"Behind you!" I yelled.
Cassian did not flinch. He wrapped a massive arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest.
"Die!" Liam screamed, thrusting the silver blade toward Cassian's spine.
Cassian never even turned his head. His free hand shot backward, moving with impossible speed. His large fingers clamped around Liam’s wrist mid-strike, stopping the blade inches from his coat.
"Drop it," Cassian ordered.
"I will kill you!" Liam spat, struggling against the iron grip. "She is my mate!"
"You are mistaken," Cassian said.
He twisted his grip.
A loud, sickening crack echoed off the stone walls.
Liam shrieked. His fingers splayed open. The silver hunting dagger clattered onto the flagstones.
Cassian lifted his heavy boot and brought it down on the blade. The metal shattered into a dozen jagged pieces, destroying the weapon instantly.
"My hand!" Liam wailed, dropping to his knees. "You broke my wrist!"
"I broke your momentum," Cassian corrected smoothly. "I can break your neck next if you prefer."
"You bastard," Liam sobbed, cradling his mangled arm against his chest. "The council will execute you for this."
"Let them try."
Cassian grabbed Liam by the collar of his ruined shirt. He lifted the grown Alpha off the floor with zero effort, holding him up like a discarded rag.
"Put him down!" Selene cried from the corner, her voice shrill.
"Gladly," Cassian replied.
He hurled Liam across the room.
Liam flew through the shattered oak doors and crashed into the corridor wall outside. He crumpled to the floor, groaning in a puddle of his own blood.
"Stay out of my sight," Cassian warned the heap in the hallway.
Silence fell over the council hall.
I stood frozen against Cassian’s chest. His arm still wrapped securely around my waist. The chaotic energy in the room settled, leaving only the sound of my own pulse drumming in my ears.
"Are you injured?" Cassian asked.
"No," I whispered.
"You stopped fighting."
"There is nothing left to fight."
I leaned into him. Just an inch. Just enough to rest my weight against his solid frame. His steady heartbeat thumped against my cheek through the thick wool of his coat.
A strange, heavy warmth spread through my chest. My rigid shoulders finally dropped. For an entire year, I had slept with one eye open. I had guarded my food, locked my doors, and hidden my magic from a man who wanted to drain my resources.
Right now, surrounded by the scent of ozone and cold iron, I felt completely safe.
The realization made my throat tighten. A sharp, dry sting prickled behind my eyes. I blinked rapidly, refusing to let any tears fall. Crying over Liam Thorne was a waste of water.
Instead, a short, breathy laugh escaped my lips.
Cassian looked down at me. His dark eyes narrowed slightly.
"You find this amusing?" he asked.
"I find it pathetic," I answered, stepping back to break the contact. "I spent twelve months terrified of a man you just swatted away like a fly."
"Fear distorts reality, Elara."
"I wasn't afraid of him. I was afraid of what I would do if I fought back."
"You held back your ice."
"I followed my father's orders."
"Your father is dead," Cassian stated bluntly. "You are the leader now. Act like it."
I squared my shoulders. The brief moment of vulnerability vanished, replaced by the cold logic required to run a territory.
"Liam!" Selene shrieked, finally peeling herself off the stone pillar. She bolted toward the hallway.
"Not so fast," I snapped.
Selene froze near the threshold. She looked back at me, trembling. She gripped the edges of her sheer crimson dress, trying to cover herself.
"Take your garbage with you," I pointed to the shredded divorce papers on the floor. "And tell him the eastern borders are permanently closed."
"You cannot do this," Selene whimpered. "We have nowhere to go."
"Try the southern valleys," I suggested. "I hear his elite guard loves visitors."
"You are cruel."
"I am evicting you," I corrected. "There is a difference."
"He is an Alpha! He will call his warriors!"
"Let him call them," Cassian interrupted, his voice a low rumble. "They will answer to me."
Selene glared at Cassian, then shifted her hateful gaze back to me. Her bottom lip quivered. The fear in her eyes morphed into something entirely different. Pure, unhinged desperation.
"You think you won," Selene sneered.
"I know I did," I replied. "Get out."
"No."
She reached into the deep neckline of her dress. Her fingers closed around a small, brass object hanging from a gold chain.
"What is she holding?" Cassian asked, his tone sharpening.
"I don't know," I said.
Selene yanked the chain, snapping the fragile gold links. She held the brass object up to the light. It was a whistle. Carved with jagged runes and stained with dark, dried blood.
My stomach plummeted.
"A beast-lure," I said. The words came out dry as ash.
"Selene, drop it," Cassian commanded.
His aura flared, pressing down on the room hard enough to buckle my knees, but Selene did not care. She jammed the brass whistle between her lips.
"Stop her!" I lunged across the table.
I was a half-second too slow. She blew hard.
A piercing, high-frequency screech tore through the hall. The sound wave rattled the inkwells, splintered the last unbroken pane of stained glass, and rolled out across the dark territory beyond my walls.
For three heartbeats, nothing answered.
Then it did.
Far out in the black tree line, something howled back. Not one throat. Hundreds. The sound rose from every direction at once, low and starving and getting closer, and the obsidian fang pinned to my coat began to hum against my chest like it was warning me what I had just set free.
Selene let the whistle fall from her lips and smiled at me through her tears.
"You wanted your freedom," she whispered. "Let's see you survive it."
