The questions started. Polite but pointed, designed to sound like conversation while probing for weakness.
“How familiar are you with pack hierarchy, Ms. Grey?” one of the younger elders asked.
“I know the basics. Alphas, Betas, Omegas. I know the King leads and the council advises. Beyond that, I’m still learning.” She didn’t flinch at the admission. “I’m not going to stand here and tell you I understand your world because I don’t. Not yet. But I’m willing to learn, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Aldric glanced at me. I kept my face neutral.
Brennan leaned forward. “And the arrangement with the Ashtor family? We’ve heard the engagement was called off.”
“It was,” I said. “The engagement to Lorraine Ashtor is over. It should never have happened in the first place.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because I was never in a relationship with Lorraine. The engagement was a result of pressure from both families that I should have shut down years ago. I’m shutting it down now.”
“And Ms. Ashtor? What is her standing?”
“Lorraine remains a pack member. Her family retains their positions for now. But I want to be clear with this council: there will be no marriage to Lorraine Ashtor. Not now, not ever. Andrea is my mate. That’s not a discussion.”
The room absorbed that. Brennan nodded. Aldric made a note.
Then Brennan asked the other question I’d been expecting. “The child. Do we know if it will be human or shifter?”
“We don’t,” I said.
“And the question of succession, should the child be human...”
“Is not a question. My child is my heir. Human, shifter, Alpha, Beta, Omega. The crown doesn’t discriminate. If the council has a problem with that, the council can bring it to me directly.”
Brennan held my gaze. Five seconds, ten. Then he nodded, a single dip of his chin, the same nod he gave my father when a ruling was accepted.
The elders filed out after. Brennan lingered by the door, watching Andrea, who was still across the room. She’d cornered Aldric and was asking him questions, leaning in, her whole body angled toward him like whatever he was saying mattered. She shook his hand when the conversation ended. Aldric looked mildly surprised by the handshake, which meant she’d treatedthe most senior Alpha in the pack like a colleague rather than a superior. Either brave or oblivious, and either way it was the most Andrea thing she could have done.
“She has a spine,” Brennan said beside me.
“She does.”
“Good. You’ll need that.” Then he left.
Andrea crossed the chamber toward me, her hand on her belly, her face flushed with the effort of being composed for an hour. She looked exhausted but pleased, her hair coming loose from the clip she’d put in, the dimple threatening to show.
“Well?” she asked.
“Brennan said you have a spine.”
“Is that good?”
“From Brennan, that’s practically a love letter.”
“I shook Aldric’s hand. Was that okay? He looked surprised.”
“You treated him like a colleague. He’s not used to that.”
“Was I supposed to bow?”
“Some people do.”
“I don’t bow.”
