TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 74

CHAPTER 47:THE COUNCIL-2

Gale is already seated at the respondent’s table, and when he sees me, his expression is pure smug

satisfaction.

The look of a man who knows he’s already won. Who’s just waiting for the formalities to confirm what he

considers inevitable.

Logan Reeves stands beside him, impeccable in his expensive suit, and when he catches my eye, his lips

form words without sound.

‘I gave you your chance.’

The memory of his threat in the lady’s room crashes back. His respurces. His connections. His promise to

destroy me if I didn’t accept his offer.

Did he do this?

The questions spiral, but there are no answers. Only the sickening certainty that I’m walking into an

ambush and I don’t know where all the traps are hidden.

Rafael is in the gallery too, his dark eyes tracking my every movement. His expression is harder to

decipher now-all that earlier intensity from the scavenger hunt locked away behind a careful mask.

He doesn’t smile, doesn’t nod, doesn’t acknowledge the conversation we had. All he does is watch me

with that unnerving ease.

“The council convenes,” Elder James announces, settling into his seat at the center of the dais with cold authority. “We are here to adjudicate the matter of Émber Crawford’s disputed status as a mated pair. Both

parties have submitted documentation and witness statements. We will now hear opening arguments.”

Gale’s attorney rises first.

She’s sharp-edged and polished, blonde hair pulled back severely, eyes that miss nothing.

The kind of woman who bills by the hour and earns every penny. She paces in front of the council like a predator circling prey.

“Ember Crawford entered into a lawful mating bond with Alpha Gale Crawford eight years ago, courting duration included,” she begins. “This bond was recognized and registered with the Pack Council. It was

sacred. Binding. Unbreakable under pack law except through formal dissolution procedures that were

never initiated.”

She pauses for effect, letting that land.

“Yet only days after this Summit began, she violated that sacred bond by engaging in sexual relations with Lycan King Knox Volkov. A man who used his position and power to seduce her away from her lawful mate. A man who-by his own admission-filed a restraining order against Alpha Crawford, assaulted him, and has systematically interfered in a lawful marriage.”

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My heart stutters. This isn’t the defense i was expecting.

“But the letter of the law,” Knox continues, “is not the spirit of the law. And the spirit of pack law has

always been to protect our people from harm. To ensure that sacred bonds remain sacred. To prevent the strong from preying on the weak.”

He turns to face Elder James directly, and I can feel the challenge radiating off him.

“Ember came to me desperate, fleeing a marriage that was killing her slowly. I offered protection. That protection evolved into something neither of us expected or planned for. Something I resisted, because I

know what I am. I know what I’m capable of. I know the destruction I leave in my wake.”

His hand tightens on mine.

“But the bond didn’t care about my resistance. The bond recognized her the moment we touched, and everything that’s happened since has been the universe correcting a mistake it made when it allowed her binding to Gale Crawford.”

He pauses, letting the significance of what he’s about to say settle over the room.

“Ember Aragon is my fated mate. My true mate. The one-in-a-million connection that pack law treats as unbreakable and sacred. I will not apologize for claiming what’s mine. I will not permit her return to an

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abusive husband. And if this council attempts to separate fated mates, they will be violating laws far older and more sacred than anything Gale Crawford’s pack is citing.”

The chamber goes absolutely silent.

Then the whispers explode.