Chapter 227 Not afraid

Chapter 227 Not afraid
“Come.” I guided her up the stone steps, pressing my palm to her back. She fit against me so perfectly that it made my wolf restless, pacing under my skin, snarling for me to keep her close. To keep her safe.

Inside, warmth greeted us , chandeliers casting golden light over marble floors. The voices of the Alphas of different packs echoed softly through the halls, and the scent of wolf hung in the air, thick and undeniable. Elena noticed it, her nose twitching faintly, though she didn’t recognize it for what it was. She couldn’t. Not yet.

She hesitated only once, just before we reached the main hall. “Andrey… are you sure I should be here?”

Her tone wasn’t fear, but curiosity , still innocent. She had no idea what it meant to walk into a council of dangerous werewolves.

I tilted her chin up so her crystal eyes met mine. “You’re with me. That’s all that matters. No one will touch you, Elena. Not here. Not anywhere.”

The corners of her lips lifted in a small smile, though her brows furrowed slightly, as if she could sense there was more weight in my words than I wanted her to understand.

When we entered the hall, heads turned. Wolves always knew when something unusual crossed their space. And a human walking in at an Alpha’s side was more than unusual, it was provocative.

A hush rippled through the room, low murmurs rising like an undercurrent. Elena’s grip on my hand tightened, but she didn’t falter. My ballerina stood tall in her cream-colored dress, oblivious to the sharp gazes that measured her, dissected her presence, questioned what she meant to me.

I felt my wolf rise, teeth bared beneath my skin. Instinct flared ... mine, mine, mine and I tightened my arm around her waist, drawing her firmly into my side. My gaze swept the room, daring anyone to meet it, daring anyone to challenge.

Some Alphas who feared me dropped their eyes. They knew better.

But not all together with their female mates.

Elena noticed the shift immediately. She stiffened slightly against me, her pulse quickening beneath my hand. But she said nothing. My brave, oblivious girl simply lifted her chin higher and let me guide her to our place at the long table of stone and mahogany that gleamed beneath the chandelier’s golden light.

A servant, young, wolf-born by the scent pulled out a chair for her, and she thanked him softly, her voice a tremor of grace in a room full of werewolves.

Dinner began.

Plates were brought in, carried by silent servers who moved like shadows. The scent hit first, rich and primal. Meat, but not quite like any she’d ever smelled before. Roasted red cuts that glistened faintly under the light, juices pooling crimson at the edges. Elena’s nose wrinkled slightly.

I could feel her curiosity pressing at me, her human senses unable to make sense of what surrounded her.

“What... what is that?” she whispered, leaning closer so her breath brushed my jaw.

I forced a small smile. “Local cuisine. You can order what you’d like.”

She hesitated as a plate was set before her, something unidentifiable, rare, and glistening. The others around the table began eating immediately, with a precision that was far from human. The faint sound of tearing flesh filled the air, low and smooth and though no one spoke of it, the wolves were feeding as much with instinct as with etiquette.

Elena picked up her fork but didn’t move. “I—uh... I think I’ll have something lighter. Maybe a salad? Or pasta, if that’s possible?”

A few heads turned at that, and a low murmur rippled through the hall. One of the Lunas, a sleek woman with jet-black hair and amber eyes tilted her head, her lips curving in a knowing smile. “Our guest prefers greens,” she murmured to her mate, loud enough for the table to hear.

I shot her a look that silenced the quiet laughter that followed.

The servants, startled, rushed to bring what she’d asked for, a small plate of pasta and vegetables, perfectly normal, perfectly human. Elena’s shoulders relaxed slightly when it arrived, her fork finally moving.

But the Lunas didn’t look away.

They studied her as though she were a strange creature brought in for observation. A few whispered behind elegant hands, and one even smiled, sweet and false, before turning back to her Alpha.

I ignored them all.

I focused on her, on the way her hair fell over her shoulder, the soft concentration in her face as she picked at the food, trying not to look unsettled by the faint, wild tension humming around her. She didn’t know she was sitting at a table of wolves, each one holding back the beast that wanted to taste what she was.

When the meal ended and the talk turned to business matters, alliances and the disputes. I let Elena's hand rest in mine beneath the table, grounding her and myself.

After a while, she leaned toward me, her voice low. “Andrey, could I.. uh .. use the bathroom?”

I nodded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “The hallway to the left. There’s a servant there who’ll show you.”

She smiled faintly and stood, smoothing her dress before walking away. The movement drew more eyes, more whispers. She didn’t notice.

The moment she was out of earshot, the hall seemed to shift, quiet, tense and expectant.

One of the Alphas across the table, a broad man with gray streaking his beard, leaned forward. “Andrey Volkov,” he said, his voice deep and rough like gravel. “Care to explain why you brought a human into a council meant for our kind?”

I didn’t answer right away. I could feel the weight of every gaze on me, heavy and intrusive.

Another Alpha snorted. “You’ve grown soft. Since when does the mighty Andrey take pets to meetings?”

Laughter followed low and dangerous, echoing like the growl of beasts testing each other.

My wolf surged beneath my skin, furious. The scent of dominance and challenge filled the air, thick enough to choke on.

I leaned forward, my voice quiet but sharp enough to cut through the noise. “Since when does any of you question what belongs to me?”

The words fell like a stone in still water. The laughter died instantly.

A few exchanged glances, uneasy but defiant. One of the Lunas looked down, her fingers tightening on her mate’s arm.

The Alpha who’d spoken first met my gaze for a moment too long, then dropped his eyes. Submission.

I exhaled slowly, my control tightening around the instinct that screamed to shift, to tear, to defend.

“She’s under my protection,” I said, voice low and even. “That’s all anyone here needs to know.”

There was silence. Only the faint clinking of cutlery and the distant echo of Elena’s footsteps beyond the door.

But even as the meeting continued, I could feel the unease simmering beneath the surface, questions unspoken, judgments forming. They saw her as a weakness. A liability.

They didn’t understand that she was the very thing keeping my wolf from losing control entirely.

And if any of them dared to touch her…

The beast in me stirred, dark and deadly.

I would remind them what kind of Alpha I truly was.