This chapter uncovers emotional layers that quietly guide the story’s direction, revealing motivations beneath the surface. The characters' choices are shaped by deeper conflicts they struggle to express. Tension builds subtly, hinting at consequences that will echo beyond this scene. Emotional shifts here set the stage for how each character navigates the challenges ahead.
Chapter 598
I think he realized his mistake because his mouth snapped shut. Silas stumbled back against the wall. “First you go against the King. But now you are openly going against the Goddess?”
“What did you mean, Theo? You are correcting the mistake of creating Lycans?” My voice was low, and I could feel my body go quiet and still. Nix was quiet, but on edge.
Silas paled. I think his brain finally caught up with what Theo said. “Tell me you spoke out of anger.” He pushed off the wall and looked at all the members one at a time. “Tell me Theo is just angry.” The others stayed quiet, but Silas shook his head. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with what happened twenty years ago.” He begged, but the others stayed silent.
“They can’t do that without lying, Silas.” I looked at him and watched the truth hit him. He paled and stumbled back against the wall.
“He was our friend.” He shook his head. “He was a good man, a good king, and his wife…” He trailed off, and I could see he was reliving some memory. “She was pregnant.” His soft voice cut out at the end.
Yarrow rolled his eyes. “So what?” He looked down at his hand as if he was checking his nails. “He was a Lycan.” He looked up and met my eyes. “Wolves were born from the Goddess’s power. We are the superior race. We should have to bow to some botched wolf-man hybrid?” His disgust was palpable.
I snorted. I couldn’t help it. “Let me get this straight,” I untucked my leg. “And stop me if I get anything incorrect here.” I looked at the four men across from me. “Someone decided that wolves were the superior creature of the Goddess, and that Lycans were an abomination. So you all colluded against the Lycan race, hunted them down somehow, and then killed them off one at a time. You used ‘rogue attacks’ to cover your bases, and when people started to clue in, you attacked wolf packs too. But only the packs that had Alphas that the old king supported, like my father.” I looked around, waiting for someone to speak up. “And then, when the king selected the lot of you to support his child in case he was killed as well, you conspired with Vince, as well as other Alphas, to cherry-pick not only the packs you wanted to support, but the ranked wolves as well, all while trying to force the King to mate with someone you wanted so you could control the next monarch and keep the control in your grubby little hands?”
Silas turned a little green. “I thought his mate had been killed, and he was too hurt to talk about her.” He looked at me. “I swear on my line I didn’t know. Thinius told me about her, and I saw the body.”
I chuckled. “Thinius was bound and determined to make the king mate with one of his line. He would have used anything to convince you to support Nina or Nadine in their chase of the Queen Luna title.” I looked back to the men. “How pissed are you now, to find out all the maneuvering you all did to get someone under your thumb to mate with the king, only to have his Goddess-given mate swoop in and take her rightful spot next to him?”
“What are you talking about?” Evan growled out. “The King—”
“Has met his mate,” I finished for him. “They have mated. The only thing they haven’t done is the mating ceremony under the moon, but the mark is there for anyone to see.”
Evan stood up and kicked his chair out of the way. “You are fucking lying.”
I tilted my head and smirked. “I mean…I could be, but I think all of us here know deep down that I’m not.” I felt the smile grow wider on my face. “I mean…haven’t you wondered why he hasn’t been back to the capital in weeks?”
The four men looked at each other and then back at me. “Who is it?” Theo growled out. I just shrugged.
“Does it actually matter?” I sighed as I stared at the men.
Erubus burst through the trees. It’s done. We are ready.
Okay, follow the plan. The council members were standing now, all coming closer to the desk. I just sat back in my chair and looked at them. “I know you are trying to look intimidating, but it’s honestly just coming off a little pathetic.” Silas snorted as he slid closer to me. I turned to him and lifted an eyebrow.
“I swear to you I am not with them. My entire life has been dedicated to the royal pack and to the Goddess.” I opened my mouth to point out the obvious; he had spent twenty years working side by side with these men. Either he was with them, or something else was at play. But before I could, a star glowed above his brow.
“What the fuck is that?” Theo pointed at Silas’s face.
There was a shift in the room, and my spell shattered, the illusion dropping when a voice called out, “It’s obviously a sign from the Goddess…”