Cassian
They gathered under the moon, not in peace, but in judgment.
Cassian stood alone before the ancient Council stones, every eye locked on him like a blade pressed to his skin. The clearing pulsed with power, deep ancestral power woven into the stones, the air, the very roots beneath his feet. Generations had stood here to be made or unmade. Now, it was his turn.
He was not dressed as Alpha tonight. No ceremonial cloak. No signet ring. He had stripped away every symbol of power that hadn’t been earned, not to appear humble, but to be honest.
Only Roran stood behind him. Silent. Watchful.
Cassian spoke first. “I invoke the Rite of Reckoning.”
The murmurs began at once. Even the trees seemed to lean in.
Elder Verin, tall and rigid as the stones themselves, stepped forward. “You d
