The silence that followed my Alpha Command was different now. It wasn't the silence of shock or confusion; it was the silence of a graveyard. The white-silver flames in the obsidian basin began to die down, flickering into low, ghostly embers that cast long, dancing shadows across the cowering guests.
I looked down at Julian. He was still on his knees, his hands trembling against the stone. He looked small. Not just physically, but spiritually—a hollowed-out man who had spent his life pretending a puddle was an ocean.
"You called me a dud," I said, my voice cold and smooth as polished marble. "You told me I was lucky to be the floor mat for your 'superior' line."
I stepped toward him, the silver mesh of my dress shimmering with every movement. I didn't need to shout. The power radiating off me was so thick it felt like the air was vibrating.
"The Silver-Moon pack is built on a foundation of theft and lies," I announced, turning my gaze to Alpha Corvin. The old man looked as if he had aged fifty years in five minutes. "You stole a Sovereign's daughter. You suppressed her blood. You forged documents to trick the High Council into giving you a 'dud' to trade for land and favor."
"Seraphina, please—" Corvin began, his voice cracking.
"Silence."
The command hit him like a physical blow, snapping his jaw shut with a click.
I looked at the High Council Elders. They were standing now, but their faces were masks of profound unease. They knew that if I was the White-Fire heir, the legal landscape of the northern territories had just shifted six feet to the left.
"Under the Law of Lineage Fraud," I said, my eyes flashing with a metallic brilliance, "I claim the right of Forfeiture. The Silver-Moon pack is dissolved as of this moment. Their lands, their coffers, and their assets are to be seized by the High Council and held in trust for the Restoration of the High Peaks."
A collective gasp went up from the Silver-Moon wolves. To be unranked—to be "packless"—was a fate worse than death. It meant they had no protection, no territory, and no status.
"You can't!" Julian screamed, finally finding his voice. "You're a woman! You can't dissolve a pack!"
"I am not just a woman, Julian," I said, leaning down so my face was inches from his. "I am the Sovereign you were too afraid to mark. And since you failed to seal the union, you have no claim to my mercy."
I turned back to the Council. "I want the records. Not the ones in the Silver-Moon library. I want the deep archives—the ones that record the movements of infants during the Eclipse War. Someone brought me to the Silver-Moon border. Someone knew I wasn't a 'dud' from a nomadic pack."
Silas stepped up behind me, his presence a dark, warm anchor. He didn't say a word, but the way he looked at me—with a mixture of pride and a terrifying, dark lust for my power—told everyone in the room that he would tear the world apart to get me those records.
"We will open the Vaults of the Great Moon," Elder Hakan said, bowing his head in a gesture of absolute submission. "Everything we have is yours, My Lady."
I looked at the ruined gala. The silk banners were torn, the wine was spilled, and the "most powerful" Alphas in the territory were looking at me with a fear they usually reserved for legends.
"I'm leaving," I said. "But I'm not leaving as a debt-slave."
I turned to Silas. For the first time tonight, my expression softened, but the fire in my eyes didn't dim. "Silas. Take me home. To the Shadow-Crest. Not as a guest, and not as a prisoner."
Silas's hand found the small of my back, his fingers splaying wide in a possessive, grounding touch. He looked at Julian one last time—a look of such utter dismissal that it was more insulting than a blow.
"She is the High Sovereign of the Peaks," Silas announced, his voice booming through the ballroom. "And she is the Mate of the Shadow-Crest. If anyone has an objection to her decrees, you can bring them to my gates. I'll be happy to show you how we handle intruders."
As we walked through the crowd, the Alphas parted like the Red Sea. I saw Poppy near the exit, her eyes wide and shining with tears of triumph. I gave her a small, sharp nod.
We reached the carriage, and the cool night air hit my exposed skin. The silver mesh was a reminder of how much I had risked—and how much I had won.
Before I stepped into the carriage, I looked back at the Silver-Moon estate. It looked smaller now. Less like a palace and more like a cage that had finally been broken open.
"We have work to do, Silas," I said as he helped me inside.
"I know," he whispered, sliding in beside me and pulling the door shut, plunging us into the intimate darkness of the carriage. He didn't wait. He pulled me into his lap, his hands gripping my waist with a fierce, trembling need. "But first... I think I need to remind you exactly whose side I'm on."
His mouth found mine, and this time, there was no hesitation. The kiss tasted like victory, like silver, and like the beginning of a very long, very bloody reckoning.