TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 87

CHAPTER 57: YOU b***h!-2

But Elder James isn’t finished.

“The council acknowledges the revised ruling,” he says, and his voice is bitter with barely contained fury.

“However, regardless of Alpha Crawford’s crimes, the facts remain that Ember Aragon committed adultery while legally mated. The Lycan King pursued a married woman. And the recording played in this chamber

proves their relationship began as deception, not destiny.”

He leans forward, his eyes cold.

“Love is not proven simply because her husband turned out to be a monster. The council requires assurance that this relationship is genuine before fully clearing the Lycan King’s name.”

Knox stands.

He doesn’t let go of my hand. When he speaks, his voice carries indisputable pitch of a king who has never

needed to raise his voice to be heard.

“Then test us. Watch us. Put us under supervision for as long as you require.” His eyes sweep across the council, challenging each of them to meet his gaze. “I will prove that what I feel for this woman is real. I will prove it however you demand, for however long you demand, because Ember Aragon is the woman I

want beside me. The woman who survived hell and came out fighting. The woman who stood in this

chamber and told the truth even when it cost her everything.”

He turns to look at me, and something in his expression makes my chest ache.

“If that’s not worthy of a king’s devotion,” he says quietly, “then nothing is.”

The chamber is silent.

“The council accepts the Lycan King’s offer,” Elder Catherine announces. “Knox Volkov and Ember Aragon’s relationship will be subject to a thirty–day probationary period under council observation. If at the end of thirty days the relationship appears genuine, all matters will be considered closed. If at any point the relationship appears fake or falls apart, the council reserves the right to revisit sanctions.”

Thirty days.

We have thirty more days to pretend. To perform. To convince a council of skeptics that what started as a

transaction has become something real.

Or maybe not pretend at all.

Because when Knox looks at me like that–like I’m worth fighting for, like I’m worth burning down his

reputation for–it doesn’t feel fake anymore.

It feels terrifying.

“This hearing is adjourned,” Elder James announces through gritted teeth, and the gavel comes down with

CHAPTER 57-784bht 2

a crack that sounds like defeat.

The Chamber empties slowly, wolves streaming out in clusters of gossip and speculation.

+25 Points

I see Devika storm past without looking at me, Eider James at her heels, both of them radiating fury at a victory that slipped through their fingers.

Good riddance.

Logan Reeves slips out through a side door. Our eyes meet for just a moment across the emptying

chamber, and what I see there makes my blood run cold.

He mouths something I can’t quite read. Maybe later. Maybe soon. Maybe something worse.

Then he’s gone, swallowed by the crowd, and I file the warning away for a time when I have the capacity to

be afraid of anything other than falling apart.

Gale’s screams have faded to nothing.

The guards dragged him out through the back, and I can only imagine what’s happening to him now- processing, containment, the first taste of consequences he’s spent his entire life avoiding.

Part of me wants to watch. Part of me wants to see him in chains, wants to look into his eyes and let him

see that I won.

But a bigger part of me never wants to see his face again.

Knox hasn’t let go of me.

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