It broke completely.
“No,” Maren said, her voice unraveling as she stepped forward before the guards stopped her. “Alpha King, I did what was required to maintain order.” Her eyes turned toward Isla, desperate and searching for something she had never given. “Isla, tell him, tell him I wasn’t the worst of them.”
“Don’t look at my mate,” I said.
My voice remained even, but it pressed through the hall with weight that couldn’t be ignored. Maren flinched and dropped her gaze instantly, as if it had been forced down. “And don’t speak to her at all,” I continued. “You lost that right long before today.”
No one moved after that.
I shifted my attention without delay. “Derek Thorne is stripped of rank, standing, and paternal authority,” I said. “His land rights are revoked, and he will stand
