Lysandra Pov:
I woke up to someone pounding on my door like they were trying to break it down with their bare fists.
"Miss Vane! Miss Vane, you need to wake up right now!"
I groaned and pulled the pillow over my face. The bed was too comfortable. The room was too quiet. And I really, really didn't want to deal with whatever fresh hell today was going to bring.
The pounding continued. "Miss Vane, please! The council has been summoned! You have to be there in thirty minutes!"
Council? What council?
I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled to the door, yanking it open. Mira was standing there looking absolutely frazzled, her hair coming loose from its bun and her eyes wide with panic.
"What's happening?" I asked, my voice still rough with sleep.
"Emergency council meeting. The High Priestess called it. Everyone has to attend." She thrust a dress at me. It was dark blue and looked even more uncomfortable than yesterday's torture device. "You need to get dressed. Now."
"Can I say no?"
"Not unless you want the Crown Prince to literally drag you there himself."
I took the dress with a sigh. "Fine. But I'm not doing anything fancy with my hair."
"I don't have time to do anything fancy anyway," Mira said, practically pushing me back into the room. "Just get dressed. Quickly."
Twenty minutes later, I was in the dress (which was indeed uncomfortable and had about a thousand buttons again), my hair was in a messy braid, and I was following Mira through the palace corridors at what could only be described as a speed walk.
Servants were whispering as we passed. I caught fragments of their conversations.
"...can't believe she's still here..."
"...heard the Alphas want her gone..."
"...disgrace to the prophecy..."
Great. So the gossip mill was already in full swing.
The council chamber was packed when we arrived. And I mean packed. It looked like every important person in the kingdom had showed up for this meeting. Council members, pack representatives, nobles, advisors. All of them were staring at me the moment I walked in.
The five Alphas were already seated at the head of the long table. Kieran sat in the center like he was holding court, his expression cold enough to freeze fire. Theron was sprawled in his chair, looking at me like I was something he'd scraped off his boot. Cassian had those weird silver eyes fixed on me with what could only be described as clinical disgust. Darius was examining his fingernails (again), but I could see the contempt on his face. And Zane was in the shadows, radiating pure murder energy.
The High Priestess stood beside the table, looking ancient and exhausted.
"Miss Vane," Kieran said, his voice like ice. "How generous of you to finally join us."
"I was asleep," I said. "Some of us actually need rest."
"Some of us also need to learn punctuality," he shot back.
"Some of us didn't ask to be here at all," I countered.
His eyes flashed gold. His wolf was close to the surface. "Sit. Down."
There was an empty chair at the far end of the table, as far from the Alphas as possible while still being in the same room. I walked over and sat, feeling every single pair of eyes tracking my movement.
"Now that we're all present," Kieran began, his voice formal and cold, "we can address the disaster from last night."
"Disaster is putting it mildly," said an old Alpha with grey hair and a scar across his face. "We had a prophecy ceremony. The Blood Moon chose. And all five Alphas rejected their mate. This is unprecedented."
"Because the choice was ridiculous," Theron said bluntly. He didn't even glance at me. "The Moon Goddess chose a wolfless orphan to save the kingdom. That's not a prophecy. That's a joke."
Several people nodded in agreement.
"The Moon Goddess does not joke," the High Priestess said firmly.
"Then she made a mistake," Zane said from his corner, his voice flat and cold. "It happens."
"It does not happen!" The High Priestess slammed her staff on the ground. "The Blood Moon has chosen mates for thousands of years. It has never been wrong."
"There's a first time for everything," Darius said, finally looking up from his nails. "And this is clearly it."
I sat there, listening to them talk about me like I wasn't in the room. Again. This was becoming a pattern.
