Jessica’s Pov
“You will bow.”
The words hit the hall like a slap.
Instead, I raise my chin.
“I don’t kneel.”
A noise goes through the crowd.
Not loud.
Not soft.
It is the sound of fear trying to get away.
The pack seal is cut deep above the throne, and stone walls surround us, tall and cold.
The torches are burning.
Smoke swirls.
Everyone is looking at me.
Charles is on my right.
His body is tense and still, like a knife that is being held back by a shaking hand.
Jude is to my left.
On the outside, he’s calm, but on the inside, he’s sharp.
I can feel both of them without looking.
My blood is hot and thick, like fire under my skin.
The older person who spoke steps up.
His hair is gray.
His eyes are not nice.
He says, “You forget your place.”
I smile.
It doesn’t feel right in my mouth.
It feels good in my chest.
I say, “No.” “I found it.”
My wolf moves around inside me.
She presses close, warm, and awake.
She is not quiet anymore.
She is not small anymore.
Before he can stop it, Charles lets out a low growl.
“Easy,” Jude whispers, but he never takes his eyes off the elders.
The elder raises his staff and hits the ground once.
The sound breaks through the room.
He says, “This omega stands in front of Alpha law.” “She is in heat.” She is not stable.
She must give in.
I can’t breathe.
This time, the heat flares up hard.
My thighs are pressed together.
My skin is too tight.
Too aware.
“I don’t give in to anyone,” I say, even though my voice shakes.
Charles turns his head just enough to see me.
His eyes are dark.
Hungry.
Mad.
Worried.
He says under his breath, “You shouldn’t push them like this.”
I look at him.
“You don’t get to tell me when to talk.”
There is something hot between us.
His jaw gets tight.
I can smell him: salt, smoke, and heat.
Before my mind can stop it, my body does.
Jude gets closer.
Only once.
Just light.
It calms me down.
Jude says in a calm voice, “She has a point.” “Pack law doesn’t say she has to kneel.
That she only goes to court.
The elder’s eyes narrow.
“Trial will come.”
“Okay,” I say.
“I’ll put up with it.”
A murmur spreads once more.
I can see Jackson at the back of the room.
He looks at me with a thin smile, as if he knows something I don’t.
My wolf snarls.
The elder lifts his hand.
“Then be respectful.”
“No.”
The word is soft.
Clear.
“I won’t stoop so you can feel tall.”
The silence drops.
Before I can stop him, Charles moves.
He stands in front of me, wide and solid, with his back to me.
His voice is low and sharp.
“She stays standing.”
The elders bristle.
Power pushes back.
I feel pressure in my head.
My knees want to bend.
Not from fear.
From heat.
From instinct.
I breathe through it.
Jude shifts too, just enough that I am held between them.
Not trapped.
Held.
“You feel that?” Charles asks me quietly.
“You’re burning.”
“I know,” I whisper.
His hand brushes my wrist.
Sparks jump.
My breath breaks.
“Don’t,” I say.
He pulls back at once, but the air still feels thick where he touched me.
The elder points his staff at me.
“You challenge us.
You shame us.”
“Good,” I say again.
“You should be ashamed.”
A sharp gasp cuts through the hall.
The elder’s face goes red.
“Take her.”
Before anyone moves, the ground seems to tilt.
My vision blurs.
Heat spikes hard, fast, like a wave crashing over my head.
I sway.
Charles catches me.
His arms lock around me, strong, hot.
My face presses into his chest.
My body melts without asking.
“Jessica,” he growls.
“Stay with me.”
I cling to him.
I hate that I need to.
I love that I do.
Jude is there too.
His hand cups my jaw, lifts my face.
His touch is cool.
Steady.
“Breathe,” he says.
“Slow.”
I will try.
My lips part.
A soft sound slips out.
I feel exposed.
Seen.
The room feels far away now.
All I know is heat, and hands, and eyes on me.
“She’s using it,” someone whispers.
“No,” Jude snaps.
“She’s surviving it.”
Charles bends his head close to mine.
His breath brushes my ear.
“You’re making them afraid,” he says.
“That’s dangerous.”
I smile weakly.
“They made me first.”
The elder lifts his staff again.
“Enough.
Lock her down.”
Power surges toward me.
My wolf rears.
“No,” I whisper.
Then louder.
“No!”
Something breaks.
Not stone.
Not law.
Fear.
The torches flicker.
The air snaps.
A low sound rolls out of my chest, not a scream, not a growl, but something older.
The elders step back.
Charles stiffens.
“Do you feel that?”
Jude’s eyes widen just a little.
“Yes.”
I straighten in Charles’s arms.
My legs shake, but they hold.
“I told you,” I say, my voice ringing clear through the hall.
“I don’t kneel.”
The elder stares at me like he sees me for the first time.
From the back of the room, Jackson laughs.
Slow.
Soft.
“Oh,” he says.
“This is going to be fun.”
My wolf bares her teeth.
And somewhere deep inside me, something ancient stirs— answering the challenge.