THE COUNCIL’S ULTIMATUM

The council chambers had not changed since Ember was a child circular, windowless, its walls draped in ancient tapestries embroidered with the histories of the packs. The air was thick with the weight of judgment. Every stone in the floor felt like it had recorded generations of declarations, betrayals, and oaths sworn in blood.

Now it would witness another.

Ember stood at the center of the room, a hood shadowing her face. Her fingers itched with heat, the flame inside her restless beneath her skin. Ronan stood at her side, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. Across from them, seated in crescent formation on thrones of black ash wood, were the five members of the Grand Lycan Council.

At the head sat High Elder Theron, the only one whose gaze held no flicker of emotion. His hair was white, long and woven with silver beads, and his eyes clouded by age still saw through everyone.

Malric stood to the right, not beside Ember now but opposite her, the Hollow Moon sigil emblazoned proudly on his cloak. He looked neither defiant nor humble. Just ready.

Ready for war.

Theron's voice broke the silence. "Alpha Kael is absent."

"He is hunting at the western pass," Ember replied, steady. "But I stand here with his full authority."

"Authority is not inherited by love," snapped Elder Varya, the youngest of the five. "You are Luna by bond, not by blood."

"And yet I have bled for this pack," Ember countered. "I have defended its borders, healed its warriors, carried its heir."

The word hung in the air like smoke.

Heir.

"That is why we are here," said Elder Corin, fingers drumming on the wood. "Your child. The fireborn one. The prophecy. The eclipse. All of it has reached our ears."

"We did not summon this power," Ember said, voice sharp. "It was woven into the mate bond."

"Then the bond was flawed," Varya snapped.

Ronan growled low, but Ember lifted a hand, halting him.

Theron leaned forward. "We are not here to debate prophecy. We are here to deliver judgment."

Ember straightened. "Then deliver it."

He paused just long enough for tension to coil like a rope.

"The Grand Lycan Council cannot allow a being of unknown origin, born under a cursed moon, to come into the world unbound by law. We decree the child must be brought to the Council Tower immediately after birth."

Ronan stepped forward. "Absolutely not."

"Let him finish," Ember whispered, even though her heart had already begun to pound like a war drum.

Theron went on, "The child will be tested. Examined by our seers, touched by our shamans. If the bond between realms has weakened because of her flame, we must close it. At any cost."

The word cost echoed. It wasn't just about power it was about containment. About fear.

"You fear a baby," Ember said slowly.

"We fear what your bloodline has become," Corin admitted. "You are no longer just a wolf, Ember of the Flamebound Line. The fire in you is old magic. The kind that scorched the forests before the first packs formed."

"I never asked for it!"

"No. But you carry it."

Malric stepped forward now, his voice careful. "Let her raise the child within the pack. Surrounded. Protected. The eclipse is nearly upon us. If we fracture now"

Theron silenced him with a glance. "This is not a negotiation, Malric. You of all wolves should understand the danger."

Ember's voice trembled now, not from fear but from restraint. "If I refuse?"

"You will be exiled. The child was taken by force. And Alpha Kael will be stripped of title for failing to present the matter to us first."

The sentence rang out like a slap.

Ronan surged forward, barely held back by Ember's arm. Her flame pulsed at her fingertips, itching for release.

"I've given everything to this realm," she growled. "And now you'll steal my child because of what might happen?"

Corin's eyes darkened. "We act before it is too late."

"You'll make