Chapter 79 – The Weight of Truth
Rowan didn’t let go of her hand.
Not even as the silence thickened in the ballroom like a storm waiting to break. Not even as the hundreds of eyes fixated on them—some wide with disbelief, others narrowed with suspicion.
Rowan kept Giselle tucked tightly into his side, her presence anchoring him in the sea of chaos that still buzzed through the ballroom. Every instinct screamed to protect her. To guard her from the sea of enemies who wore the faces of packmates.
But his gaze was locked on one man.
Elder Malric.
The elder stood just a few feet off the stage, his face twisted with confusion and barely masked frustration. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just stared at Rowan and Giselle like he was seeing something impossible unfold.
Elder Malric’s gaze bounced between the two of them, confusion flickering in his eyes like he couldn’t decide what emotion to land on. But Rowan didn’t buy it. He’d spent weeks consumed with rage, spiraling toward this very moment—and he wasn’t going to let any performative surprise soften his edge now.
Rowan didn’t trust it.
“Why do you look so confused, Elder?” Rowan asked, his voice sharp enough to still the whispers throughout the room. “You’ve spent weeks doing everything in your power to keep her away from me.”
Elder Malric’s brows dipped. “Alpha—”
“Don’t lie,” Rowan snapped, cutting through the elder’s half-hearted defense. “I may not remember everything, but I remember enough now to see the pattern. You orchestrated the ceremony. You selected Rhea for me. You hid Giselle. Lied to this pack. You tried to control me.”
Giselle trembled under his hand, and he held her closer.
“I gave you guidance,” Elder Malric said stiffly. “The guidance your father would have wanted—”
“You gave me a cage,” Rowan bit out. “And dressed it up like duty.”
Elder Malric’s jaw worked furiously, but he didn’t speak.
He could feel the moment Kalen stepped onto the stage. His Beta didn’t say a word, simply taking his place behind Rowan’s right shoulder. Moments later, Charlie emerged from the stunned crowd and climbed the steps beside him, Luther and Avella following at her heels. The five of them stood behind him and Giselle like a silent wall—unwavering, immovable.
The moment wasn’t missed.
Malric’s eyes shifted beyond Rowan to the others. Unease crawled into his expression, the first true flicker of doubt showing in the hard lines of his face.
Elder Malric’s eyes narrowed at the sight of them. “You’re making a mistake, Alpha.”
“No,” Rowan said, leveling his gaze. “The mistake was trusting you.”
“You don’t even know who she is,” Malric hissed, pointing at Giselle like she was vermin. “She was one of them—one of the rogues. I’ve spent my life protecting this pack, and now you’re going to throw it all away for a girl who could destroy it.”
“Don’t talk about her like she’s not standing right here,” Rowan growled. “She has done more for this pack than you ever did. And she’s not a girl. She’s my mate.”
“You schemed with the rogues,” Rowan continued, his voice rising just enough to carry. “You allowed them into our lands. You ordered Elia to get close to me, to spy on Giselle, to sabotage the bond with my *true* mate.”
Gasps rippled across the crowd like stones tossed into still water.
Elder Malric sputtered, color rising to his face. “That is *not* true! I have served this pack with loyalty for over thirty years—”
“And in those thirty years, how many lives have you twisted behind closed doors?” Rowan snapped. “How many times have you used your ‘loyalty’ to control and manipulate the people you swore to protect?”
“I have done *nothing* but protect this pack,” Elder Malric growled, eyes wide with disbelief.
“Then how do you explain all of it?” Rowan pressed. “The false Luna ceremony? The attempt on Giselle’s life while she was in custody? The veil of magic you allowed to cover everything? Or was that Elia’s work too, with you conveniently looking the other way?”
Rhea stood frozen a few feet away, her expression unreadable as her fingers twisted together. She had been silent too long, and that alone made Rowan’s suspicions curl tighter around her presence.
He turned his eyes toward her. “You helped him, didn’t you?”
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
“You played your part perfectly,” he said, voice low and sharp. “You were always there with the right words, the right excuses. You stood by while they locked Giselle away. You let me forget her.”
“I—” Rhea blinked rapidly, but her silence was telling.
“Rowan, listen to yourself,” Malric barked, regaining his voice. “You sound like a paranoid fool. You think we plotted this? Why? What would we gain?”
“Power,” Rowan spat. “Control of the Alpha and the pack.”
“You think I want to be Alpha?” Rhea asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“I think you wanted to belong in a way you never did. And you were willing to steal someone else's life to do it.”
“I should’ve known there was more to it,” Rowan said darkly. “It was all too perfect—too clean. You orchestrated this with Rhea, didn’t you? Was Elia ever a part of it?”
A hush fell again.
Elder Malric’s mouth opened, but before he could form a response, one of the other elders—Elder Renna, a sharp-featured woman who rarely spoke—stepped forward from the line of robed figures.
“Malric,” she said, her voice calm but stern, “do you deny any knowledge of what Alpha Rowan is accusing you of?”
“I do,” Elder Malric snapped, turning to her. “I deny it all. I have done nothing but try to guide this pack through these troubling times.”
“Yet,” she said slowly, her eyes narrowing, “I notice you haven’t denied the attempt to force a Luna bond on an Alpha who had already marked his mate.”
“I… I didn’t know…” Malric looked between the elders, then the crowd. “We needed stability. The girl is a rogue. She was never a viable option—”
“She is *his* option,” Charlie growled from behind Rowan, stepping forward. “And she’s part of this pack now, whether you like it or not.”
Elder Malric rounded on her. “You don’t speak for this pack, girl. You are *barely*—”
Luther’s growl cut him off, deep and feral, warning laced in every note of it. “You will not speak to my mate like that,” he said quietly, dangerously.
Elder Malric held his ground, but his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
Elder Renna, standing with the other council members, took a slow step forward. “Elder Malric,” she said coolly, “do you have knowledge of the events that have taken place over the last moon?”
“I deny everything,” Elder Malric growled, his voice shaking. “I have nothing to hide.”
“Then you’ll welcome an investigation,” Renna said.
Malric went silent, his jaw clenched tightly.
Beside Rowan, Giselle didn’t move. She didn’t speak. But the calm in her aura told him she believed him now. Trusted him.
And he would not fail her again.
Rowan took one step forward, his expression steel.
“This pack is mine to protect. And I *will* protect it,” he said, gaze hardening. “But the time of secrets is over. If you are truly innocent, Elder Malric… then you have nothing to fear from what we uncover next.”
A hush fell across the room.
Elder Malric stood rooted to the spot, fury and disbelief swirling across his face.
And behind Rowan, Giselle pressed closer into his side, her strength quietly feeding his own.
Rowan turned to face the crowd fully, tightening his arm around her waist. “This is your Luna,” he said, voice raised. “And anyone who stands against her stands against me.”
The ballroom was still.
Malric didn’t speak.
But Rowan knew—this was far from over.
Not yet.
Not until the last lie was laid bare.
But whatever came next, they would face it together.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
