Page 47 of Branded By Shadow
Helena shot to her feet, glaring at Dred. “This is exactly the barbaric behavior that endangers Omega welfare. House Ares reduces claiming to territorial violence.”
“At least we’re honest about our nature,” Marcus snarled. “Unlike Houses that hide behind false courtesy while stabbing others in the back.”
Damon bared his teeth like an animal. “I have to agree with Dred. I’ve always favored stabbing my enemies from the front. I’d be happy to demonstrate the technique if anyone here needs it.”
“I think you’ve already demonstrated more than enough, Blackwood.” Marcus laughed, his eyes glinting like freshly spilled blood. “You’re weak, and everyone here knows it. Even your pretty Omega. Isn’t that right, Cora Ellis? Perhaps you’d be interested in someone superior.”
Helena’s face flushed with outrage. “Marcus, that’s out of line! How dare you imply—”
“This chaos proves the point exactly,” Alexander smoothly cut her off. “Dr. Ellis needs guidance from her bloodline House, not territorial battles.”
I stood frozen in the center of competing forces, my skin the literal battleground for House politics. The warm sensation of Demeter marks had been swept away by the cool rush of shadow marks claiming dominance, leaving me caught between two fundamental powers that would never coexist peacefully.
Lyra’s marks had felt like belonging. Damon’s felt like ownership. The difference was becoming clearer with each passing second as his shadows maintained their grip on my skin while hers faded into memory.
“The matter requires resolution,” Julian announced, once more the voice of reason. “I understand the competing interests, but at this rate, Dr. Ellis’s situation will fracture House relationships permanently.”
The verdict was coming. I could see it in the calculations playing out across the terraced seating, delegates weighing advantages and consequences. My fate was being decided by people who viewed me as territory to be conquered rather than a person with rights.
“The Council rules that permanent bond establishment is required to resolve competing House claims.”
The words slammed into me, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe. Cassandra’s warning echoed in my mind, sharp and clear.The only real solution is claiming her for real. But right now…The unspoken part of that sentence had been a promise of disaster, of a body too unstable to handle the strain. This wasn’t a solution. It was a potential death sentence.
Damon moved so fast he was a blur of shadow, planting himself directly before Julian’s platform. “No,” he snarled, his sheer presence defying the Council’s authority. “A House Hestia healer examined Dr. Ellis in my home. She is still recovering from a magical contamination that nearly killed her. Her bodyis unstable. The Council cannot order me to perform a ritual I know would damn her.”
Julian frowned, clearly frustrated by the defiance. Helena intervened before he could speak. “I personally performed the stabilization on Dr. Ellis’s claiming mark. I can attest to its extreme fragility. To force a full bonding now is an act of barbarism House Hera will not accept.”
They were fighting for me. Both of them. A united front against the entire Council.
Alexander rose slowly, his expression one of perfect, calculated concern. “The concerns of House Hades and House Hera are, of course, valid. But what is thesourceof this instability they so rightly fear? It is the contested bond itself.” He let his words sink in, a politician turning their own argument against them. “The permanent claim is not the poison. It is the only possibleantidote.”
He turned his gaze on Damon, and the trap snapped shut with brutal precision. “Unless, of course, House Hades is formally stating that its Alpha lacks the control to perform the claiming safely, as House Ares has suggested. If he cannot save her, then the Council must find an Alpha whocan.”
A wave of murmurs swept through the amphitheater. Marcus Dred laughed, a low, triumphant sound. Damon was caught. If he proceeded, he risked killing me. If he refused, he would be declared weak, and I would be handed over to the brute or the snake. He would lose me either way.
The worst thing was that he wasn’t even wrong. Damon’s permanent claim could indeed kill me through shadow contamination. But with other Alphas, I wouldn’t have that problem.
Damon looked at me then, and in his dark eyes, I saw the fury of the cornered predator give way to something else. A grim, final resolve.
He turned back to Julian. “I won’t kill her,” he said, his voice low but carrying to every corner of the silent amphitheater. “Let the Council call me weak. I will not risk her life.”
He had made his choice. He was willing to be publicly shamed, to lose his claim, to lose everything, just to keep me safe.
The memory of the ice bath crashed over me. His desperate plea.Stay. Please.The way he’d wrapped his own power around me, shielding me from a cold that should have killed me, fighting his own rut to protect me from himself.
This was the same man. The monster who had kidnapped me was willing to sacrifice his pride and his power for my life. Did he realize how much that meant? Maybe not, but I did.
Julian raised his hand to make the final ruling, to formalize Damon’s forfeiture.
I moved before I could think, brushing past Damon into the center of the circle. “Wait.”
Every head turned toward me. The weight of hundreds of stares threatened to crush me into paste, but I met Julian’s gaze without flinching. I saw Damon from the corner of my eye, his entire body rigid with shock.
He had made his choice. Now it was time for me to make mine.
“I accept the Council’s ruling,” I said, my voice clearer and steadier than I ever thought possible. “The claiming will proceed.”
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