The Council of Five Packs was a tradition of peace, but to me, it felt like a funeral. I stood on the balcony overlooking the Great Hall of the Citadel, watching the delegates arrive in their various furs and silks. The North was playing host, which meant the atmosphere was one of forced politeness and hidden daggers.
"You look like you're planning a massacre," a voice said behind me.
I didn't need to turn to know it was Caspian. His scent, ozone and wet iron always reached me before his footsteps did. He was dressed in formal Northern leathers, a heavy silver chain around his neck that marked his status as the King of the Peaks.
"I'm just thinking about the last time I stood in a room like this," I said, smoothing the midnight velvet of my gown. "I was standing three paces behind Kaelen, holding his cloak. I wasn't allowed to speak. I wasn't even allowed to look the other Alphas in the eye."
Caspian stepped up beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. "Tonight, you sit at my right hand. You speak when you wish. And if anyone dares to look down on you, I will make sure they never look at anything again."
The heavy doors at the end of the hall swung open. My heart stopped.
The Blackwood delegation marched in, led by a man who looked like a hollowed-out version of the husband I once knew. Kaelen's hair was unkempt, his golden eyes bloodshot. Beside him, dressed in a garish crimson silk that didn't suit her pale skin, was Sienna. She was clinging to his arm, her head held high as if she had already won the world.
There she is, the Serpent hissed. The woman who took your life. The woman who watched you die and laughed.
We descended the stairs slowly. Every eye in the room turned toward us. The rumors had clearly spread, the "Ghost Healer" of the North was no longer a secret.
When we reached the floor, Kaelen froze. The color drained from his face so fast I thought he might faint. He let go of Sienna's arm, his hands shaking as he reached out toward me.
"Elara?" his voice was a broken, jagged thing. "No… it's impossible. I felt the bond snap. I felt you go cold."
I stopped three paces in front of him. I didn't feel the old pull of the mate bond. I didn't feel the desperate need to comfort him. All I felt was a cold, clinical curiosity about how much his soul would weigh if I siphoned it.
"The Moon Goddess is full of surprises, Alpha Kaelen," I said, my voice as sharp as a Northern winter. "It turns out, I didn't care for the afterlife. I had too much unfinished business here."
Sienna stepped forward, her eyes darting between us. "Kaelen, don't be fooled! This isn't Elara. Look at her! She's cold. She's... she's a witch! She's using dark magic to trick you!"
I turned my gaze to her. The Serpent in my chest lunged, and for a split second, I let the violet glow flare in my eyes. Sienna shrieked, stumbling back into the arms of a Blackwood guard.
"Careful, Sienna," I whispered, leaning in close enough to smell her fear, it smelled like sour milk. "I spent three years giving you my health so you could stay pretty. I can take it all back in three seconds. Would you like to see how you look without my mercy?"
Kaelen growled, a low, territorial sound, but Caspian stepped between us. The King's shadow fell over the smaller Alpha, making Kaelen look like a child playing at war.
"Alpha Kaelen," Caspian rumbled, his hand resting heavily on the hilt of his broadsword. "You are a guest in my house. But the Lady Elara is my Royal Advisor and my personal guest. If you or your... companion... threaten her again, I will forget the laws of the Council and remember the laws of the Mountain."
Kaelen looked at Caspian, then back at me, his eyes filled with a desperate, agonizing jealousy. "She is my mate, Caspian! By blood and by Goddess!"
"You lost that right when you left her in the mud," I said, turning my back on him. "Now, King Caspian, I believe there is a dinner to attend. I find myself suddenly... very hungry."