The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 273

Judgement-1

Rana stirred in the unfamiliar bed.

The sheets were soft beneath her fingers-too soft, too smooth, nothing like the coarse fabrics she was used to. The pillows cradled her head with an almost unnatural gentleness. The room smelled of lavender and something floral, clean and foreign.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then pain.

It radiated from her cheek, from her split lip, from the deep ache in her ribs where the Alpha’s fist had connected. She winced, pressing a hand to her face. Her inner wolf, Ray Ray, was already working-a warm, tingling sensation that told her healing was underway. But it would take time, as they used wolfsbane.

Then memory crashed back.

The kidnapping. The dark vehicle. The cold room in the pack house.

The Alpha’s voice, sharp with rage: *You knew where your daughter was and kept silent.

His hand across her face. The sting of the blows. The taste of blood in her mouth.

And then the rescue.

The chaos. The guards. The King’s voice, calm and commanding.

Rana closed her eyes, letting the fragments of memory settle.

She was safe. She was alive. She was free.

The door opened.

Iva rushed into the room, her face pale, her eyes red-rimmed. She crossed the distance in three quick strides and threw her arms around her mother, sobbing into her shoulder.

“Oh, Mom. I was so worried. I was so scared.”

Rana held her daughter, stroking her hair, murmuring soft reassurances.

“Shh, shh. I’m okay, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Iva pulled back, her face streaked with tears. She looked at her mother’s bruises-the dark purple swelling on her cheek, the cut on her lip, the shadows under her eyes.

“He did this to you,” Iva whispered, her voice shaking with rage. “He hurt you.”

Rana cupped her daughter’s face.

“And he will pay for it. The Council will make sure of that.”

Iva nodded, wiping her tears.

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Judgement

“have something to tell you,” she said, her voice steadier now. “The Council judgment. It’s today. The Alpha will stand trial, along with the high-ranking families who enabled his abuses.”

Rana’s heart clenched.

“The high-ranking families, she repeated slowly. “That means…”

“Father… he will stand trial as well.”

Rana’s blood ran cold.

Her former mate. Her husband. The father of her child. Her chosen mate.

Claim

He had not been at the pack house during the rescue. He had been away on pack business-or so the Alpha had claimed. But the fact that he had escaped immediate capture did not erase what he had done.

What he had tried to do to their daughter.

Rana thought about the years of silence. The years of complicity. The years he had stood by while Iva was treated like merchandise, like a bargaining chip to be traded for power.

His absence did not erase his guilt.

“I want to be there,” Rana said, her voice firm despite the pain in her body. “I want to see him face the Council. I want to speak.”

Iva squeezed her mother’s hand.

“Then we will go together.”

The afternoon sun was high when they arrived at the Council chambers.

Rana walked between Iva and Caleb, her hand resting on her daughter’s arm. The building was ancient, imposing-stone walls worn smooth by centuries of use, windows stained with images of wolves and moons and battles long past.

She had never been inside the Council chambers before.

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