Chapter 13 - The Bond That Could Not Be Forced|
The guards moved toward Hazel.
Adrian stepped between them.
“No one touches her.”
Edmund's eyes narrowed.
“You would challenge your own father for a woman you barely know?”
“I would challenge anyone who tries to own another person.”
“You have become weak.”
“Perhaps I have become more like the king I should have been.”
Edmund's face twisted.
He unleashed his aura, a crushing force that had once compelled entire rooms to kneel. Several guards dropped to their knees. Eleanor gripped the wall. Commander Ward bowed his head, fighting to remain upright.
Hazel felt the force reach her.
This time, she understood the difference between fear and obedience.
Fear was what her body felt.
Obedience was what Edmund demanded.
She could feel both—and choose neither.
Hazel stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Her voice was not loud, but the command traveled through the tower like a bell.
The pressure broke.
Every wolf lifted their head.
Edmund staggered.
For the first time in decades, the former king's aura had been resisted in public.
Hazel stared at her own hands.
She had not attacked him. She had simply refused to let his power decide what her body would do.
Adrian looked at her with awe, but he did not move closer until she reached for him.
“I'm all right,” she whispered.
“You don't have to prove that to me.”
The answer steadied her.
Edmund recovered quickly.
“You think this makes you powerful? You are a young woman with an unstable gift. Without training, you could destroy the bonds that keep the packs united.”
“Then teach people to cooperate without forcing them.”
“Foolish.”
He ordered his guards to seize Adrian instead.
This time, Rowan and Commander Ward moved together. The tower erupted into a fierce struggle, but Hazel remained focused on the royal guards who had been compelled to fight for Edmund.
She spoke to them one by one.
“You can lower your weapons.”
Several hesitated.
“You don't have to obey him.”
One guard's hands shook.
“I swore an oath.”
“An oath to protect the kingdom,” Hazel replied. “Not to protect a man who has betrayed it.”
The first guard lowered his weapon.
Then another.
Then a third.
Edmund watched his authority dissolve.
“You are turning them against their king!”
“No,” Hazel said. “I'm reminding them they can choose.”
Eleanor reached the emergency communicator and contacted the royal guard units stationed outside the forest. Within minutes, loyal forces surrounded the tower.
Edmund attempted to escape through the rear passage, but Adrian blocked the door.
“Your reign ended twenty-four years ago,” Adrian said. “You simply refused to accept it.”
Edmund stared at him.
“You will regret this. The council will split. The packs will turn against you.”
“Then we will rebuild the council.”
“You cannot rule without me.”
Adrian's voice was steady.
“Watch me.”
The guards placed Edmund under arrest.
Elder Vale was detained with him. Richard Sinclair attempted to flee, but Commander Ward intercepted him before he reached the road.
Preston stood near the wall, pale and silent.
Hazel approached him.
“You knew they were going to take me.”
“I thought I could negotiate.”
“You thought you could trade me for your own safety.”
Preston looked down.
“I loved you.”
Hazel felt no satisfaction in hearing it.
“Maybe you loved the way I made you feel important. But you never loved me enough to respect my choices.”
She turned away.
As the former king was led out, he looked back at Hazel.
“This is not over. The Moonveil bloodline is not what you think it is.”
Hazel watched him disappear into the winter darkness.
May you like
For the first time, she was not afraid of what she might be.
She was afraid of what he had done to make the world believe her existence was dangerous.
