Page 7 of Smoke and Moon

Morlie meant everything to his mate.If he had brought the young woman to the council, Kai would have left, too, and he would not have allowed that.

“Who’s mark is she?”Marceline asked, her eyes so red her pupils were gone.

Morlie looked over at Marceline and gasped.Turning, Morlie pinned her gaze on him.“Aodh...help me.”

The sound of his name coming out of her mouth caused pure pandemonium.

“You know her?”Iskah glided around the table as the tree receded behind her, but the wind picked up, blowing through the wall-less structure.

“How is this possible?”Armaros shot him a stern look.

“Have you been hiding marked ones from us?”Chanin slammed one of his fists on the table.“Are there others?”

“Is she yours to claim?”Dov growled.

Aodh vaulted over the table and landed before her.With the setup being what it was, he could not shield her from all sides.“This can’t happen now.”

Liekki joined him, standing at Morlie’s back.

“What is the meaning of this, Aodh?”Iskah crossed her hands over her chest and leaned back against the table.“Explain yourself.”

“I’m all ears for the answer to this one.”Dov set his hands on his hips and cocked his head toward Aodh.

“She was extremely sick when I came upon her.”Aodh refused to tell them how long ago it was.

“They’re always ill.We expect it.”Iskah waved a hand in the air.

“Why didn’t you call an emergency meeting?”Armaros inquired from his position on top of the table, but he transported himself before it in a blink, tendrils of black smoke in his wake.Closer to Morlie.

Aodh grounded his teeth.He hated fucking explaining himself to anyone.More than that, he despised bringing Kai’s name into this situation.“She was with another—”

“There are two marked ones?”Dov glanced over his shoulder toward the forest on the other side of the clearing as if he expected someone to come walking out.

“No.Not marked,” Aodh's voice rumbled.He wanted to make it clear that Kai was not up for grabs.The last thing he needed to do was have Edjer set sentries along both sides of the border to keep random wolves, bears, vamps, and Fae from sneaking in and trying to find her.“She didn’t know her family was marked, and she pleaded for my help in healing Morlie.”

Aodh could feel the vibrations in the air as Morlie began to tremble behind him.The fortress surrounding her fear the young woman had attempted to bolster through had evaporated.

“I was waiting for Morlie to get better so I could speak to them about bringing the marked one here.This was an unprecedented situation with someone else bringing a mark beyond the Wall.”

Aodh ignored the small gasp behind him.He was sure his words had shocked his mate’s sister, but he needed to be as straightforward as possible with the other alphas.Otherwise, they would say he violated council laws.If they sanctioned him, the council could force him to forfeit part of his Thunder’s land or at least provide reparations to the mate of the marked one.He’d prefer the latter than the first.High above in the distance, he spotted a lone dragon.Aodh assumed the news of Morlie's abduction made it through his Thunder, and his head of security had tracked her here.Aodh hoped Edjer would keep his distance and only observe.

The dragons’ sight was keen even from such a distance, so Edjer would know Morlie was with him.On top of not bringing a marked one to the council, the last thing Aodh needed was for it to look like he would attack the other members.

“Well, she is here now,” Dov stated.

“Let us have a look,” Armaros added.

Still, Chanin remained unusually silent, but he hadn’t taken his gaze off Morlie, his head tilted to the side as if analyzing her.

Aodh cock a brow at the Lupine’s response.

“I will bring her back—”

“Aodh.”Iskah’s soft lilt cut him off.The wind settled around them.She didn’t say anything else until he turned and met her gaze.

Aodh’s shoulders tensed.He didn’t like what he knew was coming.Locking his eyes on the council judiciary, he waited.

“By treaty law, she, Morlie...”Iskah tipped her head toward the young woman.Iskah’s thick, glossy brown curls slid over her shoulder as she waited for him to confirm her name.After his nod, she went on.“Morlie must be appraised fully.She is too important.”

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