h4Chapter 89: Marking Eira/h4

    strongRoman’s POV/strong

    "Alpha Kael, you need to calm down."

    A voice rang clear across the hall as a figure stepped out from the rows.

    Alpha Gerald Hawthorn.

    He was a top-tier Alpha as well, strong enough to withstand Kael’s suffocating aura. He walked steadily toward him, unflinching.

    "Alpha Gerald," Kael acknowledged, his tone cold but not hostile. "I respect you. But today, the council must learn its lesson."

    Gerald halted before him, his voice steady and firm. "What you did today was entirely within your rights. The council will be questioned for summoning you here in the middle of your revenge. But I expect you to stop now."

    Kael’s dark gaze lingered on him, weighing his words. Then, with a controlled breath, he released his hold.

    The crushing aura lifted in an instant. Every Alpha gasped with relief as though freed from drowning. Jeffery looked like a fish dragged from water, his chest heaving as he clutched the armrest of his chair.

    Kael’s eyes slid back to him. "Jeffery," his voice cut sharp, "I’ve been respecting your position as a council member only because I’ve had no time to waste on an asshole like you. But you keep pressing my patience. Next time, it’ll be you lying dead here in Patric’s ce."

    Jeffery swallowed hard, pale and silent.

    "Aren’t you going too far, Alpha Kael?" another voice rose. Alpha Surmont stepped forward, his presence bold. "Disrespecting the very council that maintains peace among packs?"

    Kael turned his gaze on him, unyielding. "I haven’t even begun yet, Alpha Surmont." His eyes darkened, his tone a threat. "I’m still waiting to get my hands on the ones who stood behind Patric. The moment I do, you’ll understand what it means for me to go overboard. And I hope—for your sake and your son’s—that neither of you had a hand in it."

    Surmont’s expression hardened, but he did not speak.

    I nced at my brothers. Their eyes gleamed with quiet satisfaction. This was the very purpose of Kael’s arrival—to warn them all, openly and without restraint, so no one would ever attempt such a stunt again.

    But Surmont wasn’t done. As expected, the old wolf pressed on. "You seem adamant about not sharing your she-wolf. Tell me, Alpha Kael—have you even marked her yet?"

    Kael’s reply was swift,ced with disdain. "I don’t owe you that report." He cast a brief nce over his shoulder, where Eira stood with her head bowed, just as we had instructed her. His voice deepened. "She is mine. That is all any of you need to know."

    Surmont gave a mocking smile. "We appreciate your passion toward your she-wolf. Then why not prove it? Mark her here, before all of us. That will end the whispers and save everyone the trouble."

    The bastard was testing him, baiting him to reveal the truth of his intentions.

    Kael, however, remainedposed, his gaze steady. "Have you forgotten what it means to be a top-tier Alpha, Surmont? There are rules, rites, and a proper ceremony when an Alpha marks his she-wolf. Do you suggest I brush aside such a sacred act merely to entertain you? None here are worth my effort to please. None." His voice cut sharper. "And your age doesn’t give you the right to act as my parent. Spare me the theatrics."

    Surmont’s eyes narrowed, his patience fraying. "Then you’ll face the same as you facedst night. A pureblood standing in a hall full of Alphas isn’t safe. For her."

    Kael’s voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "If you want to test whether I can protect her, then I dare you. All of you."

    Silence fell over. No one moved. Kael’s aura had already proven more than enough to suppress them, and even Gerald—the only one with the strength to oppose him—did not step in. And we knew, even if he did, Kael won’t lose to him.

    "Who wishes to try?" Kael asked looking around the hall.

    He was challenging everyone openly, soter no one dare say he didn’t give them a chance. But who would want to die in the hands of top tier Alpha?

    Not a single Alpha replied.

    Then Kael’s gaze shifted, sweeping past the hall until itnded on me. "Roman," hemanded, his tone resolute. "Mark her. She isn’t strong enough yet to bear my marking."

    This clearly shocked me. I had agreed to this before, yes. But not like this. I wanted to speak to her first, to at least try to win her consent, though I doubted she would ever give it. But still—I wanted to offer her that sliver of respect, as she would be my mate.

    I looked at my brothers. Each one nodded in silent agreement. Kael’s order was justified—it was one of the step to to shield her now.

    So I turned to Eira. Her head was still lowered, her gaze fixed to the floor, exactly as we had told her to keep it.

    Her utter silence made me wonder if she even registered what was happening around her—why I hade to her. Or perhaps, like always, she had simply shut her mind to the world, retreating into that unreachable ce inside herself.

    She hadn’t flinched when Kael ripped Patric’s heart from his chest. She hadn’t faltered when Kael’s Alpha aura crushed the chamber like a storm. Nothing seemed to touch her.

    iWhat was she?/i That was the only question echoing inside me.

    I turned her gently to face me and lowered my lips close to her ear, my voice soft, almost pleading. "I’m going to mark you. It might hurt... but it won’tst long."

    She gave no response, still as stone. I whispered again, offering something—anything—that might reach her. "Once you be my mate, the pets will be yours. And then... I’ll take you to meet your friend."

    For the first time, she stirred. Her gaze lifted, slow and heavy, until her eyes met mine. That was all I wanted. Just once—before I marked her—I wanted her to truly look at me.

    "We are going to be mates," I told her, holding her gaze as if that alone could forge a bond between us. "I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t hurt too much."

    I brushed my fingers through her hair, tenderly, almost reverently, pushing the strands aside to bare the right side of her neck. My brothers formed a wall around us, shielding her from prying eyes, granting us a fragile moment of privacy in the midst of the council’s watchful stares.

    My arm circled her waist, drawing her closer. My other hand cradled the back of her neck. Lowering my face into the hollow of her throat, I hovered near the pulse beating beneath her skin.

    To have her as mine—my mate—had once been my dream. A dream I had cherished, imagined, yearned for. And now, it wasing true... yet hollow, stripped of what should have made it sacred. If only it had been born of love, it would have meant everything.

    Still, protecting her came before everything else. Maybe—just maybe—once she bore my mark, she woulde to care for me.

    I could only hope.

    My canines slid into her tender flesh. She released a soft groan, and the taste of her blood filled my mouth, hot and intoxicating. I held on, my fangs buried deep until I felt it—the first threads of the bond weaving between us, binding her fate to mine.

    But something was off. Wrong. I couldn’t name it, but I felt it in the way the connection burned cold, iplete.

    It wasn’t the time to question. Not here. Not now. So I did what I had to do.

    I pulled back, her blood on my lips. Her body went limp, copsing into my arms. I caught her against me, steadying her fragile frame.

    "It’s done," I said, my voice low but resolute as announced. "She is our mate now."