The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 129

The council’s notice

(Caius)

Isla was at breakfast when I came back from the council room.

The table was quieter than usual at this hour, most of the pack already done with their morning meal and back to their routines. She sat in her usual seat beside mine with a plate in front of her and her eyes on the window. She looked up when I came in and something in her expression shifted.

I sat down beside her.

She waited.

“I need to tell you something,” I said.

She didn’t ask what it was before I said it. She simply looked at me and waited.

“Three territorial leaders sent correspondence while we were traveling back from Ashcrest,” I said. “Two want formal confirmation of the mate bond and the Celestial wolf claim.”

“And the third,” she said.

“The High Council of the Eastern Territories,” I said. “They want a formal audience. Within

thirty days.”

“What does that mean,” she said.

“It means word has spread faster than expected,” I said. “They want to discuss the implications of the old laws being invoked for the first time in three centuries.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“They’ll want to know about the mark,” she said.

“Yes,” I said.

“What did you tell the council?”

“That it’s your choice,” I said. “Not mine. Not theirs. Not anyone outside this territory.”

“And the High Council?”

“Same answer,” I said. “Same answer for everyone.”

She looked at me for a moment.

The councils notice

Then she nodded once.

“Do they have authority over you?” she said.

+25 Points

“No,” I said. “They’re a governing body not a ruling one. They advise. They mediate between territories. They don’t command.”

“But they carry weight?” she said.

“Yes,” I said. “Their opinion matters to other packs.”

“And if their opinion is that the mark should happen on their timeline?”

“Then their opinion is wrong,” I said.

She looked at me. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” I said.

She nodded once and went back to her breakfast and said nothing more about it for a while. Then without looking at me she said, “I want to be in that room when they come.”

“You will be,” I said.

“From the beginning,” she said. “Not brought in after.”

“Yes,” I said.

She picked up her cup. “Good.”

We finished breakfast without talking about it further.

That was one of the things I appreciated about her. She didn’t pull a subject apart after it had been settled. The High Council was coming in thirty days, she would be in the room from the beginning, the mark was her choice and nobody outside Wraithbone was going to change that. Those were the facts and she’d received them and filed them and moved on.

I watched her from the corner of my eye while she finished eating.

She was thinking. I could tell by the particular quality of her stillness. Not worried. Working something through.

“What do you know about them?” she said eventually.

“The High Council?”

“Yes.”

sounds notice

(+25 Points

“Enough,” I said. “I’ve dealt with them before. They move carefully and they speak carefully and nothing they say in a room is only about what it appears to be about.”

She looked at me. “So they’ll come here pretending it’s about the old laws.”

“Yes,” I said.

“And it’s actually about the mark.”

“Partly,” I said. “It’s also about understanding what a Celestial wolf means for the balance of power between territories. That hasn’t been tested in three centuries. They want to see it for

themselves.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“They want to see me,” she said.

“Yes,” I said.

She looked at the window. “Then I want to be ready.”

“Then we prepare,” I said.

She looked at me. “How?”

“You need to know how they operate,” I said. “How they ask questions. What they’re listening for underneath the answers. How to read the room when they’re being careful with their language.”

“And Vaela?” she said. “Will they feel her?”

“Yes,” I said. “They’re experienced enough to feel something. Whether they know what it is

before you tell them is another question.”

She thought about that. “I don’t want them to see her as a threat.”

“They already do,” I said. “A Celestial wolf changes the balance of power in ways that haven’t existed for three centuries. They’d be foolish not to take it seriously.”

“Then I need to show them she isn’t something to be afraid of,” she said.

I looked at her. “She doesn’t need to be afraid of anything,” I said. “That’s not the same thing.”

She held my gaze for a moment.

Then she nodded once. “When do we start?”

“Tomorrow,” I said.

The country notice

She looked back at the window. “Okay.”

I watched her for a moment longer.

She wasn’t shrinking from what was coming. She wasn’t looking at me like I had brought danger to her table and expected her to carry it quietly. She was taking the information apart piece by piece and deciding where she stood inside it.

That was Isla now.

Not untouched by fear.

Not careless with power.

Just unwilling to let either one make her smaller.

“You don’t have to become what they expect,” I said.

Her eyes moved back to mine.

“You don’t have to prove Vaela is safe by making yourself less than you are.”

She was quiet after that.

Then she nodded once. “I don’t want to hide her.”

“Then don’t.”

Her fingers tightened around the cup for one second before relaxing again.

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