Chapter 117

••• Victoria’s POV ••• The last time I walked these halls, I left with my hands clenched and heart pounding. Diana’s screams had echoed down the corridor as Alpha Martin dragged her away, and sometimes I could still imagine how defeated she looked that day. Today, the halls were quiet. Dignified. I had returned not as a witness to another’s trial, but as the Alpha of my own pack, standing on equal footing with the very men and women who once looked through me. Stepping into this place wasn't really a pleasant memory since I didn't get my justice last time, thanks to Alpha Martin's interruption during the trial, but today, the Werewolf Council had personally invited me here. The marble beneath my heels gleamed, and the Council chamber doors loomed ahead, tall, carved with the sigils of every known pack. I straightened my spine and walked in, flanked by two of my trackers who stood just outside once I crossed the threshold. “Alpha Victoria,” one of the Elders greeted, rising from his sea