72

72
Jaden’s POV

The doors groaned wide, and the Elders turned as one. Their voices died, their expressions tightening into masks of fear, defiance, and carefully veiled disgust.
I stepped inside, letting the heavy wood slam shut behind me. The torchlight bent strangely against my skin, as if the flames leaned toward me rather than away. My wolf stirred, pleased.
“Alpha.” Elder Coran’s voice carried the sharpness of a blade. His scarred jaw clenched, his narrow eyes flashing with the same suspicion that had followed me since my first transformation. “We were not expecting your presence.”
I let the silence stretch. Their unease was almost a scent, thick in the air, mingling with smoke and pine resin. Finally, I said, “I didn’t need an invitation.”
A ripple of disapproval spread around the table. They were used to me keeping my distance, letting them circle like vultures while I pretended not to notice. But tonight, I couldn’t afford silence. Not with Thalia’s fear pounding through my veins.
Elder Veyra, silver-haired and sharp-eyed, leaned forward. “We meet for the good of the pack. If you feel the need to listen, you may, but you will not—”
“Enough.” The word cut out of me before she could finish. It was not shouted, but the fire in my tone made several wolves flinch. “I know what you’re discussing.”
The youngest Elder, a man called Irian, shifted uncomfortably. His gaze darted to the others, then back to me. “If you know, then you understand our concern. The girl—”
“Her name,” I said, my claws flexing against the table’s edge, “is Thalia.”
The growl in my voice rattled the flames in their sconces. Shadows writhed up the walls, slithering across the carved wood as though alive.
Elder Coran rose slowly, planting his palms against the table. “Then you admit it. You are bound to her.”
I met his gaze head-on, letting him see the fire beneath my skin, the faint glow bleeding into my eyes. “I don’t admit. I state fact. She is mine.”
The words burned as they left me, sealing a truth I had tried to deny. But the denial was pointless now. The mark on her skin, the fear in her breath, the way her scream had shaken the pack—they already knew.
Gasps and murmurs broke out. A few Elders leaned back, as if distance could shield them.
Veyra’s lips thinned. “Then the danger is greater than we thought. The curse already spreads. You would tie her fate to yours, condemning her to burn when you finally lose control.”
My wolf surged, claws slicing deeper into the table. Sparks hissed where my blood touched the wood. “She is safer with me than with any of you.”
“Safer?” Coran’s laugh was humorless. “When you can barely restrain your fire now?”
The truth of it sliced deeper than any blade. The wolf pushed harder, searing heat rising under my skin, demanding to be unleashed. The flames wanted out. They wanted to lick across stone, across flesh, until nothing but ash remained.
Thalia’s heartbeat pulsed in my chest. Steady. Fragile.
I dug my claws deeper, anchoring myself in the pain. I would not lose control here—not in front of them.
Elder Irian spoke again, hesitant but firm. “We do not seek to destroy her. But she is a risk. Already the whispers spread. The pack loses faith when they hear her screams at night, when they see the mark. They believe she carries your curse.”
“She doesn’t,” I snapped.
“Then prove it.”
The challenge hung in the air. Every Elder’s eyes fixed on me, waiting, judging.
My wolf snarled, fire rising to the surface. Prove it? How? Tear them apart and show them the strength of our bond? Burn the chamber until no one dared question again?
No. That was what they wanted. For me to snap. For the curse to show itself, so they could justify their fear.
I forced my claws to retract, blood dripping from my palms where they had carved deep crescents. Slowly, I stepped forward until I stood at the head of the table.
“You speak of faith,” I said, voice low and steady. “But faith does not come from fear. If you undermine her, if you brand her cursed, you brand me as well. And if you strip me of your faith, tell me—what Alpha will you follow then?”
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
Veyra’s eyes narrowed. “Do not mistake our caution for treachery. We follow you still.”
“For now.” My wolf’s growl bled into my words. “But if you push her, if you so much as lay a hand on her, you will find out how far my loyalty stretches.”
The torches flared, flames bending outward, shadows writhing in jagged shapes across the walls. The Elders recoiled. I felt the wolf clawing higher, begging to be unleashed, to sear away their doubt in fire and blood.
I clenched my fists tighter, teeth grinding. The curse pressed harder, heat curling up my spine, wrapping around my throat. My vision swam red.
Control. Control. For her.
But then—her presence surged through the bond. Not just fear this time. A whisper of defiance. A heartbeat that quickened but did not break.
It steadied me, just enough.
I dragged a long breath into my lungs, forcing the fire to settle beneath my skin. The shadows slithered back, the torches stilled.
But the damage was done. The Elders’ faces were pale, their eyes wide. They had seen me falter. They had seen the fire.
Coran straightened slowly, lips curling into a cold smile. “You see, brothers and sisters? The curse rules him. And through him, it will rule her.”
The chamber filled with murmurs, rising louder, sharper. Irian shook his head, uncertain, but the others leaned into Coran’s words like moths to flame.
My wolf lunged, furious at the insult, furious at the fear twisting their faces. I braced against the table, claws slicing free again, the scent of burning wood filling the chamber.
The fire roared at the edges of my control.
One heartbeat more, and I would lose it. One heartbeat more, and the chamber would drown in flames.
And through it all, Thalia’s pulse echoed in mine, faster now, afraid—because she felt me breaking.
I met Coran’s gaze, my vision edged in fire.
“One more word,” I growled, my voice not entirely my own, “and you’ll see how much of me the curse truly owns.”
The torches flared violently, the shadows writhed,
and my wolf’s fire surged higher, unstoppable.