Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Nolan’s voice cut through again, colder than steel. “As Alpha of Silver Fang, I strip you of all rights and privileges. You are banished, effective immediately p>
Shock rippled across the chamber, but my eyes stayed locked on Felicity.
For the first time, her composure cracked fully. She looked at Nolan as though he’d ripped her heart from her body. Then her gaze slid to me, venomous, seething.
“This isn’t over,” she hissed. “You’ll regret this p>
The guards moved in, flanking her, but her eyes never left mine until the heavy doors slammed shut behind her.
The chamber erupted-voices clashing, council members demanding explanations, warriors muttering in outrage. I sat frozen, hollow, every muscle taut.
I’d hated her for years, but this was worse than anything I had imagined. Felicity hadn’t just disliked me. She hadn’t just schemed.
She had wanted me dead. Wanted my children dead.
And Nolan
Nolan had carried this truth into the room like a blade and cut her from his life in one stroke. He hadn’t taken her side. He hadn’t made excuses or blamed me for driving her to it.
He banished her.
When the meeting finally dissolved, people filing out in a tide of whispers and shaken faces, I didn’t move. Not until it was just the two of us left in the room.
He stood near the far wall, his hands braced against the table, head bowed. The posture of someone who had just cut out his own heart.
I swallowed hard and forced my legs to carry me closer. “You didn’t tell me you were investigating her p>
His head lifted, and the look in his eyes nearly stopped me in my tracks. Grief. Rage. Guilt. All tangled together.
“I couldn’t,” he said, voice rough. “I couldn’t risk her knowing I suspected her. She had too many eyes in this house already p>
My throat tightened. “You could have told me p>
His expression softened then, in the smallest, saddest way. “You’ve had enough burdens, Ellie. This one… I had to carry alone p>
I wanted to argue, but the weight in his voice silenced me. I pressed my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold. “She said you swore something. That there’s something only she knows. What did she mean p>
His jaw worked, his eyes flicking away. For a long moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. But then, quietly, he said, “There are things in my past… things I’m not proud of. Things no one else can use against me-except her. She’s the only one who knows p>
Fear stirred low in my belly. I’d always known Nolan carried shadows, but hearing him admit it like this made them feel suddenly close, reaching for me too. “If she tells people p>
“Let her.” His voice was steel again, final and unyielding. “Whatever truth she has, whatever poison she wants to spit, I couldn’t keep her here. I won’t risk her near you. Not again p>
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Chapter 108
+25 Bonus
I could see it clearly in his eyes-he was devastated. Banishing her hadn’t been
some clean stroke of authority-it had gutted him.
I reached out, laying a tentative hand over his clenched fist. “Nolan p>
He looked at me, and for a heartbeat, the Alpha mask slipped. I saw the boy beneath, the man who had once trusted Felicity with pieces of himself he’d never given anyone else.
My chest ached. I had secrets of my own, truths I was keeping from him even now. The knowledge that our sons were alive pressed heavily on my tongue, but I bit it back. He wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready.
So instead, I gave him the only truth I could. “You did the right thing p>
He didn’t answer, just looked at me with those storm-dark eyes, torn between fury and grief.
And in the silence that followed, the truth hung heavy between us: he had cut away
a part of his past tonight, but the ghosts of it weren’t gone. And both of us still carried secrets that could shatter everything if spoken aloud.
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