His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 220

Chapter 220

Chapter 220

Claire’s POV

The final night before the Trial was silent, but the air inside Silas’s cabin was heavy with a different kind of pressure. The mountain air was thin and freezing, but inside the small loft where we had been sequestered, the heat was stifling. Elijah sat on the edge of the narrow cot, methodically wrapping his hands in athletic tape.

The rhythmic rip of the adhesive was the only sound in the room. His back was toward me, a map of fresh bruises and old scars from Silas’s relentless training.

He had shifted three times today, pushing his body past the point of exhaustion to ensure his neck would hold under the pressure of a real fight.

I watched him from the shadows of the corner, my own wolf pacing restlessly in the back of my mind.

My heart was a steady, heavy drum in my chest. Tomorrow, he was stepping into a circle where the only way out was victory or total incapacity.

“Stop looking at me like I’m already a ghost, Claire,” Elijah murmured, not turning around.

“I’m not,” I lied, my voice small.

He finished the wrap on his left hand and finally turned. The moonlight from the small window cut across his face, highlighting the golden ring in his irises that hadn’t fully receded since the afternoon session. He looked raw. He looked dangerous.

“Come here,” he commanded.

I didn’t hesitate. I moved across the creaking floorboards and stood between his knees.

He reached out, his taped hands sliding around my waist to pull me flush against him.

The heat radiating off his skin was an intoxicant, a reminder that he was very much alive, very much a force of nature. “Silas says the Northman is a head taller than me,” Elijah whispered, his breath warm against the skin of my neck. “He says the Reeds wouldn’t have called for a Trial if they didn’t think they had a way to win.”

“They don’t know you,” I said, my hands finding the back of his neck, my fingers tangling in the dark hair at his nape. “They don’t know what you’re willing to do.”

“I’m willing to do anything,” he growled, the sound vibrating deep in his chest. “I’m going to tear him apart, Claire. I’m going to make sure that when Mason Reed closes his eyes at night, all he sees is what happens to people who try to take what belongs to me.”

He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye.

The intensity there was overwhelming, a mix of the protective Alpha he was becoming and the boy who had spent months pining for me in the hallways of our home.

“If the Council sees a single crack in us tomorrow, they’ll use it to pry us apart,” he said. “They need to see that this isn’t just a claim. They need to see that there is no Claire without Elijah. No Elijah without Claire.”

He leaned in, his lips brushing against mine in a kiss that started as a vow and quickly spiraled into something much more desperate.

This wasn’t the gentle, hesitant affection we’d shared in the hospital or the sunroom. This was the hunger of two people who knew that tomorrow might be the end of their world.

His hands, rough with the tape and the callouses of the rink, slid up under my hoodie, his palms searing against my skin.

I gasped into his mouth, my heart giving a violent, thumping leap that had nothing to do with my condition and everything to do with the man holding me.

We fell back onto the thin mattress of the cot, the old springs protesting under our combined weight. In the dark of the loft, the rest of the world-the Reeds, the Council, the looming violence-ceased to exist.

There was only the weight of him, the scent of pine and sweat, and the electric connection that had been building between us since the moment we met.

Every touch was a reclamation. Every breath was a promise. We were wolves of the Red Pine, and tonight, we weren’t brother and sister, or patient and protector.

Successfully unlocked!

We were two halves of a whole, finally allowed to collide,

The morning came too soon, cold and gray.

1/2

Chapter 220

We left the cabin before the sun was fully up.

Silas stood on the porch, his arms crossed over his massive chest, watching us go with a grim, silent nod

He hadn’t said a word of encouragement, but as we walked past, he had dropped a heavy hand on Elijah’s shoulder, a sent passing of the torch.

The drive to the Pack House was a blur. My heart was steady, a heavy stone in my chest, anchored by the memory of the night before.

I watched Elijah’s profile as he drove-he was calm, his eyes fixed on the road, the restless energy of the previous days replaced by a cold, sharp focus.

The Council chamber was located in the foundations of the main house, a vaulted stone hall that had seen centuries of Hale history.

As we descended the stairs, the temperature dropped, the air smelling of damp earth and ancient power.

The room was packed. Every high-ranking wolf in the territory was there, standing on the tiered stone benches.

In the center was the Circle-a ring of white sand ten feet across.

The five Elders of the High Council sat on a raised dais at the head of the room. Ethan and Mom were to the right, Ethan looking like a man facing his own execution. To the left stood the Reeds.

Mason was there, his arm in a sling, looking smug and satisfied. Next to him stood their champion. He was a monster of a man, his skin a roadmap of ritualistic scars, his eyes a dull, predatory yellow. He was a Northman, a mercenary wolf who lived for the kill.

The Lead Elder stood, his voice echoing off the stone walls.

“The petition for Trial by Combat has been accepted. The Hale heir stands accused of a false claim to circumvent the relocation of a pack member. The challenger seeks to dissolve the claim and the Hale right to the Red Pine territory.”

A murmur went through the crowd. This was about more than just me now; it was a coup.

“Elijah Hale,” the Elder called out. “Do you accept the challenge?”

Elijah stepped forward, his boots crunching on the stone. He didn’t look at the Council. He looked at Mason.

“I accept,” Elijah said, his voice ringing with a terrifying clarity.

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