The Alpha's Silent Bride: Seventh Time's The Charm novel Chapter 72

Chapter 72: 072: The Council’s Summon

~ RONAN ~

I was out of the room before anyone could change my mind. The door slammed shut behind me with a resounding thud that echoed down the hallway like a final declaration. I’d made my choice, and I didn’t see Mara in my future.

Mom might not see past the sweet facade Mara was trying to put up, but deep down, it was only a matter of time before I exposed the truth — that Mara wasn’t the innocent girl she pretended to be, or at lease she was, but not anymore.

I strode down the hallway toward my office, intending to wrap up whatever work I could for the day, then find Roselle. If she’d let me. I understood her need for space after the bomb Mara had dropped. The accusation was enough to make any woman retreat. Especially Roselle, with the trauma she’d endured. I wouldn’t push her. I’d give her time. But Goddess, it hurt like hell knowing she was hurting because of me.

Standing outside my office was a young courier, a warrior barely out of his teens, waiting patiently with a sealed envelope in his hands.

"It’s a letter from the Council, Alpha," he said, bowing his head respectfully as he handed it over.

I took the envelope, my jaw already clenching at the official seal stamped into the blood-red wax. Nothing good ever came from the Council. I broke the seal and scanned the contents, my stomach sinking with every word.

Alpha Blackthorn,

Your immediate presence is required. A territorial dispute between two neighboring packs has escalated into violence. As the appointed mediator, you are to report without delay and oversee negotiations until the conflict is resolved.

The assignment is expected to last a minimum of three days.

Failure to comply is not advised.

— The Council

Fucking hell. Three days. Which would probably turn into four or five once the posturing and endless talks began.

I read the letter three times, waiting for the words to magically change. Hoping that, somehow, miraculously, they’d say something different. But they didn’t. The Council’s summons were ironclad. Saying no wasn’t an option. When an Alpha as powerful as I was refused a direct order, the political fallout could destabilize everything I’d spent years building, alliances, trade routes, the fragile peace along our borders.

I crumpled the letter in my fist, then smoothed it out again with a heavy sigh. Leaving Roselle here wasn’t an option either. Not with Mara slithering around, backed by my mother, and Ethan lurking in the shadows like the snake he was. It would be like leaving a lamb in a den of wolves.

We’ll convince her, Kael growled in my head, his voice laced with determination. She belongs with us. She has to come.

I nodded to the courier. "Tell them I’ll depart within the hour. Prepare my escort."

The young warrior bowed and hurried off.

Few minutes later, I’m headed to the library. Celeste had reluctantly told me where Roselle was hiding when I asked earlier, the one place she always went when she needed space, is the library.

I found her in the far corner, curled up in an oversized armchair with a book open on her lap that she clearly wasn’t reading. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her shoulders hunched.

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