Page 11 of Heart of the Rebel Mate

"The Council," he says, voice steady. "They've been manipulating fated mate bonds for years. Decades. Maybe longer."

His words settle like stones in my stomach.

I blink, the moment stretching too long, too thin. "What are you talking about?"

"They use the bonds to control us," he continues, his voice unwavering. "To keep dissent in check. To eliminate threats. If they think a bond is dangerous, they sever it. If they think it'll serve their agenda, they enforce it."

I shake my head, a sharp exhale slipping through my teeth. "Do you hear yourself?" My voice wavers between disbelief and something sharper, something closer to anger. "You're talking about the Council like they're some omnipotent force pulling invisible strings?—"

"Theyare." His voice is firm, unrelenting.

The conviction in his tone unsettles me.

A slow, creeping unease slips beneath my ribs.

There's something about the way he says it that keeps me from shoving the idea away entirely.

I inhale sharply, gripping my arms, grounding myself. "You're paranoid."

"Am I?" His gaze doesn't waver. "Think about it, Elara. Have youeverquestioned why some bonds snap for no reason? Why wolves just...disappear?"

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

Because the truth is—I haven't.

I don't know enough about that world and don't spend enough time in it to even recognize what should and shouldn't be normal.

And heknowsthat.

My fingers dig into my sleeves. "What does this have to do with you?" My voice is quieter now, tight.

Cassian hesitates, his jaw tensing. "They came to me."

The breeze shifts, rustling through the trees, carrying something sharp beneath the familiar scents of campus.

"They told me you were a liability," he says. "That your human-centric ideals made you dangerous. If I didn't reject you, they'd ruin you."

A dull ringing fills my ears. The folder slips from my hands, but I barely feel it.

"You're too human for me, Elara."

The memory slams into me, his voice from that night cold, detached. My stomach twists. I had spentmonthsconvincing myself I imagined what we had. That I was naive. That I waswrong.

But now? Now I see the fractures in the lie.

My fists clench. "So you gave in," I whisper.

Cassian steps forward, but I jerk back.

"You let them manipulate you," I snap. "You let them destroy us."

Cassian exhales sharply, his hands twitching at his sides. "It wasn't a choice, Elara. It was an ultimatum."

My pulse thunders, but I don't interrupt.

"The Council didn't just warn me," he continues, voice low and tight. "They threatened you. Your career. Your life."

I shake my head, the words too much, too heavy to process.

---