Chapter8
“You protected her. You defied protocol. As of today, you’re removed from your post as second-in-command. You are barred from council decisions for three months.”
The Elders whispered behind their hands.
Leander’s fists clenched, but no words came.
He couldn’t argue.
Isolde stepped forward. She looked down at Selah, now barely conscious on the floor.
Her voice was soft.
But every word struck like steel.
“When you stripped my parents’ wolf souls, did you ever imagine you’d be the one on the ground someday?”
She turned slightly, letting the sun pour over her shoulder.
“You wanted this seat so badly,” she said. “Open your eyes and look.”
“This is what it looks like when you earn it.”
The hatred and desperation in Selah’s eyes fractured in the sunlight.
She was dragged out of the council chamber, fading into the darkness.
Leander remained frozen. His chest hollow.
And Isolde.
She didn’t spare him a single glance.
The rain fell for three days and nights.
Leander stood outside Isolde’s door, his knuckles raw from knocking.
Footsteps came to the other side.
But they stopped at the threshold.
Through the wood, her voice came softly. “Do you need something… Second?”
The title sliced into his chest like a dull blade.
A quiet reminder.
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He no longer had the right to speak her name.
His mind flashed to a snowy night long ago.
She had been a timid Omega, venturing alone into the mountains for herbs
She got lost in a blizzard.
He’d carried her back, his arms stinging from the cold
But in his hold, she slept peacefully
Like trust had never been a question
He remembered the first snow of the year.
She had stood at the edge of the square, watching the others play, too shy to join.
He had stuffed his gloves into her hands just to make her smile
He remembered the first time someone hurt her. And how fiercely he’d defended her.
She had looked at him with eyes full of trust. Full of light
But that light
It no longer belonged to him
“Isolde, 1-”
“You know what you came here to say,” her voice was quiet, but unwavering “You want me to forgive you.”
“But I remember the choice you made.”
“And people live with the choices they make, Leander.”
He opened his mouth.
But no words came.
The door stayed closed.
He stood there until night fell, fingers numb from cold, waiting for footsteps that never returned.
On the way back, he passed the council hall.
At the far end of the corridor, Alec was walking toward him.
Her cloak was draped over his shoulder.
She walked beside him, her face calm, the firelight casting its warmth only on him.
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In that moment, Leander understood.
There were places He could never return to.
Night deepened. Firelight flickered in the courtyard.
Isolde sat under the covered walkway, watching Alec polish his silver blade across from her.
“… Did we meet when we were kids?” she asked suddenly.
Alec’s hand paused. He lifted his gaze.
“You don’t remember.”
“Spring Rire. Your parents brought you to West Ridge. You nearly fell off the temple steps. I caught you.”
He gave a soft laugh.
“You grabbed my cloak and wouldn’t let go. I thought you were going to cry.”
“But you didn’t. You just stared at me.”
Isolde blinked. “I really don’t remember that.”
“I do.”
His voice was steady. Low.
“I watched you lean more and more on Leander. Told myself to stay away.”
“When I turned eighteen, I learned my mate would be someone I couldn’t love. So I threw myself into the politics. Into the war. Pretended none of it mattered.”
His eyes darkened.
“And then I found out your mate… was Leander.”
“I thought fate had a sick sense of humor.”
“But the worst part?”
He looked away.
“When I realized he was cheating on you-with the woman fate tied me to-”
“I felt relieved.”
The wind stirred the flames.
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His eyes reflected them, glowing with something deep and dangerous.
“That night,” he said, “you brought me that milk.”
“It was laced. I knew. I knew from the way your footsteps sounded in the hall.”
“But I opened the door anyway.”
He leaned in, brushing his fingers lightly against her cheek.
“I don’t want to be the distant, self-controlled Alpha anymore.”
“I want you. Even if it was all wrong…I never wanted to let you go.”
Isolde’s eyes shimmered.
She smiled softly-though her lashes were damp.
“So… you knew all along.”
Alec pulled her into his arms.
“I was never going to lose you.”
The fire crackled.
The night sky above them held its breath.
And from that moment on, they stood side by side.
Not because fate demanded it.
But because they chose each other.
