Chapter 80
I had barely finished my lunch the next day when I felt ita ripple in the air, like the universe pausing to hold its breath
The silver fork in my hand stilled just above my plate.
Audrey, Beta Allonso, Mawlow, and Francesco all sat around me at the long dining table, the warm midday sun streaming through the high windows of the estate.
The air had been filled with easy conversation and the gentle clinking of cutlery all vanished in a breath.
Francesco stiffened. Audrey straightened in her seat, hand twitching slightly toward the dagger hidden under her cardigan.
Beta Alfonso’s eyes glazed for half a second as a mind–link came through confirmation of what we all sensed
The information from the guards telling us what we know,
It’s like knock came. Three hard raps.
Not tentative. Not polite. Not even commanding
It was a declaration.
I felt the chill before I even stood, my body already reacting before my mind caught up, Francesco rose slowly, his face unreadable but the storm beneath his surface crackling, threatening to break through.
“They’re here,” he said, voice low, cold, absolute.
“Who?“1 asked, even though I already know. The name formed bitterly on my tongue.
“The Council”
The tension in the room thickened instantly. Chairs scraped back. Plates were forgotten.
I followed Francesco, my legs moving on instinct. Audrey and Marlow flanked me, Alfonso just a pace behind. My heartbeat echoed steady but firm as we entered the main corridor, the polished marble gleaming beneath our feet like liquid light.
“There are four of them,” Alfonso muttered, one hand pressing to His temple. His voice was clipped, mind–linked from the outer guards. “Elder Marsen is
leading.
Francesco let out a breath–short, sharp
“Of course he is.”
Audrey gave him a sidelong glance. “Want us to stop them!”
“No.” Francesco’s voice was iron. “They breached the outer wards without setting off the alarms. If we stop them now, it will be seen as a declaration of
That word.
War.
It echoed down the corridor, its weight unmistakable. The fact that these ancient beings could bypass our defenses like mist through fingers only confirmed what we already knew. They hadn’t come to parley. They had come lethallenge
But not Francesco.
Chapter 80
Me
And I couldn’t help but ask myself why now? Where were they when the Black–pine Pack fell? When rogues overran Ruban’s land? When my was nearly spilled by magic meant to silence me? They had done nothing.
But the moment I grew too powerful, ton visible, they arrived.
By the time we reached the entryway, the thick oak doors had opened Guards stood aside, their tension palpable, their eyes cast downward, Fr stepped forward, his presence steady and commanding, every inch the Alpha Lycan
They waited just inside the threshold.
Four figures draped in ash, gray, and black. The colors of neutrality, of judgment, of finality. The air seemed to tighten around them. Their magic hummed–old, measured, oppressive.
At their center stood Elder Marsen.
He was as I imagined. Tall and silver–haired, draped in layers of woven silk and ancient pride. His face was carved in stone–not a single emotion visible But his eyes. Gods, his eyes
Cold.
Calculating
“You should not have kept her from us, Alpha Lycaon,” Marsen said without greeting. His gare landed on me like a blade, sharp and unforgiving.
Francesco didn’t blink.
“You are in my territory, Marsen. Speak with respect, or not at all. And I have nothing to hide.”
Marsen arched a brow. He looked surprised
“You’ve changed.”
I saw it in his eyes. He’d expected someone silent. Submissive. The old Francesco, who kept his power leashed out of obligation after he lost Anastasia isn’t there anymore.
That Francesco was gone,
“I’ve evolved.”
I stood a step behind him, hands clasped tightly, chin high. I could feel their eyes now. All of them. Crawling over me. Weighing, judging, dissecting.
“She holds volatile power,” one of the Elders said- woman in obsidian silk, her voice like falling ash. “The wolf that rose inside her–do you even understand what you’ve unleashed?”
Francesco glanced at me. Then back to them.
“She is not unleashed. She is protected.”
A silence followed. Heavy. Pregnant with threat.
Marsen stepped forward, inspecting me like I was a care artifact dug from forbidden earth.
“Ellaine Rollin,” he said slowly. “You were a quiet, forgettable she wolf. Rejected. Cast aside. And now… you reek of magic.” He said it like it was a crime
I didn’t flinch. My chin Utted higher.
‘They should be the ones bowing, Mika growled in my mind.”
I gave Marsen a cool smile
“If you’ve come to threaten me,” I said softly, “you should know by now. That won’t work?
Marsen
smiled back–like frost on a tombstone. “It’s not a threat, child. It’s a warning Magic takes. It always does And so far it hasn’t taken its toll.”
“Not yet,” the woman added, yes narrowing.
“Then you don’t understand Mika.” I replied calmly
The name made them freeze.
Flickers of recognition passed between them the sparks in dry grass. They tried to hide it. Failed.
Marsen’s voice lowered. “That name hasn’t been spoken in centuries,”
Francesco stepped in front of me again. Not shielding Standing with me.
“You’ve said your plece,” he growled. “Now tell me why you’re really here.”
Another Elder, a thin man with a face like burnt parchment, spoke, “Your Luna was seen wounded. Rumors say it was unstable a White Moon Wolt
e magic. Others say she is………
Marsen’s:
‘s gare sharpened.
“No one has over held both power and purity. You expect us to believe she does?”
I stilled. Their words were meant to
to unmake me.
Francesco didn’t hesitate. “Why does it matter if it’s true?” he asked calmly, Truth or rumor, she is under my protection. And my choice”
The room bold its breath
Marsen’s face twisted. “Magic is forbidden for a reason. The White Moon is a legend. There is no way a creature of light exists within a witch”
The way he spit the word “witch” made Mika growl.
Then everything shifted.
My body reacted before my mind caught up.
Fur.
Snow–white.
My bones cracked, my breath caught, and then Mika stood where I once had
A gasp filled the grand hall. The Elders recolled, their power flaring in alarm. Around us, warriors dropped to one knee. Audrey Alfonso. Even the guards Their eyes downcast. Their heads bowed.
But the Elders?
They stood frozen.
Until Marsen and the other, too, bent the knee.
Francesco stepped closer, his voice steady. Like you all see, I have nothing to hide. I will choose her Again. And again. And again.”
My heart clenched.
Not because I didn’t know he loved me. But because he declared it in front of those who could tear emrything down
Marsen looked up at se, his face uneadable. But Mika sawit. I sawit.
Tear
Not of what was
But of what Francesco and I could become
Mika’s words echoed in my head.
He reeks of greed. He fears what you and your mate will build
I book
a step forward, shimmering back into my human form. Audrey was already there, wrapping a silver–gray gown around
my
shoulders.
I walked to them, no longer the girl who had begged Ruben to love her. I stood as Ellaine Pollin. The white wolf The Luna of a Lycaon.
The female Elder stepped back. Her face pale.
“She has the wolf of prophecy.”
“No.“I corrected, voice singing in the grand hall. “I am the wolf of no one’s prophecy, fam Mika’s. And she is mine.”
A hand slid to my back. Francesco. Proud. Fierce.
Marsen inhaled slowly.
“Then this Council will watch. And wait. But know this, Luna Ellaine–if you falter, if you turn to chaos… we will not ask again.”
Francesco growled, the sound low and brutal.
“Then you’ll face the wrath of the Alpha Lycan and his Luna, the White Moon Wolf”
A beat.
And then they turned,
The ancient cloaks swept behind them like shadows as they departed. At the threshold, Marsen paused.
“Be careful, Alpha. The world is shitting. And the moon does not always favor the same side.
Then he was gone.
The door shut behind them.
Silence tell.
Francesco turned to me and gently framed my face in his hands. His touch was warm, grounding.
“You held your ground,” he whispered. “I am so proud of you.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple.
“I’m sorry they came like that.”
“I’m not,” I said quietly: “Now we know exactly what we’re up against.
He nodded.
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Chapter 80
Smiling faintly, he leaned closer. “Let them watch. Let them worry. They’ve underestimated you, Elaine.”
leaped into his chest and let my eyes fall shot.
Let them watch.
Let the world shift
Because this time, we were ready
ADI
