CHAPTER 40
Rafael didn't rise to Siluren's bait,
nor did he let the simmering irritation in the room dictate his posture.
Instead, he sat back in his chair.slow, deliberate, the picture of an Alpha entirely in control of himself and the space around him.
The posture was an old trick his father had thought him.
His gaze never left Siluren.
And then he spoke.
He made sure his voice was calm and deliberate.
"I, Rafael, Alpha of the Red Moon Pack," he announced, his voice rose in the council chamber with the authority of old blood and older power, "present a formal challenge to the Alpha of the Blood Red Moon Pack."
The silence broke like a glass floor.
"By the old laws of honour, you have disrespected my mate and I. Concrete grounds for a challenge."
Siluren's head snapped up so fast the chair beneath him creaked.
His eyes flared, nostrils flaring, jaws clenching as though Rafael had slapped him raw across the face.
