Chapter 232 - 0232

Kaelen POV

"The fuck did you just say?"

My fists clenched so tightly at my sides that my knuckles turned bone-white, but I didn’t raise my voice. Not because I didn’t want to scream, but because Darius had given me a strict lecture on our way here about keeping my temper under control.

Honestly, I admired how damn calm and composed he had managed to remain throughout the entire ride, because I was barely holding on to my sanity right now. Even without shouting, my tone came out low and lethal, carrying that quiet, deadly edge that usually made grown men drop to their knees and beg for mercy.

But the men seated above me on the marble dais didn’t flinch. Or maybe they were simply pretending not to. They had summoned me here believing they held the upper hand, and none of them wanted to appear weak in front of their Alpha King.

Elder Thomas was the one who had spoken. Leaning back in his grand chair, he steepled his fingers beneath his chin and regarded me with the calm, condescending smile of a man who genuinely believed he held all the cards.

"You cannot marry that woman," Thomas repeated, this time speaking louder and more clearly, as though I hadn’t heard him the first time.

I drew in a sharp, ragged breath, my entire body vibrating with barely restrained fury. All twelve elders sat draped in their signature deep crimson robes, the heavy gold embroidery catching against the light as they watched me with varying degrees of arrogance, curiosity, and barely concealed hostility.

I had known this confrontation was coming, but that didn’t make their bullshit any easier to tolerate. If anything, I was already so fucking tired of them.

"Who gave you the right?" I asked slowly, keeping my voice dangerously quiet. "Who the hell gave you the right to dictate who I can and cannot marry?"

Thomas’s smug smile didn’t even twitch.

"We are the High Council. We exist to ensure the stability of this empire." He recited the same tired oath they had probably repeated a thousand times before, using those polished words to disguise their corruption while doing the exact opposite of what they claimed. "And your infatuation with that woman threatens everything we have built."

Hearing Lorelei referred to as though she were nothing more than some meaningless distraction set my blood on fire.

I took a heavy step forward, and my claws slid free from my fingertips with a sharp, sickening clack. The sound of those black blades extending echoed through the silent chamber like daggers being unsheathed.

"Say her name," I growled, the vibration of my voice seeming to rattle the stone beneath our feet. "If you’re going to disrespect her, at least have the balls to say her name."

Thomas’s eyes twitched at my tone, but he quickly recovered. His gaze shifted briefly toward the shadows along the far wall, and I followed it.

Jaxen stood there.

His hands were clasped tightly in front of him, his face deathly pale. He looked like a man who had walked straight into a lion’s den and only just realized he was the main course.

I had noticed him the moment I stepped into the chamber, but I hadn’t bothered to pay him any attention because he was beneath me. However, the way Thomas had glanced in his direction told me everything I needed to know. That pathetic bastard was at the center of whatever game they were trying to play today.

"We have our reasons for taking this stance, Alpha King," Elder Viktor spoke up, completely ignoring my demand. "We have always had doubts about whether she was the right woman to sit beside you as Queen Luna. So, we conducted our own investigation, and it turns out our concerns were entirely justified. What Alpha Jaxen here has revealed to us is... deeply concerning, to say the least."

I slowly turned my head toward Jaxen, locking him in a brutal glare.

The weakling who had once been Lorelei’s mate. The man who had been given a priceless treasure only to abuse her, betray her, and throw her away. The man who had probably also seen her and touched her in places that only I should have been meant for. And now, he was standing here conspiring with these ancient fools to drag her down all over again.

Every instinct in me screamed to cross the room and crush his skull against the marble floor. I was barely holding on to my sanity as it was.

"And what, exactly, did Alpha Jaxen tell you?" I asked, the venom in my voice impossible to miss.

Viktor didn’t answer right away. Instead, he made a slow, sweeping gesture toward Jaxen. "Tell him, Alpha Reed."

Jaxen flinched at the sound of his name.

Fuck, he was pathetic. Had Lorelei really spent years loving a man this weak? I watched as his eyes darted nervously between me and the twelve elders above us, his cowardly mind clearly scrambling to figure out how to play both sides without getting himself torn apart.

"I... I told them the truth," Jaxen stammered, his voice cracking. "That Lorelei is cursed."

The moment the word left his mouth, several elders released theatrical, pained groans, as though hearing the revelation again was simply too much for them to endure. Beside me, Darius shifted uncomfortably. Although I had already told him about Lorelei’s past, he clearly hadn’t expected the Council to use her childhood curse as a weapon against my reign.

"Cursed," I repeated flatly, narrowing my eyes.

"Yes," Viktor declared, leaning forward as smug satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. "The woman you wish to elevate to Queen Luna carries a dark mark upon her head. She is a shadow twin, the one prophesied to bring ruin and misfortune to everyone around her. Her own pack banished her because of it. Her own flesh and blood sentenced her to death to protect their people."

He paused, allowing the heavy silence to stretch across the cold chamber before leaning back with a cruel smirk.

"Are you truly so blinded by lust, Alpha King, that you would risk the safety of the entire empire for one cursed woman?"