Chapter 9: The Council's Summons

I had barely reached the corridor when the council guards blocked my path.

“Ms. Hart, you need to come with us.”

I stopped.

“Why?”

The older guard lowered his voice.

“The council has called an emergency hearing regarding the Wren bloodline.”

My fingers tightened around the broken pendant in my pocket.

So they had moved quickly.

Before I could answer, Kane came out of the healer's room.

“She's not going anywhere alone.”

I turned to him.

“You don't get to decide that anymore.”

His expression stiffened.

“Evelyn, this isn't about us.”

“Everything became about you when you chose to destroy my life for Vera.”

The guards exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

Kane stepped closer, lowering his voice.

“Let me protect you this once.”

I looked at him coldly.

“You had years to protect me.”

Then I walked past him.

The council chamber was already crowded when I entered.

Several elders sat behind the long black table, their expressions grave.

Vera was there too.

She looked pale, one hand resting protectively over her stomach.

The moment she saw me, her eyes widened.

But unlike before, she didn't smile.

She looked afraid.

An elder rose from his seat.

“Evelyn Hart, we have examined the bloodline records submitted by Vera Wren.”

He paused.

“They are fraudulent.”

A murmur spread through the chamber.

Vera immediately shook her head.

“That's impossible.”

“My father recognized me himself.”

The elder's expression hardened.

“Elder Elias Wren died before you were old enough to possess the records you submitted.”

“Someone altered the registry after his death.”

Vera's face turned white.

Kane stepped forward.

“Then conduct another test.”

The elder looked at him.

“We already did.”

He turned toward me.

“The blood sample taken from Ms. Hart contains the original Wren lineage marker.”

Silence fell.

Every eye in the chamber turned toward me.

I stood still, feeling none of the triumph I once imagined.

The truth had finally arrived.

But it had come after my child was gone, my mother was gone, and my bond had been destroyed.

The elder continued.

“Evelyn Hart is the biological daughter of Elder Elias Wren.”

Vera stumbled backward.

“No…”

Kane stared at me as if seeing me for the first time.

The elder placed another document on the table.

“There is one more matter.”

I looked down.

It was an old adoption record.

My adoptive mother's name was written across the bottom.

Beside it was a handwritten note from Elder Elias himself.

My breath caught as I read the final line.

“Protect my daughter until the day she is strong enough to return to her rightful place.”

I closed my eyes.

For years, I had thought my mother had simply taken me in out of kindness.

She had known the truth all along.

And she had protected me until her final breath.

When I opened my eyes again, Kane was staring at the document.

His voice was hoarse.

“Evelyn…”

I looked at him.

“Don't.”

The elder struck the table with his palm.

“Alpha Kane Calder, until this investigation is complete, Vera Wren's Luna appointment is suspended.”

Kane's face tightened.

Then the elder delivered the final blow.

“And all decisions you made concerning Evelyn Hart's bond, property, and inheritance will be reviewed.”