Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 250

Chapter 250: The Deliberate Version

Claire walked elegantly to the front of the hall, and the entire chamber fell silent.

Every eye in the room followed her, Alphas, Betas, Lunas and Gammas alike, all of them watching her as if they were looking at a literal ghost.

No one dared to breathe. The intimidating atmosphere from moments ago vanished, replaced by pure shock, and the only sound in the whole hall was the soft click of her shoes against the marble floor.

Rolf, having finally regained his footing with the help of his Beta, Jake, stared at the woman with wide eyes.

He pointed a trembling finger at her, his voice cracking loudly. "What sorcery is this?" he croaked. "You’re dead! You died twenty years ago!"

Kira only smiled as her mother reached her, and the two of them embraced, right there before the whole of the Eastern territory.

And as she held her mother, her memory carried her back once more to the study the previous night. Because this moment, this exact moment, had been Derek’s idea.

"How am I ever going to win this case without a single document to prove the pack belongs to my mother?" she had asked him.

Derek had lifted his eyes from the laptop. "You said Claudia kept photographs. You could start there. Pictures taken on Rolf’s coronation day."

Kira had thought about it, then clicked her tongue. "I don’t know if photographs will prove anything on their own."

Derek had gone quiet for a moment. "Do you want me involved in this? I can step in from the background and pull some strings if you need me to."

"Of course I do. I need all the help I can get right now."

"Then tell me. Has Rolf, or anyone from Moonfang, seen or heard that Claire is alive?"

Kira had shaken her head.

Derek had nodded slowly, and she’d watched the strategy assemble itself behind his eyes. "Then I have an idea that buys us time to dig further and gather proper evidence."

Time is exactly what I need.

"Then listen to me," Derek had said. "Don’t walk into that Council Hall with Claire at the start of the hearing. If she’s sitting next to you from the start, Rolf will have time to prepare a lie."

Kira had stared quietly at him.

"It won’t land half as hard as it will if she enters while the hearing is already underway. Let him present his fake papers first. Let him lie to the elders. Then, right when he thinks he’s won, bring Claire in. He will be so disoriented he won’t be coherent enough to continue the case."

Kira had blinked, her mind racing as she processed the trap. "What if he doesn’t panic? What if he regains his composure?"

Derek had smirked at her. "You give Rolf far more credit than he deserves. Trust me, it’ll work. Have you forgotten it’s the same pattern you used to dismantle Ruby?"

Kira had laughed. "That case is quite different from this one though, and I never actually planned. It all just... played out that way."

"Then consider this the deliberate version." His voice had softened. "You’ve got this, Kira. Don’t give up. You’re fighting a good fight, and your name’s going to go down in history as the woman who broke those rigid werewolf customs apart. If werewolves had allowed women to rule packs, your mother would never have lost her birthright, her family name, or her place."

Kira had felt a swell of emotion in her chest, her heart fluttering at his sincere support.

"Thank you, Derek. Truly." Then she’d grinned and placed her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to hear a story?"

Derek had let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. "No. Please."

Kira had gone ahead to tell him her story anyway until she had slept off.

In the present, Kira’s smile widened at the memory.

"This isn’t real!" Rolf was shouting now, still jabbing a finger toward Claire. "Whatever is being displayed here, the elders should not believe a word of it! It’s a trick! An impostor!"

The presiding elder cleared his throat and turned to the woman standing at the front.

"Madam. Kindly tell this Council who you are, what your relationship is to the claimant, and what your business here is."

Claire turned to the panel and inclined her head. "Forgive my intrusion, honoured elders." Her voice carried clear through the hall.

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