Chapter 11 - The Night the King Fell|
The device emitted a sound that seemed to pass through Hazel's bones.
She clutched her chest, unable to breathe properly. The wolves in the tower staggered. Some covered their ears; others dropped their weapons.
Adrian fought through the pressure toward her.
“Hazel!”
Commander Ward moved to intercept the guards, but the council's men had prepared for the confrontation. They carried silver restraints designed to suppress an Alpha's aura.
Two of them seized Adrian's arms.
He could have fought them. Hazel saw the power gathering in his eyes.
Then Richard pressed the device closer to her.
Adrian stopped.
“Release her,” he said.
Richard smiled.
“Your Majesty, you have spent your reign believing that every problem can be solved by being the strongest wolf in the room. Perhaps tonight you will learn otherwise.”
He ordered the guards to restrain Adrian.
Hazel tried to rise, but the pain forced her down again.
“Stop hurting him,” she gasped.
Elder Vale crouched beside her.
“We don't want to hurt you, child. We want to understand you.”
“You could have asked.”
“People with power rarely surrender it voluntarily.”
Hazel looked at him through the pain.
“Then perhaps you shouldn't have so much.”
For a moment, Vale's expression changed.
Then he stood.
The guards dragged Adrian toward the exit. Eleanor was forced back against the wall, while Rowan fought to reach his daughter. Genevieve watched in silence, her face pale.
Preston approached Hazel.
“Come with me. I can protect you from them.”
She looked up at him.
“You helped bring them here.”
“I didn't know they would use that device.”
“But you knew they wanted me.”
He said nothing.
Hazel understood that Preston's apologies were always offered after the consequences arrived. He regretted being exposed, not the harm he had caused.
She turned away from him.
Richard ordered the guards to take her to a waiting vehicle. Before they could lift her, the device suddenly went silent.
Hazel gasped.
The pain receded, leaving her trembling and furious.
She heard a growl behind her.
Rowan had shifted.
His wolf was enormous, silver-gray, and scarred along one shoulder. He struck the nearest guard aside and lunged toward Richard, forcing the council leader to retreat.
Commander Ward freed Eleanor. The room erupted into chaos.
Hazel pushed herself upright and focused on the device.
She could feel its rhythm now—not merely hear it. It was tuned to the suppressed markers in her blood. The sound was forcing her wolf into a state of confusion, preventing her from accessing the power she had never been taught to use.
She reached toward it.
The device cracked.
The sound stopped.
Every wolf in the tower froze.
Hazel stood slowly, breathing hard.
“I am not your experiment.”
The guards released Adrian's arms in shock. He tore free of the restraints and crossed the room, but Hazel lifted a hand.
“Wait.”
She needed to know she could stand without being carried out of danger.
Adrian stopped.
That simple act of trust gave her more strength than any command.
Richard stumbled toward the exit.
“Get her under control!”
No one moved.
For the first time, the council's authority had failed in front of witnesses.
Elder Vale stared at Hazel with something close to terror.
“You have no idea what you've awakened.”
Hazel looked at the broken device.
“Then it's a good thing I'm finally awake.”
Outside, the sound of approaching vehicles filled the forest.
Rowan looked through the window.
“Those aren't our people.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
A fleet of black cars surrounded the tower. Their doors opened simultaneously, revealing wolves wearing the insignia of the former king.
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And at the center of the convoy stood an old man with silver hair and a crown he had no right to wear.
King Edmund Blackthorne had come for his granddaughter.
