Chapter 111
Kaeleen's POV
The drive to the Council's citadel was a four-hour exercise in controlled rage. My hands gripped the steering wheel of the unassuming black sedan, my knuckles white. I had come alone, a deliberate statement. I was not here as a petitioner seeking aid, flanked by my Beta and warriors. I was here as an Alpha, a sovereign leader, coming to deliver a verdict. My pack did not need to hide behind me; they trusted me to be their sword and their shield.
The citadel rose from the earth like a monument to arrogance, a fortress of gleaming white marble and obsidian glass nestled in a secluded mountain valley. It was a place designed to intimidate, to remind all who approached that they were entering the domain of gods, not of wolves. Tonight, the facade of austere power was betrayed by the sounds drifting on the cold mountain air, the faint, decadent strains of a string quartet, the murmur of laughter, the clinking of crystal glasses.
They were having a party.
