Chapter 215
Chapter 216
FAYE
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I returned from work in the evening, the sun was already dipping low. I was rubbing my temple absently, thinking about the long list of things still waiting for me tomorrow, when I almost walked straight into Cole.
He stopped abruptly and blinked in surprise before offering a polite smile.” Luna Faye.”
“Cole,” I greeted back, matching his smile even though mine felt a little weaker.
His eyes scanned my face–too observant for my liking–and he tilted his head. “How are you holding up?”
That question again. I heard it at least ten times a day now, from warriors, staff, elders, guards… everyone except the one person who normally asked it with hands on my waist and forehead pressed to mine. I forced a small
shrug, keeping my tone light.
“I’m fine. Just tired.”
Cole didn’t look convinced, but he let it pass. Instead, he le
wall with an exhale. “How was your day?”
“Tiring,” I answered honestly. “Yours?”
against the
He gave a low whistle. “A bit of a rush. I was trying to meet up with about six different things at once. Gave myself a headache, but… I managed.” He rubbed the back of his neck and straightened, as if bracing himself. “Barely.”
I couldn’t help it–I smiled. “Well done. I know it’s been hectic.”
“Hectic is an understatement,” he muttered, then perked up as if
remembering something. “Oh–right. There’s a meeting. If you can manage,
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maybe you could freshen up and join? Your presence
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e… helpful.”
He hesitated before adding with a grimace, “Otherwise one of those elders is definitely going to eat me alive today.”
I almost laughed. “Eat you alive? I doubt it.”
“You say that,” he countered dryly, “but you haven’t seen the way Elder
Matthias glared at me earlier. He looked like he wanted to roast me over a
fire.”
I was tired, but I realized how polite he was trying to be; attending this
meeting was compulsory for me. This was what Alexander had to go through every day, juggling between his company and the pack affairs that never seemed to slow down. He was going through a lot… none of us gave him
enough credit.
“Well, in that case,” I smirked, “I’ll be there.”
“You’re sure you can manage?” Cole asked again, and something about the way he said it–gentle but probing–made me pause for a heartbeat.
It wasn’t the question. It was the way his eyes dipped unconsciously–to my
stomach.
I gave him a reassuring nod before he could say anything else. “I’ll freshen up and join you.”
He still looked faintly unsure, but he accepted it with a small bow of his head. “Thank you, Faye.”
As he walked away, I continued down the hallway toward my chambers. Each step felt heavier than I wanted to admit. Not physically–though yes, okay, my feet were beginning to ache faster lately–but emotionally, mentally… everything seemed louder these days. People talking, people watching, people asking how I was doing with that tone that wasn’t really about me, but about us. Me and the life inside of me.
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And every single time, I had the same instinctive rea
slightly, my shoulders adjusting, my posture shifting hide something everyone already knew.
y hand twitching could somehow
I didn’t know why it made me self–conscious. Maybe because I had been a warrior all my life, and now suddenly everyone looked at me like I was made of glass. Or maybe because Alexander wasn’t here to be the buffer between me and the world.
Or maybe because my body was changing–slowly, subtly. Was my waist thicker today? Did the dress I wore cling differently? Was my belly starting to show?
I caught myself glancing down as I walked, smoothing a palm over my abdomen without meaning to.
Was I looking bigger?
I wasn’t sure. Maybe. Maybe not.
And it wasn’t a bad thing… not at all. A part of me felt soft about it, tender,
even proud. But another part of me felt exposed–like everyone around me
could see something I hadn’t fully processed myself.
Especially now that I was eating more. Resting more.
e to train the way
I used to. It felt like I was losing little pieces of the body and routine I’d known for years. I wasn’t used to this version of me yet.
But it was inevitable, so… I just brushed off the thought.
By the time I arrived at the meeting room, the council members were already seated or shuffling toward their chairs. The moment I stepped inside, conversations stalled, replaced by that expectant silence I was slowly–very slowly–getting used to.
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They didn’t seem happy to greet me today, and I unde
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it must be due
to the pressing issue on ground. I took my place at the head of the table, smoothing the fabric of my sweater as I settled into Alexander’s chair.
A few heartbeats later, everyone else followed my lead and sat down.
“Let’s begin,” I said.
Elder Roland cleared his throat and lifted a sheet of paper. “Luna, a message came in early this morning from Alpha Patrick of North Ridge.”
I stiffened immediately, my attention sharpening as if someone had poured cold water down my spine. “What does it say?”
Roland adjusted his spectacles, lips tightening. “It appears Alpha Patrick is… displeased. He claims Blood Crescent has been behaving ‘terribly‘ toward North Ridge and is threatening to retaliate.”
Retaliate. The audacity almost made me laugh.
I turned to Cole instinctively. He only shrugged, palms up, his expression saying, Don’t look at me, I’m just as confused as you.
“Is this the same letter you mentioned last night?” I aske
“No,” Cole said. “This is a fresh one. It came in this morning. Patrick says he’s taking the matter to the High Circle if we don’t undo what has been done and apologize.”
I blinked. “The High Circle? He wants to involve them?”
The High Circle was no joke–a governing body made up of alphas from ancient lineages. They handled disputes, broken alliances, dangerous misconduct… serious matters. Patrick wasn’t joking.
The room erupted into murmurs, but Elder Mathias–because of course it would be him–leaned forward with a dramatic sigh.
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“With all due respect,” he began, already sounding lik
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> about to scold
a classroom of stubborn children, “Alpha Alexander acted too hastily. He moved against North Ridge–closed borders, cut ties–without consulting the
council. Us. His own advisors.”
The irritation in his tone prickled at my skin.
Mathias continued, eyebrows pinched in judgment. “And now look at what that impulsive decision has brought us. Trouble. Major trouble. Blood Crescent will be pulled into a political disaster, and the High Circle will not be lenient. They will not take sides.”
I held up a hand, trying to interject. “Elder Mathias-”
He didn’t even hear me–or pretended not to.
“And if Alpha Alexander is summoned,” he rattled on, “he will lose. He broke an alliance without presenting a valid reason. According to Patrick, he wasn’t even given an explanation for the sudden closure of borders. Patrick claims he has committed no offense–none–and that Alpha Alexander is the one breaking protocol, restricting North Ridge unfairly, flexing dominance simply because he sits higher on the chain.”
My jaw clenched.
Cole shot me a look across the table–the same look he had given me earlier in the hallway. The one that said, You see what I deal with?
Mathias, of course, was not done.
“He is forgetting,” Mathias added sharply, “that the High Circle respects no rank–not Supreme Alpha, not Elite Bloodline, nothing. If Alexander is dragged there, he will face the consequences of his rashness, and we will be dragged right along with him.”
Another council member, Elder Soren, joined in, nodding eagerly like a
woodpecker. “Mathias is right. Patrick has a point. Why were the borders
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closed without notification? Why were two allied pac
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enly pressured
into distancing themselves from North Ridge? He says Alexander has been… what was the word?” He squinted at his notes. “Bullying‘ smaller packs into compliance. Intimidating them.”
I felt heat spark in my chest–slow, steady, dangerous. I was beginning to lose my patience. But I took a deep breath to calm myself.
Mathias was lucky Alexander wasn’t here. He was lucky I was the one listening to this.
I leaned forward, trying again to insert myself. “If you’ll all just allow me to-”
But Soren kept talking right over me, voice rising with his own self–importance. “If Patrick presents these claims to the High Circle, and we don’t have evidence to counter it, it will look like Blood Crescent is the aggressor-”
“-and they will penalize us,” Mathias added, eagerly feeding the fire he was stoking. “This is precisely why these decisions should not be taken lightly or without council input.”
I inhaled again, slow and controlled, because if I didn’t, ‘ at both of them… I didn’t want to do that!
ht have snapped
I looked to Cole again–I couldn’t blame him for being silent now. I could imagine how he had struggled to keep them calm all day waiting for this meeting. He must have exhausted himself.
Soren opened his mouth to continue–again–but before he could utter even one more unnecessary word, a sharp crack sounded as someone slammed a palm onto the table.
Elder Tessa
All heads whipped toward her.
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Her face was pinched with irritation, her eyes blazin
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at no–nonsense
fire only wise women possessed. “Enough,” she snapped. “Both of you.”
Mathias sputtered. “What do you mean? We’re simply-”
“No,” she cut him off, lifting a finger like she was disciplining unruly children.” You were going on and on like two hens fighting over leftover grain.”
A few council members coughed into their hands to hide their amusement.
Tessa continued, voice firm. “The Luna is sitting right here; have you no respect? The issue was brought before her. It is her role to respond. So for once in your long, noisy lives-” her eyes darted between Mathias and Soren, “-be quiet and let the woman speak.”