Chapter 22 – The Loyalty of the Unmated
The doors of the council chamber slammed shut behind him with enough force to shake the stone walls. Rowan didn’t wait for the guards posted outside to move out of his way. He shoved past them with a guttural growl vibrating in his chest, his wolf clawing beneath his skin, demanding to be let out.
“They locked her up like a criminal,” he snarled, his breath heavy with fury. “After everything.”
The moment he cleared the courtyard, he yanked off his shirt, his body already beginning to shift. Bones snapped and reformed, fur burst through skin, and in seconds, the Alpha was gone—replaced by a massive wolf, fur as dark as a storm, teeth bared in rage.
He bolted into the forest, his paws hitting the earth with thunderous rhythm. The trees blurred past him, the wind whipping through his fur as his thoughts spiraled into chaos. His mate. His goddess-given mate had risked everything to protect this pack, and still they doubted her.
His wolf growled lowly in his head. They’ll never see what we do. They only see a rogue. A threat.’
Rowan answered him with a mental snarl. ‘She’s mine. Ours. Theirs, as the future Luna of this pack, and they’ll learn to respect her or regret crossing me.’
They tore through the underbrush, jumping over fallen trees, skidding around rocks slick with moss. Birds scattered into the sky at their approach, and squirrels darted back into trees. But Rowan didn’t notice. Not the scent of wildflowers or the distant murmur of a stream. Not the streak of sunset that bled red into the darkening sky.
His mind was full of Giselle.
His wolf was pacing now, mentally and physically. ‘They’ll destroy her. You heard them. If you don’t prove she’s clean—’
‘Then I’ll burn down them and this pack to protect her.’ That promise settled between them like iron.
It wasn’t long before Rowan realized someone had been following him. The scent caught on the wind just as he slowed in a clearing deep in the woods. A sharp mix of violets and sandalwood.
Rhea.
He turned, catching movement through the brush. A tawny wolf stepped out from the trees and, with a shimmer of magic and the soft crack of shifting bones, stood in human form.
Rowan turned his gaze to the side respectfully, giving her a moment of modesty. He shifted back seconds later, standing bare in the clearing, body tense with lingering fury.
“Did the Elders send you?” he asked flatly, still staring at a nearby pine tree.
“No,” Rhea answered, her voice calm and even. “I came on my own.”
He finally turned, surprised to see her in a simple tunic and pants she must have stashed nearby. Her face, as always, was unreadable—but there was something gentler in her eyes tonight.
“What did they decide?” she asked.
Rowan’s jaw clenched, hands curling into fists. “They locked her up. Again. As if she’s some traitor.”
He turned and punched the thick pine beside him. Bark split, wood cracked. “After everything she did! She saved one of ours. Killed the last rogue trying to escape. And still—”
“I know,” Rhea said softly, stepping forward. “I sent them the boy’s family in a bid to change their perception of her.”
Rowan’s hand froze mid-swing, and he turned sharply. “That was you?”
She nodded. “I knew the Elders wouldn’t listen to just you. But a grateful family? One who owed their son’s life to Giselle? That was harder to ignore.”
Some of the fire burning in Rowan’s chest dimmed. “Why?”
“Giselle is innocent, I couldn’t sit by and watch the Elders destroy her out of fear.” Her expression never wavered, but there was something fierce in the way she said it.
“You would be Luna if she was cast out, so why would you help clear her name?”
“There’s nothing more precious than the mate bond,” she said. “Not even status.”
Rowan’s heart tightened. “Thank you.”
She gave him a curt nod. “Don’t give up. And don’t let them turn you into a version of yourself you’ll regret.”
Then, without another word, Rhea turned and shifted, the silence of her paws soft against the forest floor as she disappeared into the trees.
Rowan stared after her for a long moment, then turned his eyes back toward the trees, toward his pack.
‘We owe her justice,’ his wolf growled, calmed down enough to finally see reason.
‘We’ll give it to her,’ Rowan answered grimly. ‘But first, we need to find the truth of what happened tonight, and how.’
With that, Rowan shifted once more and bolted in the direction of the patrol trails, determined to find his Beta and dig into exactly how the rogues got so close—and who had let it happen.
—
Rowan stood in the center of the war room, the air thick with tension. Maps were scattered across the long wooden table, red markers placed along their eastern border where the rogue attack had taken place. His Beta, Kalen, stood to his left, arms crossed over his chest, brow furrowed in frustration. Several warriors flanked the walls, silent and awaiting orders.
“I want a full account,” Rowan said, voice low but sharp enough to cut stone. “How the hell did they get so close?”
Kalen stepped forward. “We’re not sure. The patrols reported nothing out of the ordinary leading up to the attack. Then suddenly—”
“They were on us,” one of the warriors, Dax, interrupted. He had a long gash across his bicep, hastily bandaged. “Out of nowhere. They moved like they knew the land.”
Rowan’s jaw ticked. “So either they were watching... or someone helped them.”
The room fell into a heavy silence.
Kalen cleared his throat. “We’ve increased border patrols, doubled the rotation. But Alpha, this—this wasn’t random. It was planned.”
Rowan nodded. “And the only one who managed to stop the scout from getting away was Giselle.”
Uneasy glances passed between the warriors.
“Which makes her either a loyal protector,” Rowan continued, eyes hard, “or one hell of an actress.”
“No one gets that close without inside help,” Kalen said quietly.
Rowan slammed his fist on the table, the sound cracking through the room. “Then find out who. And fast. Because if one more elder looks me in the eye and blames my mate for doing what none of you could—”
He didn’t finish the threat. He didn’t have to.
The warriors stood straighter.
“Go,” Rowan ordered. “And report the moment you find something.”
They bowed their heads and filed out, leaving him seething in silence.
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