Elder Magnus let out a thunderous roar, his eyes blazing a piercing silver-gray as he took a massive, dominating step forward. The sheer force of his voice sent a shockwave through the midnight mist.

"Now you have given this Council even more reason to strip you of your command, Duskbane," he rumbled, his ancient power compressing the air.

Kaleb’s face contorted, a venomous frown cutting deep into his features. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"And that is not the end of it," Magnus continued, his voice sharp as a shattered bone. "Your Beta is hereby stripped of his rank and will be immediately reassigned."

Kaleb’s thick brows pulled dangerously tight, a low, tectonic growl vibrating deep in his chest. "I will not permit it!" he snapped, his fangs scraping his lower lip. "He answers to my blood!"

Elder Magnus didn’t waste another breath on the disgraced Alpha. Instead, he whirled his fierce gaze directly onto Daniel. "Step away from him, Beta," he commanded, the words heavy with the absolute law of the ancestors. "As of this breath, you are no longer a wolf of Ironfang."

"Don’t you dare move a single muscle, Daniel!" Kaleb barked, his raw, unhinged wolf voice bleeding heavily through his human vocal cords.

Daniel froze, his boots sinking into the wet mud as he looked between the two men. On one side stood the ancient law of the pack nations; on the other was a decade of bloody loyalty to his Alpha. He was caught directly in the jaws of a brutal choice, his chest heaving as the scent of his anxiety filled the air.

"Choose wisely, young blood," Elder Rowan murmured, his voice barely a breath against the wind as he leaned close to Daniel’s ear. "Will you break the sacred law and face the executioners for an Alpha whose throne is already turning to ash?"

The entire forest seemed to hold its breath. The wind died, the leaves stopped rustling, and every warrior waited for the hammer to fall.

Slowly, Daniel shifted his stance. He turned toward Kaleb, his jaw tight, and bowed his head in a shallow, respectful salute. When he lifted his chin, his scent was heavy with grief.

"I must respect the law of the Council this time, Alpha," Daniel declared, his voice cracking slightly. "But my blade will always belong to you and the soil of Ironfang."

Kaleb’s face twisted into a mask of pure, demonic rage, his eyes darkening to a violent, muddy amber. "You spineless traitor!" he snarled, taking a frantic step toward his former second. "If you ever set foot on Ironfang territory again, I will have you hunted and executed before the sun rises!"

"Why don’t you wait to see if you even keep your own throne before you start throwing around death sentences?" Elder Rowan countered, his tone laced with a chilling, quiet mockery.

"No one will take my crown! No one!" Kaleb bellowed, his chest heaving like a bellows. He whipped his head around, pointing a clawed finger at one of his veteran enforcers. "You! Step forward. You are my new Beta!"

The warrior instantly shrank back into the shadows of the oaks, swallowing hard as his scent spiked with pure terror.

Elder Magnus shook his head in disgust. "You cannot appoint a second, Kaleb. Not until our investigations are complete and you are deemed fit to hold a pack title," he said. "For now, your only duty is to survive the interrogations."

Kaleb blinked, the rage faltering for a fraction of a second. "What are you talking about?"

Elder Magnus raked his sharp gaze over the gathered wolves before locking onto Kaleb one last time. "We are all marching to the Grand Council headquarters," he announced, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "If any of you choose to refuse this summons, be fully prepared to wage war against the entire Council. You all know there is no winning that battle, and there is no escaping the silver executioner’s block."

A suffocating silence blanketed the clearing. Even Kaleb’s manic fury seemed to wither under the weight of the threat. He simply stared at the elder, his breath coming in ragged, shallow bursts.

"You will all be interrogated under a blood oath," Elder Magnus continued, his tone cold. "Inside those stone walls, there are no Alpha commands. There are no pack ranks. There is only the truth."

Magnus turned to Elder Seraphine, giving her a sharp nod. She stepped toward the edge of the clearing, threw her throat open to the midnight sky, and released a long, piercing howl that tore through the mountain air.

A few breathless heartbeats later, the heavy, rhythmic thud of dozens of hooves pounding against wet mud began to vibrate through the earth.

Brows furrowed in confusion. A wave of anxious murmurs erupted through Kaleb’s vanguard.

Elder Magnus lifted his chin, his heavy silver furs catching the moonlight. "Our transport has crossed the ridge. Time to move," he declared.

"This has to be a pathetic joke," Kaleb muttered through clenched teeth.

But the Council wards were already breaking into the clearing, leading a massive line of heavy, battle-trained horses, assigning a mount to each Alpha, Luna, and high-ranking official.

"If you have any witnesses to these crimes, they had best ride with us now," Elder Magnus added, looking directly at the remnants of the Ironfang guard. "It will be a long, brutal ride through the night, and we do not want to call upon the executioners simply because there was no one present to speak in your defense."

Within minutes, the grim procession was moving, the horses splashing through the marshy border country.

Rhea rode in complete silence, staring blankly at the dark trees blurring past her. Her mind was a chaotic whirlwind of agonizing thoughts. How much older will he look? Will he even recognize my scent? Her heart hammered so violently against her ribs that it felt like a trapped bird.

"He is our pup, Rhea," River whispered within their shared consciousness, her voice heavy with a deep, crushing sadness. "He carries our soul. A pup will always remember his mother’s warmth. The maternal bond cannot be broken by time."

Rhea swallowed hard, the bitter taste of fear coating her tongue. But I don’t even know if he is healthy, she thought desperately, her chest tightening until it ached. I don’t know if he is loved. What if he cries for me every single night? Or worse, what if he thinks I simply abandoned him? The horrific weight of that thought sliced deeper than the knife Kaleb had driven through her sternum.

River let out a raw, fractured wail inside her head, curling into a tight ball of misery.

Rhea shifted her eyes, glancing over at Adam. He was riding barely inches away from her, his massive frame shifting perfectly with his horse’s stride. But his jaw was set in rigid stone, his amber eyes pinned strictly to the path ahead, completely refusing to meet her gaze.

He knows something, she realized, her chest hollowing out. He was hiding the truth about her son, and that realization fractured her heart even more than Kaleb’s betrayal.

Rhea forced her gaze back to the dark trail ahead, forcefully swallowing down the hot, burning tears that threatened to choke her.

From the exact second she had opened her eyes again, she had begged the Moon Goddess to let Eli rest peacefully in the veil. Now, as the horses carried her toward the Council’s judgment, she found herself praying for something far crueler.

Let him hate me, she begged the night sky. Just let him be alive enough to hate me.

Beside her, Adam’s grip tightened around the reins. The leather creaked, just once. But it was enough.

Enough for Rhea to realize he had heard every word. Enough for her to realize he was suffering too.