Chapter 168

The chamber remained tense after the warrior’s announcement.

No one resumed their seats. The elders stood gathered near the center platform while arguments spread quietly through the room, each council representative trying to speak over the others without fully losing control of the situation.

But Ariana noticed something important.

The fear inside the chamber had changed direction.

At first, the council feared Kael.

Now they were looking at her.

One of the older elders finally raised his voice above the noise. "Enough."

Silence slowly returned to the chamber.

The elder’s expression remained calm, but Ariana could see the tension in the way his hands tightened behind his back as he looked directly toward her. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"The instability surrounding the Alpha line began after the Fifth Blood entered the territory," he said carefully. "That is no longer a coincidence we can ignore."

Kael stepped forward immediately. "Watch your next sentence carefully."

The elder did not look away from Ariana. "And yet every reaction points back to her."

Murmurs spread quietly around the chamber again.

Ariana felt Kael tense beside her, and the pressure surrounding him deepened sharply enough that several wolves near the front instinctively stepped backward.

Not because he lost control.

Because they felt how close he was to it.

Lucien noticed too. "You’re making this worse."

"No," another elder interrupted coldly. "We are trying to prevent the collapse of the territories."

Mira remained silent near the healers, but Ariana noticed the conflict in her expression now. Even she looked unsettled by the direction the council was taking.

One of the northern Alphas crossed his arms tightly. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

The elder looked toward Ariana again.

"We determine whether the Fifth Blood is influencing the Lycan directly."

Kael’s voice dropped dangerously low. "She is not your experiment."

"And the territories are not yours to destroy," the elder replied immediately.

The room fell silent again.

Ariana suddenly understood something terrifying.

The council was no longer discussing possibilities.

They had already decided she was the problem.

Several warriors entered the chamber from the eastern entrance carrying something heavy between them. The object was covered in dark cloth at first, but the moment they lowered it onto the center floor, Ariana felt the energy coming from it immediately.

The cloth was pulled away slowly, revealing a circular stone platform carved with silver markings glowing faintly beneath the chamber lights.

The moment Ariana looked at the stone platform, she felt its energy immediately. The power coming from it felt cold and ancient, carrying the kind of oppressive weight that made her instincts tense before she even stepped closer. Whatever the seal had been created for, it was clearly designed to suppress power rather than contain it peacefully.

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Even Kael’s expression changed the moment he saw it.

"What is that?" Ariana asked quietly.

Lucien’s face darkened immediately. "That should not be here."

One elder stepped forward. "The suppression seal was created generations ago for unstable bloodlines."

A cold feeling settled heavily into Ariana’s stomach.

Kael looked ready to kill someone.

"You brought a suppression seal into my territory?" he said quietly.

The elder held his gaze. "If the Fifth Blood is truly amplifying the Lycan, the seal will weaken the connection."

"And if she refuses?" Kael asked.

Nobody answered immediately.

That silence was answer enough.

The pressure surrounding Kael sharpened violently for a second before he forced it back under control again. Several wolves near the walls lowered their heads instinctively while others looked ready to flee the chamber entirely.

Mira suddenly stepped forward. "Stop this."

The council ignored her.

Ariana looked at the glowing platform again, unease twisting painfully in her chest now. The silver markings carved into the stone pulsed faintly like something alive.

She could feel it already.

If she stepped onto that platform, her power would weaken.

Maybe disappear completely.

The elder looked toward her. "If you have nothing to hide, stand on the seal willingly."

Kael moved before Ariana could answer.

"No."

The single word echoed through the chamber hard enough to silence everyone again.

The elder’s expression hardened. "Alpha Kael..."

"You touch her," Kael interrupted quietly, "and this chamber becomes the least of your problems."

Fear spread visibly through the room.

Ariana felt the shift inside him immediately now. The restraint he had been forcing onto himself since entering the council hall was becoming harder to maintain with every threat directed toward her.

The Lycan was reacting to the threat against Ariana, but not in the wild or uncontrolled way the council feared. If anything, its response felt focused and deliberate, as though every instinct inside Kael had shifted toward protecting her the moment the elders tried to move against her.

One of the elders noticed it too. "You see?" he said sharply toward the others. "The Fifth Blood destabilizes him further every second she remains near him."

"That is not what you’re seeing," Lucien said coldly.

"Then explain it."

Lucien looked directly toward the council. "You threatened someone the Lycan already considers under its protection."

Silence crashed through the chamber.

That answer frightened them more than anything else had.

Ariana felt Kael’s hand close tightly around her wrist before she realized he had moved. Not painful.

Kael’s hand closed tightly around her wrist before Ariana even realized he had moved. The grip was not painful, but instinctive, like protecting her had become something his body reacted to before his mind could stop it. The change was subtle, yet everyone in the chamber noticed it immediately.

The elders fell silent, the warriors near the walls tensed, and suddenly the atmosphere inside the council hall felt far more dangerous than before.

And suddenly Ariana realized the council hall no longer felt like a place discussing laws.

It felt like a room full of wolves trying not to provoke something dangerous.

One elder finally looked toward the guards standing near the walls.

"If she refuses the seal," he said carefully, "place the Fifth Blood under council restraint until the instability can be contained."

The chamber exploded immediately.

Several Alphas rose from their seats while warriors exchanged alarmed looks across the room.

"You cannot imprison her without proof."

"The wolves outside will never accept this."

"You’re escalating the situation further."

But the elder did not back down.

"The territories are already falling into division. We either act now or lose control completely."

Kael slowly stepped in front of Ariana.

The movement was calm.

Ariana felt the air inside the chamber grow heavier around him as silence spread outward from where he stood.

Even the silver flames surrounding the chamber dimmed slightly.

"You are not taking her," Kael said quietly.

No one moved.

No one even breathed too loudly.

Because every wolf in the room felt it now.

The Lycan was getting closer to the surface.

One of the younger warriors near the entrance suddenly stumbled backward in fear. "Alpha..."

Kael never looked away from the council. "Move."

Then the chamber shook violently.

The entire floor trembled hard enough to crack stone beneath several council seats while the silver flames surged upward all at once.

A deafening roar exploded across the mountains outside.

Every wolf in the chamber froze.

Ariana’s heart stopped.

Because she recognized that sound immediately.

The dragons had arrived.