Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 187

187–Scolded

Charlotte

“Let’s get a few things straight, Alpha Thomas.” His eyes narrow slightly at the way I say his title. “Your sont disrespected the Moon Goddess herself when he

rejected the mate she gave him. He disrespected Esily when he humiliated her in front of your pack. He disrespected the bond when he treated her like

something beneath him.” I take one step forward, and Blake moves with me at my side. “Now he is paying the price for that.” Thomas’s mouth tightens, and I keep going before he can dress up his guilt in another carefully chosen sentence of stupid words.

“People do not just wake up one day and decide to be cruel. That behaviour is learned. It is fed. It is protected. And looking around your pack in the short

time I have been here, I can confidently say your son learned exactly how to look down on people from you.”

Thomas draws in a slow breath. “Charlotte.”

“No,” I say, holding up one hand. “Interrupting someone is rude, Alpha Thomas.”

Gareth makes a small sound behind me. It might be a cough. It might be the closest thing to a laugh he will allow in the middle of this. I lower my hand.

“Now, as I was saying, my pack and I are going to leave.”

Thomas’s eyes flash with a mix of anger and fear. “You cannot simply walk away from this.”

I look at him until his mouth closes. “I can,” I say. “And if you interrupt me again, I will do it before I finish telling you how to fix the mess you have made.”

I wait a moment for him to learn his first lesson on manners before I continue. “We will make our own accommodation elsewhere. We will return tomorrow,

and in that time, a few things in your holding building will change. The biggest one is the treatment of the rogues in your care. I want fresh water in every

cell. Proper food. Clean blankets. I want your medical team working with Dr Hale to assess injuries, dehydration, infection, and anything else you have

ignored.”

Thomas looks toward Gareth, already not taking me seriously enough to meet my demands. “These are dangerous animals.”

“They are people,” I say, my voice hardening as I draw his attention back to me. “And if you’re asking me to bring back their humanity, then you can start by

acting like there is humanity worth bringing back.”

He has no answer for that.

“I also want aftercare organised before I touch a single one of them. Clothes. Warm rooms. Food that won’t make them sick after days or weeks of starvation. Someone gentle there when they wake. Someone who does not treat them like monsters for surviving long enough to be saved.”

The words come out with confidence, because I am thinking of Emily and all the pain she’s been through. Thomas did that. Marcus did that. This whole pack

did that.

Thomas looks toward the door, back in the direction of the prison. “And my son?”

“Your son will remain in his cell.”

His eyes sharpep, his chest puffing out. “Absolutely not.”

“Yes,” I say. “Absolutely.”

12:30 pm P

Chapter 187 Scolded

“My son is not a rogue.”

“He charged Emily at your border in wolf form, half out of his mind.” I tilt my head slightly. “If any other wolf had done that, would they be sitting in one

of those cages?”

Thomas does not answer.

“That is what I thought.”

His nostrils flare, and I continue again before he can find another protest

“I will leave two of our patrol members behind to monitor the situation, along with Dr Hale. If anything happens to them, if anyone attempts to force them

out, or if Marcus is released before we agree it is safe, Wellington will consider that an act of war.”

As soon as those words leave my mouth, I wonder if they’re too big for me, too bold. I glance at Gareth, but he looks back at me with steady eyes and gives

one short nod. Thomas sees it too, and something in his face changes when he understands that my Alpha backs me. Blake’s fingers slide through mine as

Thomas turns to Gareth. “You would threaten war over this?”

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“I would defend my people over this. There is a difference.” Gareth says as he looks at me with a warm smile, and I squeeze Blake’s hand for a little extra

courage.

“As for Marcus’s condition, that decision will be left to Emily.”

Thomas’s gaze snaps back to me. “Emily is not in a position to decide what is best for this pack.”

“No,” I say. “She is in a position to decide what happens with the boy who rejected her, humiliated her, and helped destroy her life. Her choices were taken

from her once. I will not help anyone take them again.”

“Marcus may die without help,” Thomas says, almost panicked, and I really want to scoff at the irony of it, but I hold it down. “I came for the ones who had

no choice,” I say quietly. “Marcus had choices. If Emily decides she wants me to help him, then we will talk about what that looks like. Until then, Marcus

stays restrained. I will help the rogues who are lost in that prison, because some of them might be exactly what Emily was- hurt, abandoned, hungry, and

forgotten. But I will not be used to clean up his cruelty.”

The silence that follows is thick, and Thomas looks from me to Blake, then Gareth, then the untouched food on the table. His pride sits across his shoulders

like armour, but it has dents in it now. Finally, his shoulders drop, and he nods once.

“Very well.” He says through gritted teeth.

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