence. Now.”
My blood ran cold.
Nancy moved toward the door instinctively. “She’s not ready. She needs rest.”
But Nyra placed a hand on her arm to stop her. “If they’ve summoned her, refusing won’t protect her. It will only make them bolder.”
I swallowed hard, staring at the flickering candle flame. I couldn’t face them again—not after the humiliation, not with the taste of Jaden’s voice still burning in my throat. But refusing wasn’t an option, and hiding would only prove their whispers true.
“I’ll go,” I said, though my knees threatened to buckle beneath me.
Nancy looked stricken, but she helped me pull on a cloak, tugging the hood low to shadow my face. Her fingers lingered at the ties near my throat. “Stay quiet, answer only what you must. Don’t let them twist your words.”
Nyra’s voice followed like steel. “And don’t cower. Fear feeds them. Show them that even if you’re bound, you’re not broken.”
I nodded, though my heart raced against my ribs like a caged bird.
The guards outside straightened when I emerged, their eyes flicking to the faint glow of the mark on my shoulder before darting away as though they’d been caught staring. Their silence was worse than mockery; it was the silence of judgment already decided.
They led me down torch-lit halls that smelled faintly of iron and damp stone. As we walked, I caught fragments of whispers curling from the shadows where pack members lingered.
“…screamed his name…”
“…the mark spreads faster than they said…”
“…what if she’s the reason his curse grows stronger?”
My steps faltered, but I forced myself onward, the words sinking like stones in my chest.
At last we reached the council chamber. The doors creaked open, and the room’s cold air swallowed me whole. Torches flared along the walls, casting light on the semicircle of elders seated in judgment. Their faces were a blend of stone and shadow, their eyes fixed on me like knives.
“Thalia,” one elder said, his voice low and commanding. “We’ve been informed of your… episode.”
Heat rushed to my face. My voice barely held steady. “I didn’t choose it.”
“Yet you cried his name,” another countered. “Not once, but many times. Before witnesses. Do you deny this?”
My throat tightened. Denial would be a lie. Admission would be surrender.
“I don’t deny it,” I forced out. “But it wasn’t choice—it was the bond pulling me. You all know what it does.”
The chamber murmured. One elder leaned forward, his expression sharp. “And do you claim this bond is something you can control? Or will you admit it rules you?”
My mouth went dry. Their words weren’t questions—they were traps.
“I can learn to control it,” I said, though even I didn’t know if it was true. “It doesn’t rule me.”
A bitter laugh came from the far end of the chamber. “That remains to be seen. Bonds like this don’t yield to willpower, girl. They consume. And if you are consumed, you endanger us all.”
The mark on my shoulder flared hot, as if answering their words. My breath caught, but I refused to wince. I stood straighter, though my legs trembled beneath my cloak.
“I won’t be consumed,” I said, my voice stronger this time. “I won’t let it.”
For a long moment, silence filled the chamber. The elders’ gazes weighed me down, but none spoke. Finally, the oldest among them raised his hand.
“Very well. We will watch. And we will judge by your actions, not your promises. But hear this, Thalia—one step toward corruption, and the pack will not hesitate to act.”
The words rang like a death sentence cloaked in patience. The guards moved to escort me out, but my legs carried me stiffly, my spine unyielding.
Back in the corridor, Nancy rushed to my side, eyes wide with worry. Nyra followed slower, her expression unreadable.
“They’ll never trust me,” I whispered.
Nancy shook her head fiercely. “Then make them regret underestimating you.”
Nyra’s gaze lingered on me, thoughtful, heavy. “Or make them fear what you might become. Fear can protect you as much as love.”
The thought chilled me. Yet, as the mark pulsed beneath my skin and Jaden’s presence stirred faintly in my chest, I won
dered if fear was the only shield I truly had left.