Page 35

JACE

T he sun had barely cleared the edge of the pines, but Jace was already dressed and pacing the floor of the Keep’s war room, buttoning the cuffs of his black shirt with slow, deliberate movements.

He wasn’t usually the type to fuss.

But this morning?

His hands needed something to do.

Behind him, Logan leaned against the doorway, arms crossed and grinning like a jackal who’d just discovered fresh meat.

“You’re smiling,” Logan said.

Jace didn’t bother denying it.

“Like, actually smiling,” his beta went on, eyes dancing. “It’s unnatural. Has the world ended and no one told me?”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, Alpha’s got jokes now.” Logan whistled low. “All it took was getting dragged half-naked through a cursed forest and nearly losing the love of your life to a psychotic rival.”

Jace shot him a look.

Logan held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m not complaining. I’m happy for you. Really. I’m just saying— this version of you? The one who smiles before coffee? It’s suspicious.”

Jace rolled his eyes but didn’t fight the warmth that spread through his chest.

Lyra was safe.

She was asleep in bed, curled like a cat beneath his covers, chaos magic still humming faintly in the corners of the room. She’d left traces of herself everywhere—her scent on him, her laughter echoing in his head, the ghost of her fingers brushing his jaw just before she’d drifted off.

And for the first time in years, he felt something like… peace.

Even if it was only temporary.

Even if war was on the horizon.

“You sure you want to bring her into this council meeting?” Logan asked more quietly now, as if sensing the shift in Jace’s thoughts. “She’s still healing.”

“She’s not coming,” Jace said. “She doesn’t need to be in the room for me to make it clear she’s mine.”

Logan nodded once. “Good. Because they’re going to test you today.”

“Let them.”

The council chamber buzzed with tension the moment Jace stepped inside. The central hearth was lit, but it cast more shadow than warmth. Elders lined the long crescent table, their expressions tight with varying degrees of concern, curiosity, and quiet disapproval.

Jace didn’t blink.

He walked straight to the center circle, planted his feet, and met each of their gazes in turn.

“I appreciate you gathering quickly,” he said, voice calm but clipped. “We’ve had a security breach. Ezra Wolfe has officially declared himself rogue.”

That stirred the pot.

Murmurs, rustling, one of the coven elders—Ashra, tall and pale as snow—spoke first. “You’re certain it was him?”

“I tracked him myself,” Jace replied. “He took Lyra Ravenshade and held her in a warded stronghold in the Echo Woods. My pack retrieved her. But Ezra escaped.”

“And the girl?” Councilor Brandt’s lip curled slightly. “She’s not a member of your pack.”

“She’s my mate,” Jace said flatly. “And she’s more than proven her strength and loyalty to this town. She belongs here.”

“You haven’t claimed her.”

“Not yet,” he admitted, lifting his chin. “But that’s my choice. Not yours.”

The air shifted just slightly.

“You said he escaped,” another council member pressed. “Do you know where he’s gone?”

“No. But we intercepted a communication rune on one of his men. He’s calling others. Rogues. Exiles. Packs who feel they’ve been left behind by the Moonlit Pact. He’s not just rebelling—he’s trying to rally.”

A heavy silence fell.

Ashra’s gaze sharpened. “Then this isn’t about you. This is about us .”

Jace nodded. “He’s making it personal by targeting me. But this is a broader strike. He wants chaos.”

Councilor Brandt frowned. “And your solution?”

“We prepare for war,” Jace said simply. “I’m expanding patrols. We’re reinforcing the outer wards. And we start building alliances—with the covens, the fey, even the reclusive shadowkin. If Ezra’s trying to shatter the Pact, we don’t give him the cracks to do it.”

More murmuring.

“But you’ll need a formal claim,” Ashra said carefully. “If you’re going to speak for all of us, your mate bond can’t be in question.”

Jace’s mouth pulled into a slow, wolfish smile. “Then it won’t be. But it will happen on our terms. Not the council’s schedule.”

Ashra tilted her head, considering.

Brandt looked like he wanted to argue—but didn’t.

“I’ll send you updates every morning. Logan will coordinate regional defenses. You have my word—I won’t let Ezra rip this town apart.”

No one questioned it. No one doubted it. Because when Jace stood in the firelight, shadows at his back, the flame of devotion still flickering in his chest from the woman waiting at home.

He looked and felt every inch the Alpha he was born to be.