"What do you think you’re doing?" Elijah whispered to his wife, who had made herself comfortably at home on his lap.
"Isn’t it obvious?" she said coolly, then turned her attention to the others across the table.
It was clear that power had changed hands, and they all knew to act accordingly. Beatrice wasn’t Elijah, and right now, she seemed far more terrifying than him.
With her arm resting on the table, Luna Beatrice leaned forward and declared, "You can all argue about options and power plays all you want, but I’ve made my stance clear. Elsie is done. I will never accept her as the next Luna."
Murmurs rippled through the room, especially from Henry and Zara’s side. If anyone looked most pleased by the news, it was Irene. Who would’ve thought Beatrice had this kind of fire? The woman had been silent for far too long.
"With all due respect, Luna Beatrice," Henry said, "Alpha King Elijah gifted Elsie to the Cardinal Alpha who emerges as heir after graduation. You can’t just change that."
"Well, you heard my wife," Elijah cut in, his voice edged with both amusement and danger. "Looks like we’ll be needing a new bride list."
But Beatrice said firmly, "There will be no bride list."
"What?" Elijah blinked, disbelief spreading across his face.
The murmurs in the room grew louder. Beatrice might be Luna, but she was human and challenging Elijah’s authority was unheard of.
Beatrice turned to him, eyes steely. "There will be no gifting of a bride. The greatest gift you could give your heir is the freedom to choose."
For a moment, Elijah didn’t speak. He stared at his wife, his expression unreadable and stormy. To the others, it looked like a stare down. None of them saw how his hands shifted, and claws sprouted and dug into her waist, drawing blood beneath her gown. But Beatrice didn’t flinch. She bore the pain in silence, holding her ground with regal stillness.
"I agree with Luna Beatrice," Irene said suddenly.
The sound of her voice snapped Elijah from the bloodlust that had begun to cloud his judgment. His claws retracted, the blood on his fingers disappearing just as Beatrice let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
"Me too," Zara added, to everyone’s surprise.
With Elsie out of the picture, she could finally position a respectable North girl for her son, and get rid of that purple-haired menace.
"Let the boys do what they want," Leon Draven shrugged. "I mean, it’s free to love."
Now all eyes turned to Henry.
He paused. And then, with tight reluctance, said, "Whatever you say, Alpha King. I’ll follow your lead."
As soon as the words left his mouth, attention returned to Elijah. Beatrice kept her back to him, never turning to see the expression on her husband’s face. Even Irene, fierce as she was, had to admit she was impressed. Beatrice was bolder than any of them had ever given her credit for.
After a tension-laced silence that stretched unbearably, Alpha King Elijah finally said, with a smile that didn’t touch his eyes, "Who am I to go against my wife’s decision? Wife knows best, right? The heirs are free to date whoever they want."
Irene didn’t show it, but she was relieved. The boys were going to love this. Still, beneath that triumph sat something uneasy.
Elijah never made decisions that favored the Cardinal Alphas. Right now, this felt too easy.
It felt like the calm before the storm.
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