Malrik POV

“No one is threatening you, Alpha,” the Chairman said, voice even yet laced with an immovable firmness. “But the law must stand. Without it, we descend into the chaos we once knew under the Mad King a tyrant who bent every rule to his will, who recognized no rights but his own.”

His words, though deliberate and meant to reassert the Council’s authority, held no real weight for me. I wasn’t interested in their history lessons or veiled cautions.

My patience was ...