Page 64 of Once You Go Pack
The moment they stepped into the council chamber, Mila felt dozens of eyes upon her. The circular room buzzed with tension, pack members and council elders gathered in tight clusters, their conversations dying as she entered. Some stared with open suspicion, their wolf senses no doubt picking up her fear. Others looked at her with something worse. Pity.
“That’s her,” someone whispered loud enough for her to catch. “The cheater.”
Mila’s stomach lurched, bile rising in her throat. The urge to turn and run crashed over her—to sprint back to that wormhole portal and disappear to Earth where she was merely invisible instead of actively despised.
But something deeper suddenly stirred within her, a whisper of strength that felt older than her own memories. Her ancestral blood hummed with quiet power, reminding her of the women who had stood beside wolves before her, who had bridged worlds with courage instead of cowering.
Be strong,the ancient voice seemed to say.You are more than they know.
Mila lifted her chin defiantly, forcing her spine straight as she walked beside Cade toward the head of the circular table. She wouldn’t let them see her crumble, no matter how much their judgment sliced through her confidence.
Cade took his seat at the head, his commanding presence filling the space. “This emergency session is now in order.”
But before he could say another word, Zarik rose from his seat like a predator emerging from the shadows. The Shadow Moon king looked smugly satisfied, his icy blue eyes glittering with malicious triumph as he surveyed the room.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Zarik said smoothly. “Though I wish we were here under better circumstances.”
The bastard was actually enjoying this, Mila realized with growing terror. He stood tall and confident, working the room like a master puppeteer as murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.
“Yesterday’s Moonfire Trial was meant to prove the sacred bond between our High Sovereign and his chosen mate,” Zarik continued, his gaze sliding to Mila with calculated disdain. “Instead, something far more troubling took place.”
“Get to the point, Zarik,” Cade growled, his alpha energy crackling through the air.
Zarik’s smile was sharp as winter ice. “The point, my king, is that your human mate used her ancestral blood magic to manipulate the ancient energies. She cast a spell within that sacred cave, tricking the Moonfire into blessing a false bond.”
The chamber erupted into chaos. Voices rose in anger, confusion, and fear as pack members turned to their neighbors, debating whether such a thing was even possible. Several council elders nodded gravely, their faces creased with concern.
“That seems impossible,” Elder Grimm called out, but his voice lacked conviction.
“Is it?” Zarik replied with venomous intent. “We all know humans once walked among our ancestors, practicing their ‘moon magic’ alongside our wolves. Who’s to say she hasn’t inherited those same abilities? Who’s to say she didn’t use them to ensnare our king’s heart and corrupt the trial’s purity?”
Mila felt the room turning against her. Every face she looked at reflected the same growing suspicion, the same willingness to believe she was capable of such deception.
“Furthermore,” Zarik continued, his voice growing stronger as he fed off the crowd’s energy, “the human’s scent corrupted the Trial’s sanctity from the moment she entered that cave. The Moonfire energy wasn’t pure—it wastaintedby her presence.”
More nods around the chamber. More whispered agreements that felt like daggers in her back.
Cade shot to his feet, his tall frame radiating barely contained fury. “You accuse your king and the Moon goddess herself of being deceived?”
Zarik’s smirk widened. “I accuse your mate of being a manipulative cheater. The Moon goddess may forgive your weakness and poor judgment, but I will not. And neither should this council.”
Every eye in the chamber fixed on Mila. The air grew suffocating as the collective weight of their judgment pressed down on her. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but the words came out weak and hollow in the echoing space.
“I didn’t do anything,” she said, hating how small her voice sounded. “I don’t know any magic.”
But even as she spoke, she could feel the doubt spreading through the room like poison. The human among predators, trying to convince them of her innocence when everything about their nature told them not to trust her kind.
Cade stepped forward, his voice thundering with alpha authority. “Enough! I will not have my mate’s honor questioned by?—“
But Mila barely heard his defense. All she could focus on was the growing distance in his eyes when he looked at her, and the way his certainty flickered like a candle in the wind. Their deepened bond carried his emotions straight to her heart, and the cold touch of his doubt felt like dying.
He’s going to reject me.He’s going to choose his kingdom over our love, just like I always feared he would.
The chamber spun around her, faces blurring together in a kaleidoscope of suspicion and judgment. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t bear another second of their collective hatred.
“I can’t,” she whispered, backing toward the door. “I can’t do this anymore.”
And then she ran.
