Chapter 14: The Elders Turned Against Him

No one spoke after Julian's grandmother finished.

The silence was heavier than any Alpha's command.

Julian stared at her.

Grandmother, you don't understand.

I understand perfectly.

Her voice was calm, but every word carried the authority of the Hawthorne matriarch.

For five years, you told everyone Clara was too wild to become Luna.

You humiliated her in front of the pack.

You brought another woman to Tidewatch every Thanksgiving.

And you expected the Calloways to keep smiling through it.

Julian's face tightened.

I was trying to teach her control.

One of the elders scoffed.

Control?

You publicly displayed other women to provoke your own wife.

That's not discipline.

That's cruelty.

Felicity suddenly stepped forward.

But Julian chose me.

The elder turned toward her.

Did he?

Felicity froze.

The antique lunar watch on her wrist suddenly looked less like a prize and more like evidence.

You were never formally presented to the council, the elder continued.

You were never approved as a Luna candidate.

You were simply the woman Julian brought with him.

Felicity's face drained of color.

She looked at Julian.

You said I was going to be Luna.

Julian didn't answer.

That silence destroyed the confidence she'd been wearing like armor.

I looked away.

I didn't feel satisfaction.

Only exhaustion.

Julian finally faced me.

Clara, if I had known you'd actually leave...

I interrupted him.

That's exactly the problem.

You never believed I would.

He went silent.

You thought I would always fight for your attention.

You thought I'd always come back after every humiliation.

You thought the Calloways would tolerate anything because I loved you.

I took a breath.

You were wrong.

Wyatt stepped forward and placed the sealed Calloway document on the council table.

This is the formal withdrawal of the Red Mesa alliance.

The seal is final.

Julian's eyes dropped to the document.

His shoulders stiffened.

You can't do this.

Wyatt's expression remained cold.

We already did.

The elders began murmuring among themselves.

Without Red Mesa's support, several southern territories would refuse to recognize Julian as the next Alpha.

Everyone in the room understood what that meant.

Julian had spent five years believing I needed his approval.

Now he was discovering that his future had depended on mine.

He walked toward me.

Please.

The word was so quiet that I almost didn't hear it.

I looked into his eyes.

For the first time, I didn't see the arrogant Alpha heir.

I saw the boy from Northshore Academy.

The boy I'd once loved more than myself.

But loving someone didn't mean I had to keep letting them hurt me.

I'm sorry, Julian.

But I'm not coming back.

His face crumpled for a second.

Then the great doors opened again.

A messenger hurried into the hall, breathless.

Alpha Hawthorne.

There's an emergency at the Stonebridge border.

Several southern territories have already withdrawn their support.

Julian turned sharply.

And before anyone could say another word, the pack's warning sirens began to howl.