h4Chapter 90: Gerald’s Offer/h4

    strongLucian’s POV./strong

    When Roman announced that she was our mate, I could feel my heart being overwhelmed. Despite I was not the one to mark her yet, through our sworn mate-brother bond with Roman, the effect of it hit me.

    I could feel the same shift in my brothers. Their silence said it all.

    The fact remained—though we despised her, she was now our mate. Ours to protect. Ours to keep. An inseparable part of our lives.

    The initial n of having a pureblood she-wolf only to breed her and to save Sofia had now turned to something else.

    Kael turned his gaze on Surmont. "My mate-brother has marked her, and now she is our mate. Any more questions?"

    Surmont’s face darkened, his displeasure poorly masked. "Well then, we will wait for the rest of you to mark her as well—and to see her bear pups," he replied, his tone sharpening as though to remind us of what he thought mattered most. "Marking does not mean the bond isplete. I trust you understand that."

    The bastard. Even now, he was determined to remind us that she was not wholly ours until the bond was sealed.

    Marking only meant weid a im on her as our mate, but toplete the bond we had to mate with her. All five of us had to...

    I looked at her frail body slumped against Roman’s, who held her steady, and it made me wonder if her weak self could even handle us. It was easy to control when we fucked the random whore. But with a mate, restraint was a fragile thing. Desire wed deeper, hotter, more consuming. It was easy to lose yourself and im her every way possible.

    Though a pureblood, how was she going to bear the knots of the strong Alphas like us and, especially one like Kael?

    The train of my thoughts was broken when Kael spoke again. "Alpha Surmont, as you can see, she went unconscious with just a mark from my one brother. She is weak. Do you want us to lose one she-wolf by forcing us on her without letting her recover? I want to believe you don’t want us to turn into a she-wolf killer and then, once more, this council gathers here to punish us for that crime."

    Killing a pureblood she-wolf was a grave crime now that they were so rare. No wonder these bastards were forcing us to mark her. Either all of them could have her along with us, or she dies and we will be punished.

    Having a pureblood to breed for us was indeed going to make us stronger than other packs in the generations of young leaders like us. And they would never let it happen. The dirty politics in the werewolf world—now we had to deal with it.

    "Of course, we do not want you to kill her," Surmont said, pulling out a fake righteous expression.

    "Then don’t be so impatient and let us handle our she-wolf..." he paused, "...let me correct... let us handle our mate in our way," Kael said in a warning tone. "Today I gave a chance to every Alpha here toe challenge me if they want a she-wolf, but no one did. So now, I believe no one cries that they didn’t get a chance at it."

    A while ago, when Kael used his Alpha Aura, he did ask if anyone dared challenge him, but no one came forward. It shut everyone’s mouths now.

    All this was happening at the moment, but it was within his expectations. He had nned this even before we left to kill Patric. No wonder he agreed so easily when we were summoned at the council. Knowing Kael, he could have killed Patric in his home, but he was being merciful to Patric for some reason.

    Now I know, he was just waiting for the council to meddle in.

    He was indeed a leader who nned beyond what enemies could think.

    No wonder he raised the issue of marking Eira when we were home and had already prepared Roman for it indirectly so he was not shocked at this moment. He had already chosen Roman for this task, and he just needed Roman to follow it.

    "As Alpha Kael and his brothers have made things clear, I believe there is nothing more to discuss now," Gerald’s voice echoed through the hall. "And I believe everyone respects their decision as per the rules and no one dares break it."

    "Alpha Gerald, we still need to call for them again to check if they havepleted the bond and if she is truly theirs," Surmont said. "There are cases when Alphas acted to im a she-wolf but didn’tplete the bond with her. And then they secretly traded her outside for their hidden benefits they did not want to reveal to the werewolf world. We can’t let that happen, right?"

    There were indeed such cases where she-wolves were traded secretly, where Alphas hid it so they wouldn’t be forced to share her with their enemy packs.

    Itter created unrest among those Alphas, as they were kept devoid of having an heir.

    Gerald hummed and looked at Kael. "You get a month to let her recover entirely. Then you and your mate-brothersplete your bond with her."

    Kael agreed. "We will."

    "But you have to be here to show the proof of it," Surmont said. "We will check your bond marking her."

    "Sure," Kael told him smugly. "I hope the beautiful mate-bond marks on her won’t burn others’ eyes."

    It was a taunt for everyone present there, but they could say nothing.

    Kael turned to Jeffery. "Are we done here, or will you let go only after I bury you six feet under?"

    Damn, Kael didn’t leave him a tinge of respect. He was being humiliated for the first time like this, and that too in front of so many Alphas and by one young Alpha.

    Jeffery satposed in his chair—rather, he forced it. I could see his rage being suppressed behind his calm gaze.

    "As Alpha Gerald said, after a month you have to present yourself in front of the council along with your brother and this she-wolf and assure us that you havepleted your bond and she is entirely your mate."

    Kael didn’t respond, as he just repeated what had been concluded already.

    But the bastard spoke again. "If she is bondless, then any Alpha here is free to take her away as theirs."

    This was to get on our nerves, but Kael smirked. "I believe you are not hoping to keep her for yourself so you can have a few more pups."

    As if Kael hit the nail, Jeffery’s expression changed for a moment. The bastard was caught. Nothing could be hidden from Kael’s sharp mind.

    How could I keep quiet now, so I said, "Kael, I don’t think his cock is functional. Don’t use him wrongly."

    I could see Jeffery’s expression sour. Kael said, "My bad. I should have given thought about his forever limp cock." And then turned to Jeffery, "I should apologise for what I said. Just ignore us."

    Kael’s mocking,ced with sweet words, seemed to hit that bastard hard, but he kept calm after being oppressed by Kael’s Alpha aura a while ago. Another round of such humiliation wouldn’t sit well with him.

    "You can just show her to the council, submit her identity details, and you can leave with her," he said calmly.

    "She is ours, and we refuse to show our mate to anyone. And she has no past identity, but she will have one. She will bear myst name or, if she wants, she can choose any of my brothers."

    Kael said it with so much confidence that it was impossible for anyone to even think he was trying to hide anything at all. We indeed had to create a new identity for Eira, to hide her past as a criminal.

    "I believe we are done here," Kael announced on his own, as if he was the one to decide things here. "Our mate needs rest after marking."

    He deliberately said thest thing, and we approved it.

    Kael looked at Gerald, who was the only person who deserved some respect here.

    "Go ahead," Gerald said.

    Roman lifted Eira in his arms while Jason, next to him, turned her head gently to bury against Roman’s shoulder and adjusted her hair to hide her face.

    Once done, we turned to leave; all of us offered a light nod to Gerald.

    Gerald nodded in response while his gaze fell on Eira, but her face wasn’t visible. Just like others, he must have been curious to see her as well, but then he said...

    "Take care of her well. If you need any guidance regarding a she-wolf, you can always ask an assistant from my mate," Gerald offered. "She will be d to do so."

    Gerald had his own mate, a pureblood, whom he doted on, so he clearly didn’t have any bad personal interest in Eira.

    "We will," Kael assured him.

    "Maybe you can bring her to our pack as well to meet my mate. This child might feel better to see another of her kind, and my mate might help her ease if she has any worries," Gerald offered again.

    "Thank you so much. We will do so if there’s a need," Kael replied.

    As we were done here, we left the council hall with Eira.

    When we reached the car, we heard a familiar voice. "Leaving already without even thanking me for the help? How I gave you a hintst night on the attack that happened."

    Kaizan. The bastard followed us out.