I crossed the room and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened for a moment—touch was still hard for him—then melted into the embrace.
"I'll always come back," I said against his hair. "That's what pack does."
Behind me, I felt my mates watching. Felt their approval through the bonds. This was what I was meant to do. Not hide. Not fear. But help. Heal. Anchor.
The council could study me. Twilson could scheme. The whole world could try to understand what an Omega really was.
But in the end, it came down to this: Gray smiling for the first time in months. Ben calm and quiet instead of pacing and whining. Stone and Cal finally at peace after years of chaos.
They could try to pretend this didn't happen.
But the evidence was right here, impossible to deny.
And I was done letting anyone else decide what I was worth.
Chapter eighteen
The summons came two days later.
I was in the east wing with Gray when Rae found me. She stood in the doorway, her face carefully neutral, but I could see the tension in her shoulders.
"Emergency council session," she said. "They want you there in an hour."
"Me specifically?"
"You, Cole, Neal, and anyone else involved in—" She paused, choosing her words. "The incident."
The incident. That's what they were calling it now. Not the heat. Not the bonding. The incident.
"Twilson?" I asked.
"He demanded the session, actually." Rae's jaw tightened. "He's been building his case since you got back. Interviewingstaff. Collecting statements. He's going to try to use this against you."
I'd known it was coming. We all had. But hearing it confirmed still sent ice through my veins.
"What's his angle?"
"I don't know exactly. But whatever it is, he's been preparing for days." She met my eyes. "Be careful, Lumi. Twilson is smart. He won't attack directly—he'll twist things, make you look like the threat instead of the solution."
"I'm not afraid of him."
"You should be." Her voice softened. "Not because he's right, but because he's powerful. And power doesn't need to be right to be dangerous."
The council chamber was in the administration building.
The seats were already filling when we arrived. Council members I didn't recognize. Staff from the Healing Center. Professors from the Academy. Tomlinson was there, seated at the table, his expression unreadable. Silas sat beside Rae's empty chair, his pale eyes tracking everything.
And at the center of it all, standing like he owned the room, was Twilson.
He looked immaculate. Gray suit perfectly pressed. Silver hair swept back from his face. Those pale eyes scanning the chamber with cold satisfaction. When they landed on me, something flickered in their depths.
Triumph.
He thought he'd already won.
My pack flanked me as we entered. Cole on my right, James on my left. Stone and Cal behind us. Neal brought up the rear, his arms full of files and tablets—every piece of data he'd collected over the past months.
The whispers started immediately.
