Garrick’s POV
The morning of the council meeting arrived faster than I would have liked.
I stood in front of the window in my room, fastening the silver buckles of my trousers and feeling the crisp morning air filtering through the room.
Usually, on days like this, my wolf would be thrashing under my skin, clawing at my chest, eager to rip the throat out of anyone who dared to raise their voice at me.
The council chambers were always full of loud and foolish men who thought shouting made them strong.
But today, as I walked down the long stone hallway toward the council hall, I could feel a strange difference in myself.
I was steadier and quieter.
The wild, chaotic beast that had been tearing me apart from the inside for weeks had settled into my ribs.
It was because of her.
It was because of Selah, and the strange agreement we had struck in my room yesterday.
Just having her close, knowing she was under my roof and tied to my life, had put a leash on my wolf that no amount of training or willpower ever could.
That strength didn’t stop the meeting from being hostile, though.
Not even close.
The moment I pushed open the heavy double doors and stepped into the grand chamber, the tension in the room hit me like a physical wall.
The lower alphas were already seated around the massive marble table, their golden eyes tracking my every move as I walked to the head of the room.
Ronan was already standing a few paces behind my high-backed chair, his face tight and watchful.
I took my seat without saying a word, resting my forearms on the cold stone table.
“Let’s begin,” I said, keeping my voice low and flat.
We hadn’t even finished reviewing the border supply reports before Lord Callister, a low-ranking alpha from the western ridge, slammed his heavy fist onto the table.
“We need to discuss the western wall!” Callister barked, his eyes darting around the table to gather support from the others.
“A section of our oldest defense collapsed in the middle of the night, Garrick! A guard died! And all of this happens within three days of you bringing that girl into our territory?”
I kept my hands flat on the table, refusing to give him the reaction he was fishing for.
“The wall collapsed because a guard failed his duty, Callister. The stone was old, and it has already been repaired. Additional guards are stationed there now.”
“It’s lazy logic to pretend the two aren’t connected!” another alpha chimed in from the left.
“The timing is too convenient! She’s an Oracle! Those sorceresses carry chaos wherever they go. The Shadowwalkers want her, the Memory Eaters are hunting for her, and here you are, keeping her in your private quarters like a prized trophy while our borders fall apart!” You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
Callister leaned across the table, his nostrils flaring.
“He’s right! We ought to hand her over to the Shadowwalkers before she brings something far worse than a collapsed wall down on our heads! Let the Umbra Pact deal with her magic. She is a liability to this entire court!”
I held my temper through all of it.
I stayed completely controlled, keeping my breath slow, letting their loud, panicked words bounce off me.
My wolf stirred, but it didn’t take over.
Then, Lord Valerius stood up.
Valerius was Cynthia’s father, a tall, older alpha with graying hair, rich silk robes, and a face that always looked like he was about to weep for the sins of the world.
He was the kind of man who loved to play for the emotions of a crowd.
He never raised his voice in anger; instead, he spoke with a sad, gentle tone that made him look like the only saint sitting in a room full of violent beasts.
He raised a smooth, groomed hand, and the room immediately fell quiet.
“My brothers,” Valerius began, his voice soft and trembling with deep, theatrical sorrow, looking around the circle and making eye contact with every single alpha.
“We are all men of honor here. We all care deeply for the safety of our lands. But my heart breaks today—not just for our walls, but for the sacred bonds that hold our families together.”
He placed a hand over his heart, letting out a heavy, tragic sigh.
“My daughter, Cynthia, came to this house yesterday,” Valerius said, his voice quivering just enough to draw sympathetic murmurs from the lower alphas.
“She came to visit the man she has been betrothed to for three long years. The man who promised to join our bloodlines in holy union. And what did she find? She found herself threatened. She found herself shoved aside and humiliated by a strange, silent witch that Lord Garrick dragged from a slave market!”
Several alphas began to nod aggressively, muttering under their breath.
“Cynthia is a gentle child,” Valerius continued, wiping a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye.
“She went there out of love, only to be attacked by a wild beast that this… this Oracle somehow summoned to protect herself! Is this what we have come to? Are we to sit by while a sacred betrothal—arranged to keep peace between our territories—is destroyed by a girl who cannot even speak her own name?”
He turned his mournful eyes toward me, shaking his head with heavy disappointment.
“You are breaking my daughter’s heart, Garrick. You are insulting my house, and you are allowing an abomination to threaten the very woman who was meant to be your wife.”
The room erupted into a chorus of agreement.
“He’s right!”
“The betrothal must be honored!”
“Throw the witch out!”
I didn’t yell.
I didn’t growl.
I watched Valerius soak in the agreement of the room, his chest puffing up slightly as he painted himself as the poor, wronged father just trying to protect his innocent child.
Then, Valerius took it one step too far.
Seeing that he had the entire room on his side, his sad expression hardened into something ugly and mean.
“She is nothing but a dirty, silent creature,” Valerius spat, his voice dropping the soft act for a split second.
“A hollow shell of a woman with strange hair and grey eyes, living in your rooms like a common whore, corrupting your mind while my daughter cries at home.”
The entire chamber went dead quiet.
The silence was so thick you could hear the torches crackling against the stone walls, and Ronan shifted uncomfortably behind me, taking a half-step back, knowing what was coming.
Slowly, very slowly, I pushed my chair back.
The heavy wood scraped loudly against the stone floor, and I stood to my feet, my full height towering over everyone else sitting at the table.
The shadow of my frame fell across Valerius, making his smug, saintly expression falter for the first time.
I didn’t raise my voice.
I spoke coldly, every word filled with authority.
“Listen to me very carefully,” I said, my deep voice cutting through the silence like a dull blade.
“The Oracle is under my protection. She lives in my house, and she answers only to me. Do you all understand?”
I watched closely as Valerius swallowed hard, trying to maintain his stance, though his fingers trembled against his silk robes.
“Anyone in this room who wants to test what my protection actually means,” I continued, leaning forward slightly and letting my silver-grey eyes sweep across every alpha present, “is welcome to step out into the courtyard with me right now and try.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody even cleared their throat.
“And as for handing her over to the Shadowwalkers…” I turned my gaze back onto Lord Callister, whose face was already turning pale.
“The next person in this council who suggests handing a member of my household to a rival court will be treated as though they have suggested treason against the Luphiran Court. And I will execute them where they stand.”
Lord Callister’s jaw worked silently for a moment before he gathered enough desperate courage to speak back, gripping the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white.
“She isn’t your household, Garrick!” Callister argued, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure.
“She’s a liability! She’s a curse sitting in your private wing!”
“Choose your next word carefully, Lord Callister,” I warned him, my voice dropping so low that the stone table seemed to hum with it.
“Because that girl you all are so eager to condemn, is my mate.”