Chapter 193: Funny You Should Mention Blood

An Alpha had just warned the Grand Chancellor of Helix that if his wife was threatened again he would consider it an act of war.

It was not the first time the Grand Chancellor had heard that threatened and it would not be the last. He assumed he was dealing with a typical young Alpha who ruled by volume and instinct.

The Grand Chancellor was about to learn in real time that he was mistaken.

"The Luna seat is a bloodline seat, Alpha Thunderfang," he began. "It passes authority to the next generation. The Luna is the spiritual counterpart to the Alpha. She leads the pack’s females. She performs the rites. She channels the pack bond through every ceremony this pack holds." The Grand Chancellor’s voice stayed level, which somehow made it worse. "Every one of those functions requires a wolf. The woman has no wolf. She cannot perform a single duty the seat demands of her."

"She has a wolf." Alpha Thunderfang did not blink. "She also bears a Moonseal, Grand Chancellor. Something not possible without a wolf, nor without relation to an Alpha bloodline."

Whispers burst across the ringed tier and ran down into the hall.

Among the Thunderfang Elders, Freya and Dante watched Alpha Thunderfang with open, unhidden pride.

"A Moonseal is not recognized under the law, Alpha Thunderfang." Edwards waved it off. "It is folklore. It has no standing in this chamber."

Alpha Thunderfang set the Moonseal aside with the energy of a man putting down one weapon because he had four more and wanted the Grand Chancellor to see all of them.

"She absorbed my aura, which, as you yourself stated, is not possible without a wolf. She scored in the ninety-ninth percentile of physical endurance at the Moonfire, in silver cuffs, which also should not have been possible if she was wolfless. My own wolf can feel hers."

The Grand Chancellor opened his mouth.

Alpha Thunderfang raised his hand, cutting off the Grand Chancellor mid-sentence, which was either the bravest or the most reckless thing anyone had done in this room in a decade.

"Which I understand may not be admitted as evidence. I am not asking you to take my wolf’s word for it. I am trying to give you the full picture, Grand Chancellor, so allow me to give it to you." He pressed on. "My Head Healer will testify that Nova is experiencing spasms, which are the documented precursor to a shift following long-term silver exposure. This is on record for wolves who re-enter society after incarceration. The silver suppresses the wolf. Upon release, it resurfaces. The only reason there is no documented case of a slave regaining her wolf is that no slave has ever been freed from silver to begin with."

A hologram elder on the far tier leaned into the light.

"Freeing a slave, or tampering with regulation cuffs, is punishable by death—"

Alpha Thunderfang cut the elder off mid-sentence.

"In Thunderfang, we do not chain our women in silver," he stated. "Nova’s cuffs burned my hands on touch, which puts them squarely in Class IV. For reference, the maximum we use on criminals in Thunderfang is Class II for men and Class I for women. Class IV cuffs are outlawed in nine of the twelve slave packs. Starborne was abiding by his laws when he chose to put her in those. That is his prerogative. Just as my prerogative is Thunderfang, and by Thunderfang law, it is illegal to put women in silver and it is illegal to own slaves."

The sentence divided the room. Every person in that chamber was suddenly standing on one side or the other of a line that had been invisible until an Alpha drew it. Packs that chain women. Packs that don’t. Elders who govern both.

"Alpha Starborne was fully aware that Thunderfang is not a slave pack when he agreed to sell Nova to my brother. I am the Alpha of this pack. The decision to remove those cuffs was mine, made in accordance with Thunderfang law, and by extension with Helix law." Alpha Thunderfang let the next part sharpen. "On top of Class IV silver, Nova’s cuffs contained kill switches. A mechanism banned continent-wide for over two hundred years."

"We are not here to discuss cuffs." Edwards did not raise his voice. "That is a separate matter entirely, and it will be addressed in its own time. Alpha Thunderfang, every Luna in the recorded history of Helix has held that seat with a verified lineage attached to her name. A minimum of four generations, confirmed by this council, before the seat was ever granted. A slave cannot be a Luna. Let me be precise, because precision is what saves us from war."

The word war hung in the chamber like smoke from a match and the chamber was quiet in the way a room gets quiet when someone with authority is about to say something that everyone suspects is coming and no one wants to hear.

"The Moonfire paired her with your brother," Grand Chancellor Edwards began. "Your brother is second in line to the Thunderfang throne, which, as his mate, would place her second in line as well. As a mate, she may hold the rank of Crown Princess. That is the highest title her status permits, and it permits that only because the mate seat and the bloodline seat are not the same chair."

Alpha Thunderfang inclined his head. "My brother is second in line for the Thunderfang throne. Forgive me for pointing out that the logic behind that is flawed."

The sentence landed on the chamber the way a stone lands in still water. Ripples moved outward through the holograms. A few mouths twitched.

"Yes, Alpha Thunderfang. The pairing system operates independently of legal status. A slave may be paired. A slave may not be titled. Those are two separate legal tracks, and a mark does not merge them. If the Crown Prince was ever to ascend, the Luna seat would require a woman of verified blood. Your brother would, at that point, have been obligated to take a recognized mate for the throne."

"Understood, Grand Chancellor. Luckily with Nova, this is a nonissue. As far as lineage and blood verification goes, you can rest easy." Alpha Thunderfang’s voice carried clean over the noise. "Her blood is verified. She is Starborne’s daughter."

Several holograms on the upper tier shifted at the same time.

"Celeste Starborne’s bloodwork shows they share a paternal line. Celeste is her biological sister. This was confirmed after the princess’s arrest bloodwork."