The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 49

POV: Zane

Isabella’s calculated move had backed me into a corner from which there was no escape.

The news of her pregnancy, and my subsequent "acceptance" of it, had given the Elder Council all the ammunition they needed.

I was summoned to the formal council chamber. The air was thick with the scent of old wood, beeswax, and the grim weight of tradition.

Elder Malachi sat at the head of the table, his ancient, shrewd eyes fixed on me. Kael stood behind my chair, his presence a silent, steady support, but even he could not help me now.

“Zane,” Malachi began, his voice dry and authoritative. “We have convened to discuss a matter of utmost importance to the future of this pack.”

I remained silent, my jaw clenched. I knew what was coming.

“Your betrothal to Lady Isabella has been a matter of public record for over five years,” he continued. “It is a sacred promise, not just between you and her, but between the Volkov and Laurent packs. An alliance that has kept our eastern border secure.”

“I am aware of my obligations,” I said, my voice low and tight.

“Are you?” Malachi challenged, his gaze sharp. “Your obligations also include producing a true-blooded heir to continue the Volkov line. Lady Isabella is now carrying that heir. Yet you have allowed your… distraction… with the step-daughter to delay the final bonding. You have brought a bastard pup into this house and shamed your intended mate. This is an insult to our traditions and a sign of instability that our enemies will pounce on.”

His words were a public condemnation, each one a stone cast at my authority.

“The only way to rectify this situation, to silence the whispers and legitimize the child in the eyes of the Moon Goddess and the pack, is to fulfill your promise,” he decreed.

“This is not a negotiation, Zane!” Malachi snapped. “It is your duty! The duty of an Alpha is to his pack first! You will put aside your personal indiscretions and you will secure your bloodline!”

The weight of a thousand years of tradition, of his duty as a king, of his responsibility to the unborn child he believed he had fathered, crashed down on me.

My love for Selene was a desperate, selfish thing.

My duty as an Alpha was absolute.

I was trapped.