Chapter 82

• Killian POV
• I stand in front of the pack and the room presses in like something that wants to squeeze the air from my lungs. People whisper, shifting, trying to figure out why their Alpha is the one pulled up for judgement. I look to Brannick for anything, some sign he’ll have my back, but he looks away like he always does when politics smell better than loyalty. It’s a little stab of betrayal that lands colder than the rest.
• Yasin reads the charge with that flat, clean voice she uses for business. “Alpha Killian, you are brought forward for trial under the accusation that you indulged in a fated mate bond. How do you plead?”