Thalia's POV
I knew that voice too well. Nothing good was coming.
The fear that struck me was enough to have me frozen where I stood, and I hadn't even turned to look at the man.
I didn't even have the strength to move my eyes and try to find him, since I knew for certain that he was standing right behind me.
Everyone that had been looking on as the elder was about to crush my hand, harassing me with demands, took a step back and bowed their heads down.
I could feel it.
The immense power and authority that emanated from the person standing behind me was nothing short of out of this world.
It was as if I was under some kind of spell that held me down, immobilizing me and making it impossible to move or even think clearly.
And then, something that I didn't expect happened.
The Elders that were standing in front of me, including the woman that was so intent on getting me to spill what happened for me to lose my wolf, looked over me.
Their eyes gazed just a few inches above my head, and I knew that he had to be standing right behind me.
"Alpha Kade...." One of them mumbled, but he didn't say another word.
Instead, his eyes shifted and looked down at the way the other elder was holding my wrist.
Very slowly, I started to see his face change.
'I can read him.' I said to myself, realizing that his face wasn't just changing, it was becoming easier for me to read the emotions on his face.
His lips quivered for a fraction of a second, and his eyes started to rise.
He locked eyes with me, and I know when I see someone who knows that they have fucked up.
That was the exact look that was on his face.
His iris, which I had noticed had been light brown in color, darkened.
In a fraction of a second, his iris and pupil were indistinguishable.
That normally happens when rage consumes someone, but that wasn't the case here.
He had absolutely no reason to be enraged.
'He isn't angry....he is petrified!' I muttered to myself.
The better word for that situation and the look that he had in his eyes was.... mortified.
That's when I realized that he had looked over what was happening and realized just how fucked they were.
Let's not even talk about the female elder.
Her hand was literally shaking that she even forgot to let go of my hand.
And to make matters worse, since I couldn't move, I wasn't able to yank my hand out of hers.
So, I just stood there, with Alpha Kade standing right behind me, with the elder holding my bruised wrist.
I didn't expect it to be something for someone like Kade to take seriously.
I mean, the man literally told me that the moment I get him an heir, I'll be pretty much disposable to him.
So, while everyone was frozen and silent the entire time, Kade moved.
I could hear him getting closer,and since he naturally towered over me, I was certain that he could see over my shoulder at the hand that the elder was holding.
The one that had started speaking and then hushed up didn't say a thing.
He just looked on and even took a step back.
And that's when Cassian came back into the picture.
"Alpha Kade.....they were just trying to ask her a few questions." He said.
I couldn't believe it.
If anything, I didn't expect him to be the one to come to the defense of the elders.
I thought that he was on my side, especially since he had tried to minimize the hostility that was coming from the questions that the elders were throwing at me.
But that's what I get for thinking, even for a split second, that anyone was ever going to be on my side.
'I should have known. Thinking that Cassian will defend me and leave the elders out to dry is the most delusional thing that I can think of.' I said to myself
There was no way that the Beta of the Obsidian Howl Pack was going to try and defend me.
I wasn't even surprised. It's not as if I ever had anyone to defend me.
Even when I was with Alpha Ronan.
That's just how I always was and was going to be.
However, Kade didn't just listen to Cassian and walk off.
No.
I could feel the warmth that radiated from his body getting closer to me.
If I had to take a guess, the distance between our bodies was probably just a few inches.
And then, a hand slowly passed over my shoulder and right to where my hand was.
The same hand that was still being held by the elder.
He gently wrapped his fingers around my wrist, just below where the elder was holding me.
I was confused.
Was I supposed to move my hand?
Was the elder supposed to release me?
Alpha Kade clearing his throat was a clear enough message for the elder.
And she immediately released my hand and took a step back.
I was still motionless as I felt Kade slowly pulling my hand.
He was trying to get a closer look from over my shoulder, and before my hand was out of my sight just past my face, I saw the bruise.
Little purple streaks run around my wrist, just around where the Elders' fingers had been.
'This can't be good.' I said to myself.
But then again, remembering that even Cassian had tried to defend the elders, I saw no hope in Kade doing anything about something mineal such as a bruise.
Little did I know that I was about to get a shock of a lifetime.
"Asking her a few questions." Kade said in a low and composed tone.
But as he spoke, I could tell that he had to be studying the bruise since his hand was pulling mine a bit more and slowly moving it side to side.
He was probably trying to make sure that he had seen all of the angles of the bruise.
Expecting him to just brush it off and walk away, he questioned,
"Since when does asking questions leave my Luna with a bruise on her wrist?"
It wasn't a rhetorical question, and with the way the other elders looked away, I could tell the target of that question.
No one answered him, and as he finally let my hand go, I felt the environment's temperature change.
It must've gotten a few degrees hotter from Kade's anger slowly rising since no one had the guts to answer him.
And this made him even more irate.
"Answer me!" He thundered, as he finally moved and was now standing right beside me.
I was between Kade and Cassian, and knew that the Beta was not going to say anything.
Everyone was slowly leaving it to the elder that had bruised my hand to handle her shit, as interference could have anyone else's thrown under the bus as collateral.
I didn't even have the strength and awareness to look to my side and at Alpha Kade, as I was bamboozled at the fact that he was making an issue out of the way that the elders had handled me.
"You can ask any questions that you so please to ask.....but laying a finger on her...." Kade breathed, his anger boiling over and threatening to send the man into a rampage.
He was so angry that I could feel him literally struggle to even speak, instead of going berserk.
"I didn't give anyone the permission to lay a finger on my Luna...You have all crossed the line!" He thundered.
It was unheard off.
Alphas are expected to have different opinions and sometimes cross paths with their Council of Elders.
However, I don't think that I had ever heard of an Alpha going off on any elder.
The same way that elders are expected to respect an Alpha as the absolute ruler of the Pack, an Alpha is also expected to respect his pack's elders as the voice of reason of the pack.
But that wasn't the case with Kade.
He was shouting at the elders like they were toddlers.
And to make it even more interesting, he was doing it right in front of everyone. Not just the pack members, but the guests that had visited to see the finals of the Luna trials.
But I doubt that that was the least of Kade's worries.
He was more concerned about the logic that would have any of the elders put their hand on me, and even bruise me for that matter.
"Alpha Kade....I don't like what I read on this wolfless' palm." The female elder finally spoke, breaking her silence.
I couldn't believe it.
She had completely calmed herself down and was talking like she fully believed everything that she was saying.
She wasn't even remorseful about what she had done to me, despite seeing the kind of reaction that it had invoked from the Alpha.
That sent me over the edge, and before I could even think it through, my mouth was already open and words were already spilling out.
"Like I said, I know I'm wolfless! Tell me something new!" I snapped.
My voice was pitched and high enough that it had the people looking on start to murmur.
"Silence you...." The elder cursed at me.
But before she could even finish her statement, she was cut off by Kade.
"Shut up!"