Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret (Leah and Aaron) novel Chapter 197

Chapter 197
AARON
The commotion my words cause would be laughable under any other circumstances.
Right now, however, I’m not laughing.
It’s all I can do to remain still as Tobin and the other Elders call
for order.
Every fiber of my being wants to chase after Leah.
To explain why I’m doing this, to make her understand this is
the only way I can protect her.
I don’t plan to actually go through with the divorce.
I just need Tobin-or whoever it is on the Council trying to kill me-to believe I don’t care about Leah in the slightest and keep her off their radar.
If anything happened to Leah, I know I would snap.
And like I told her earlier, I would burn the world down.
Eventually the Council brings the Powd
and by then, the aid has brought out the legal documents apparently stating that I will not make any move against the Council to claim any seats for myself.
Really, I should get my team of lawyers to look over this.
Who knows what else they could have hidden amongst the legal jargon?
But the Council and every other wolf in the hall is watching as
I’m handed a fountain pen.
If I don’t sign it, that would be tantamount to treason.
They would be within their rights to kill me or bind my wolf
here and now.
I take the pen and slash my signature across the bottom of the page, then stare up at the Council definitely.
If they think a piece of paper is going to stop me, then they’re
sorely mistaken.
Someone sitting up there has tried numerous times to have
me killed.
One of those faces peering down from that stage has transgressed me in a way that cannot be forgiven.
And when I find out who it was, no contract is going to prevent me from taking the revenge I deserve.
“Is there anything else you require of me?” I drawl, as if they’re beneath me and I have far better things to do with my time
than pander to them.
Most of them scowl, probably because they see the truth of it.
I am superior and more powerful than them, and I do have better things to do with my time than kiss their ass es.
“You are dismissed,” Tobin says with a wave of his hand. “But
Alpha Rathborn, know that we are keeping a close eye on
you.”
I pause as I take in the way Tobin is looking at me, the way he
said those words.
Is there some other threat layered underneath?
Is he flaunting the fact that he is the one who is out to get me?
Or am I simply reading too much into things?
I sketch a barely polite half-bow, and then return to my seat,
ignoring the way other wolves are gaping at me.
The Council finishes up with some other formalities, and at some point Karolina returns from where she followed Leah, looking smug and I wonder what that’s about.
What could she have possibly talked to Leah about that would leave her looking so satisfied?
As one of the other Elders is talking, she leans over to whisper
with Tobin.
Tobin is harder to read. He nods several times, but otherwise
doesn’t seem to react much, and I wonder if she’s even mentioning Leah at all, or if they’re talking about something
else altogether.
The meeting finishes and other wolves avoid me like the plague.
Usually I can’t get out of one of these meetings without other Alphas stopping me to curry favor or ask for business advice.
Tonight, everyone knows I’m in the bad books with the Council and no one wants to be associated with me.
It suits my dark mood just fine.
I make my way out to the parking lot, not bothering with the valet service when I have my contingent of men waiting.
Leah, James and the other Rathborn SUVs are gone, and part of me is disappointed that I didn’t get to see my mate one last
time.
Although, in the mood she was probably in, the best I could have expected of her would have been a slap across the face.
I put my mate from my mind for the time being.
At least for tonight, I know she is safe, even if she hates me
more than ever.