Chapter 53: Chapter 53

~ NYSSA

Shortly after Aria left, the calls started coming in from the other members of the council.

They raged on about how Rowan was taking over the entire rogue dilemma. I listened to all their complaints, hummed at the right time and pretended to be concerned, but to be honest, a part of me was relieved.

The rogues were getting worse, and if having Rowan around was the price we had to pay to deal with it, then I was more than willing to put up with it.

Besides, the chances of me bumping into him were slim to none. He already made it clear that he didn’t want to see me. I was sure he’d do everything in his power to avoid me.

“Are you sure about this?” Eric asked as he parked in front of the pack house. “The King may be there, and I like my head on my shoulders.”

I rolled my eyes at the slightly worried expression on his face. “No one is going to kill you.”

“You don’t know that. I disobeyed a direct order from the princess, and I was in your house after hours. If she told him-”

“He wouldn’t care,” I finished for him. “Trust me on this. Rowan doesn’t care what I get up to.”

He shook his head. “You don’t know lycans like I do/”

“True, but I know Rowan and I, and I know that he doesn’t give a shit.”

Eric scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief, but he turned off the car and opened the door for me. I gave him the chance to wait in the car but he refused, citing something about facing his fears headfirst.

I just assumed he was being dramatic. That was until I walked into the pack house and found not just Henry, but the other council members pacing in the meeting room.

My brows furrowed as I took them in. “What is this?”

When I got the text from Henry this morning, I wasn’t told it was going to be all of us. I assumed he just wanted to be a bitch about Rowan. If I knew everyone was going to be here, I never would have dragged Eric along.

Council meetings were long and boring.

“Ask the King,” Henry spat the words like a huff. “Who the fuck does he think he is to summon us all? I am the Alpha of this pack-”

“You haven’t failed to remind me since I arrived.”

Every nerve in my body went deathly still at the sound of Rowan’s voice.

It was like soft velvet, wrapping around my mind and I swear I felt the mate bond spur back to life inside of me.

He stood just a few feet in front of me but I didn’t dare look up. I felt the moment his eyes rested on me, I felt the intensity of his gaze and despite the way my heart hammered and my knees buckled, I fisted my hands by my side, determined to look anywhere else.

“Rather than remind me of your position as Alpha, why not do your job?” Rowan continued. “In mere hours, I have done what you have not been able to for months.”

“And what might that be?” Henry spat.

“I found a rogue.”

My head snapped up at that.

The rogues had eluded us at every turn… or so Henry and the generals had said. They were smarter and they didn’t hide in the woods like the others. There was a theory that the rogues were sent by another pack.

Rowan hadn’t even been here for up to a day.

“How? Where?” I asked and immediately regretted it when Rowan’s eyes settled on me.

I shivered subconsciously at the intensity in his grey orbs but I couldn’t bring myself to look away.

“The way everyone else finds things, by searching,” he snapped, his voice cold.

My cheeks heated in embarrassment as the other guards watched us closely, although, it was Eric’s hand resting softly on my back that almost made my eyes water.

I shit him a small smile, assuring me that I was okay, but he didn’t move from his spot behind my back.

Rowan’s eyes narrowed at the movement, but he didn’t speak, instead, he turned to Henry. “Perhaps this will spur you to get off your ass and work with me to fix this problem. I don’t want to be here any longer than you want me here. We should have a location for the other rogues soon, ready your soldiers.”

There was a clear dismissal at the end of his sentence and everyone took the hint because they immediately began filing out of the meeting room.

I came up in the rear, intent on keeping my eyes straight ahead and leaving without a discussion. However, my plans were soiled when Rowan grabbed my arm firmly.

“Not you,” he said simply.

I met his cold gaze. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“Good, so you can fucking listen.” He turned to Eric. “Get out.”

Eric didn’t move immediately, he glanced at me, a silent question in his eyes.

I was stunned, not just by the obvious dismissal of his King’s order, but by the fact that he defected to me.

I was just a duty, and yet, here he was risking himself just to make sure that I was fine.

It brought tears to my eyes.

I felt the annoyance radiating off Rowan in waves. His grip on my arm grew harder. It wasn’t tight enough to be painful, but it was firm enough that I knew Eric was skirting on very thin ice, and as much as I didn’t want to be alone with him, I couldn’t get Eric in trouble.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him, forcing a small smile on my face. “Just wait for me outside. I’ll be there in a second.”

Only then did he exit the meeting room, deliberately leaving the door ajar.

Rowan released me only to slam the door shut behind him, leaving the both of us in terse silence.

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