Violet

Kael frowned. "Just recently."

"How recent?" Calder’s voice tightened.

"Does that matter?"

Calder laughed. "You..." He groaned. "And neither of you thought to disclose this to the rest of us?"

"There was no obligation to disclose a private matter of bonding to any council," Rowan said from his seat, his voice even and calm. "Considering the circumstances."

Calder glared at Rowan, though the fire had gone out of his eyes.

He was starting to even look tired.

I paused.

The mate detail had been this important?

Several faces tightened. They were lost in thought.

"Since the mate bond has now been verified. I trust there are no further objections to its legitimacy?" Voya asked.

"Quiet," Calder grumbled, his attention fully landing on me.

"Fine. Have it your way," he gritted out as he straightened in his seat.

I held my breath.

"Hence, we will address the matter of Supreme Alpha Palisa’s death.

The room shifted. The shock of the bond revelation was still settling, but at the mention of Palisa, a different tension crept in. Heavier. More uncomfortable. This was the matter they had partly come here for, and now I would have to face it.

Voya nodded. "The floor is yours, Lord Calder."

He grunted. Then, "Before we proceed." His gaze moved to Kael, then to Rowan. "Lord Kael. Lord Rowan. Given your personal involvement with the accused, along with your confirmed bonds. You are both excused from participating in these proceedings."

"You may remain seated," Calder continued, his tone brooking no argument, "but you will not speak, interject, or influence the process in any capacity. Any violation of this will be treated as an attempt to offset the impartiality of this trial. Is that understood?"

Kael’s jaw tightened. I could feel the flare of resistance through the bond, hot and immediate, but he controlled it. He gave a single, curt nod.

Rowan’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers curled against the table’s edge before relaxing. He nodded as well.

They had expected this. We all had. But the mate issue now involved made it more severe.

From this point on, all they could do was watch.

I was on my own now.

Calder turned his attention to me. His eyes were sharp, and his silver-streaked beard lent his face a severity that made him look carved from the same stone as the pillars surrounding us.

"The accused may stand before us."

I rose from my seat.

The walk from my table to the open floor felt longer than it should have. My footsteps were the only sound in the hall, each one echoing against the stone with a clarity that made the silence feel deliberate.

Hundreds of eyes tracked my movement.

I stopped at the centre, directly before the curved table of Supreme Alphas, and stood with my hands clasped in front of me.

Calder studied me for a long moment.

"You stand before this council accused of the murder of Supreme Alpha Palisa of Nal," he began, his voice filling the chamber with practiced authority. "The killing of a Supreme Alpha outside of formal duel or council-sanctioned removal is a capital offense under the laws that govern our territories. The penalty, should this council find you guilty of murder, is execution."

I didn’t flinch.

"Palisa of Nal is dead," he said flatly. "Her body was recovered in a state that several of the wolves who witnessed it described as mutilated beyond recognition. Her chest cavity was hollowed out. Her jaw was torn from her skull. Her forelimbs were severed from her body too."

He let each detail settle across the silent hall, to the extent that I was almost surprised that I had dealt that much damage.

"You did this."

"Yes," I answered.

A murmur swept through the delegations.

"Self-defence does not typically involve ripping out a wolf’s internal organs." His pale eyes bore into mine. "So I will ask you directly. Was the extent of what you did to Palisa’s body necessary to preserve your own life? Or was it driven by a desire for revenge?"

The question hung in the air.

I met his gaze without flinching.

"Explain to me how ripping out a wolf’s organs constitutes defending yourself," he spat, his pale eyes sharp. "Because from where I sit, it looks like debauchery. So I will ask you directly. Was the extent of what you did to Palisa’s body necessary to preserve your own life? Or was it driven by a desire for revenge?"

Revenge?

I didn’t even—

’Control yourself.’

"I had no desire for revenge until—"

"Answer the question."

He wouldn’t even let me finish.

I felt the urge to just tell him ’yes and no’ so he would have to fish out his answer himself, but being bitter would not favour me.

I knew to expect I would be cut off at times or just asked to provide direct answers so they could feed words into my mouth, but it already happening was leaving an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

And this had barely even started.

"No."

He frowned. "Is that all you have to say?"

’You were the one who—urghh’

"When I encountered Palisa, she attacked me immediately," I said, keeping my voice level. "Within the first seconds, she tried to tear open my throat."

I touched the faint scar along my neck.

"She then bit me. And whatever toxin that was in her fangs entered my system."

Calder’s eyes narrowed. "A toxin."

The way he said it like I was lying grated at me.

"Yes."

"You are saying this toxin made you do what you did. Rip a Supreme Alpha apart like some savage animal."

I tried not to frown.

"It shut down my abilities and senses almost instantly. I couldn’t use or depend on anything. And my body started going numb."

"And yet you continued fighting," Calder pressed. "A wolf with no abilities, poisoned, wounded, and you expect us to believe that despite that, you overpowered a Supreme Alpha?"

But I was a Lycan. Why wouldn’t it be possible?

"Not immediately. She pinned me down and she—" I paused, controlling my breathing.

Just thinking back on what had happened was starting to make me angry again.

"She used a mental link," I immediately added. "That same trick she had done during the summit. She did it again. She forced her way into my mind. She showed me things she had done. Things I didn’t ask to see. What she would do to me and—"

"You are not making any sense," he snarled. "You were poisoned, your abilities and senses were rendered mute, and she was physically dominating you. How did you murder her?!"