Chapter 63

[ 1,211 words ]

I was human

63: 63.

I was human Aria

“I won’t be part of this.”

The words tear out of me before I can stop them.

The entire chamber goes still.

For a heartbeat, I think maybe I imagined saying it out loud.

But no—every eye in the room snaps to me.

My wolf surges forward, fire licking along her spine.

Good, she growls.

No submission.

Kane rises slowly from his seat, his expression tightening with irritation rather than surprise.

“You don’t have a choice,” he says, voice sharp as a blade.

“The decision has been made.”

My pulse pounds in my ears.

But I don’t look at him.

I look at the room.

At the Alphas.

And what I see—

It fuels me.

Because they aren’t all in agreement.

Not even close.

There’s tension.

Unease.

And on more than a few faces—

Disgust.

My wolf bares her teeth.

They know this is wrong.

“I don’t care,” I say, louder now, my voice carrying across the chamber.

“You can call it whatever you want—protocol, protection, survival.”

I take a step forward.

“I will not hunt humans for knowing something they were never meant to understand in the first place.”

A ripple goes through the crowd.

Stronger this time.

“They didn’t ask for this,” I continue.

“And the veil is already falling. This isn’t something you can control by killing people who are just… living their lives.”

Kane’s eyes darken.

“You speak like a human.”

“I was human,” I snap.

Silence cracks across the room like thunder.

“And if you think that makes me less capable of understanding what’s at stake,” I add, “then you’re not paying attention.”

My wolf paces, restless and fierce.

Stand your ground.

“I won’t do it,” I say again.

“I won’t be part of it.”

For a moment, it feels like I’m standing alone.

Then—

A chair scrapes.

Ronan steps forward beside me.

The shift in the room is immediate.

Power rolls off him in waves—dominant, unyielding, dangerous.

“My pack will not follow this protocol,” he says, voice low but carrying effortlessly.

My breath catches.

I turn my head slightly, staring at him.

He doesn’t look at me.

His focus is locked on the Assembly.

Unwavering.

Kade moves next.

Silent.

Deadly.

He steps to my other side, his presence just as solid, just as immovable.

“Neither will mine,” he adds.

My chest tightens.

My wolf practically vibrates with something fierce and proud.

Liam joins us without hesitation.

“Guess that makes three of us,” he says, voice almost casual—but his eyes are anything but.

I stare at them.

All of them.

They’re not hesitating.

Not questioning.

They’re choosing this.

Choosing me.

And the weight of that—

It both terrifies and strengthens me.

“You’re making a mistake,” Kane warns.

“Maybe,” Ronan replies evenly.

“But it’s ours to make.”

A chair scrapes from across the room.

Another Alpha stands.

I don’t recognize him, but his presence is strong—steady.

“I won’t enforce it either,” he says.

Murmurs explode.

Another stands.

“And neither will we.”

My heart leaps.

My wolf lifts her head, ears forward.

More.

Then—

A voice I recognize.

Cold.

Controlled.

Unexpected.

“I refuse as well.”

I turn.

And my breath catches.

Elliot.

The Alpha of the Nightbane pack.

Everything I’ve heard about him paints him as ruthless.

Calculated.

Loyal only to power.

He kidnapped and tortured Liam.

And yet—

Here he stands.

Opposing the Assembly.

My wolf narrows her eyes.

Interesting.

“This protocol is reckless,” Elliot continues, his tone measured but firm.

“And it will create more enemies than it eliminates.”

More movement.

More Alphas rising.

One.

Two.

Three.

The room fractures.

Voices rise.

Arguments ignite.

Chaos begins to bloom.

“Order!” Aldrin slams something heavy against the table—a gavel, I realize distantly.

“Order!”

No one listens.

The tension snaps.

Alphas shouting over each other.

Enforcers shifting uneasily.

The air thick with aggression, dominance, and rising fury.

They’re dividing, my wolf says.

“Enough!” another Assembly member barks.

I don’t know her name—but her presence cuts through the noise like a whip.

“You will follow the directive,” she says sharply.

“Or you will face the maximum sentence for treason.”

The word hangs in the air.

Treason.

Everything stills.

Not completely.

But enough.

A dangerous, suspended silence.

My heart pounds.

I glance at Ronan.

His jaw tightens.

Kade’s shoulders square.

Liam’s expression goes flat—controlled in a way that makes him look even more dangerous.

My wolf presses forward ready for whatever comes.

Ronan steps ahead of us slightly.

Just enough to claim the space.

“We will not bow to your whims,” he says.

Each word lands like a strike.

“If that means banishment,” he continues, “then so be it.”

My breath catches.

Banishment?

My wolf bristles.

No.

Aldrin stares at him for a long moment.

Then—

He laughs.

It’s not amused.

It’s cruel.

Cold.

Echoing through the chamber like something rotten.

“Banishment?” he repeats.

His eyes gleam with something dark.

“No.”

The word sends a chill down my spine.

“There will be no banishment for traitors.”

The air changes.

Sharp.

Deadly.

“The price,” Aldrin says softly, “is death.”

Everything happens at once.

My wolf roars fighting to gain control band shift.

The Assembly wolves move first.

Fast.

Too fast.

Enforcers surge forward, shifting mid-stride, bones cracking, bodies expanding.

Fur.

Claws.

Teeth.

The chamber erupts into chaos.

“Stay behind us!” Ronan snarls.

Yeah—no.

I don’t listen.

I can’t.

Because they’re attacking.

Because this is real.

Because they just chose death over disagreement.

Fire ignites in my chest.

My wolf surges forward.

We can’t use our fire.

I partially shift.

Claws rip from my fingertips.

I huess I’ll have to fight like this.

Heat floods my veins.

A wolf lunges at me—

I throw my hand forward instinctively.

Flame explodes outward.

It slams into the attacker mid-air, sending him crashing sideways with a snarl of pain.

I stagger slightly.

My wolf howls in approval.

Again.

Around me, everything is motion.

Ronan shifts fully—massive, powerful, his dark wolf tearing into the nearest threat with brutal precision.

Kade is just as lethal—silent, efficient, every movement calculated.

Liam—

Liam is something else entirely.

He moves between forms like water.

One second human, the next wolf, the next something in between.

Unpredictable.

Terrifying.

Beautiful.

“They’re trying to isolate us!” he shouts.

He’s right.

The Assembly wolves are targeting those who stood up.

Breaking us apart.

Cutting us down.

“Stay together!” Kade roars.

Too late.

The room is a battlefield now.

Claws clash.

Teeth snap.

Blood hits the air.

My wolf snarls.

I duck as another wolf lunges for me, heat flaring instinctively.

Fire bursts from my palm again—stronger this time.

More controlled.

It catches the wolf across the shoulder, sending it yelping back.

“Aria!”

Ronan’s voice cuts through everything.

I turn—

Just in time to see one of the Assembly wolves charging straight for him from behind.

“No!”

I don’t think.

I move.

With a strength I didn’t know I possess.

I tackle the assailant so hard that we both tumbled to the ground.

Ronan spins, eyes locking onto mine for a split second.

Pride.

Fury.

Something deeper.

Then he’s gone again—back into the fight.

And I turn to fight the wolf that thought he could attack my mate from behind.

I kick and/and clawed him ignoring his snapping jaws.

My chest heaves.

My wolf pushes her strength into me.

Jacking him by the back leg.

I swing him hard into the wall and a sickening crack leaves him limp on the floor.

Across the room, I see Elliot.

He’s fighting too.

Efficient.

Ruthless.

Not for the Assembly.

Against them.

More Alphas have joined in.

The divide is clear now.

It’s not just us.

It’s a fracture.

A breaking point.

The Assembly pushed too far.

And now—

They’re paying for it.

But so are we.

Because this?

This isn’t a disagreement anymore.

This is war.

A wolf barrels into me from the side, knocking me off balance.

I hit the ground hard, air rushing from my lungs.

Pain flares.

My wolf snarls violently.

Up!

Claws scrape against stone as the wolf lunges again—

I twist, throwing my hand up.

The firelinkers just beneath the surface and I grip my teeth to hold it back.

I scramble to my feet, breath ragged.

Everything burns.

My skin.

My veins.

My lungs.

But I don’t stop.

I can’t.

Because if I do—

I could expose us.

And if we don’t get out of here, I’m afraid that I will.

“Aria!”

Liam appears at my side, half-shifted, blood streaking his arm.

“You good?”

“I’ve been better,” I gasp.

He grins—wild, feral.

“Same.”

Another wolf charges—

He intercepts it mid-stride, shifting fully as they crash together in a tangle of fur and fury.

I turn, scanning for Ronan—

For Kade—

For anyone—

And that’s when I see Aldrin.

Standing at the front.

Watching.

Not fighting.

Not engaging.

Just… observing.

Like this is all part of the plan.

My wolf goes still.

He wanted this.

A chill runs through me.

This wasn’t just a vote.

This was a test.

A trap.

And we walked straight into it.

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