Chapter 84 The Silvertongue emerges

Chapter 84: Chapter 84 The Silvertongue emerges

Talia’s POV

The room was dead silent.

Alpha Stone stared at me, his chest heaving, and his hands shaking. His face was red with rage, and his eyes burned with fury.

Then he pointed at the door.

"Get out," he said. His voice was low and trembling with anger. "Get out of my land. NOW."

I did not move.

His command hung in the air like a blade. Get out. Get out of my land. Now.

I could feel Kaelen’s eyes on my back, watching, and waiting to see what I would do. I could see the guards were watching too, with their hands still on their weapons.

Alpha Stone’s chest was heaving, and his face was twisted with rage. He had spent years hating Shadowfang, and he was not going to let a young girl from a rival pack tell him what to do.

But I was not just any young girl. I was the Luna of Shadowfang Pack. I was the woman who had survived Vivienne and Celeste and fifteen years of abuse. I was the woman who had switched the glasses and watched her stepmother destroy herself.

I was not leaving.

"No," I said.

"Did you hear me?" He stood up, and his chair scraped against the stone floor. "I said get out!"

His voice echoed through the hall, bouncing off the stone walls and rattling the bones on his throne. The guards flinched, and I could see them preparing to attack.

But I did not flinch.

I stood my ground, with my feet planted and my shoulders back. My heart was pounding, and my hands were shaking now, but I did not let him see it.

"You do not get to dismiss me," I said. "I came here in good faith, and I have offered you more than any other pack would. You can be angry, you can be bitter, you can blame Shadowfang for every problem you have ever had." I stepped closer. "But you will not dismiss me."

I felt my anger bubbling inside me. It rose through my chest, hot and sharp, pressing against my ribs like a caged animal.

But then it changed.

The anger shifted into something else. It turned into something deeper, and it stirred like something older. A strong power I had never felt before stirred deep within me, and it was waking up like a sleeping beast.

It was like a fire that had been buried under ash for years, suddenly igniting. Heat spread through my veins, and my skin tingled with energy.

I had felt hints of this power before, in small moments, like when I faced Vivienne at Mooncrest Hall, when I stared down the wolves on the hills, and when I refused to back down from Alpha Stone’s rage.

But I had never felt it like this. It was overwhelming, terrifying, extremely strong, and exhilarating.

I did not know what it was, and I did not know where it came from either. But I knew I could not fight it, so I let it flow.

It rose through my chest, my throat, and my voice. I opened my mouth, and when I spoke, my voice was different.

My voice was deeper and much stronger. It carried so much weight I did not know I had, and the sound of it echoed through the room like thunder.

"You will listen to me," I said.

Alpha Stone froze. His eyes went wide, his body went rigid, and he could not move. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out.

I blinked in surprise and slowly looked around, because the room had suddenly gone quiet. That was when I saw that the guards were frozen too. Their hands stopped on their weapons, frozen in place, and they stood like statues, with their eyes fixed on nothing.

I looked at Kaelen. His gray eyes were wide, his lips were parted slightly, and his hand was frozen on his weapon. He looked shocked, and he stared at me like he had never seen me before. But there was something else, like awe in his expression.

I had never seen him look at anyone like that.

The power was still flowing through me, warm and strong. It pulsed with every beat of my heart, and I could feel it pressing against my skin, begging to be released.

I did not know how to control it, and I did not know how to stop it. But I knew I could use it.

I turned back to Alpha Stone and looked into his eyes.

I spoke again. My voice was calm, but it held power that made the walls seem to tremble.

The power flowed through my voice, warm and strong and terrifying. It felt familiar, like something I had always carried but never known. I did not understand where it was coming from or what it was, but I did not fight it.

"Alpha Stone, you will accept the treaty, you will let us help you, and you will stop letting your anger destroy your pack."

Alpha Stone’s jaw trembled. I could see him trying to speak, trying to move, and trying to fight against the power that held him in place.

But he could not.

His eyes were wide with fear. Not of me, but of whatever was inside me.

I held his gaze, and I did not look away.

The power surged again, and I felt it push against my control. It wanted to speak, it wanted to command, and it wanted to bend everyone in this room to my will.

But I would not let it.

I had lived with people who constantly abused power, but I was not Vivienne, I was not Celeste, and I was not the kind of person who used power to hurt and control.

I took a deep breath, and I pushed the power back down. It did not go all the way, but it was enough to keep it from overwhelming me.

Alpha Stone was still frozen, with his eyes wide, and his chest barely moving. The guards were still frozen too, with their hands hovering over their weapons.

I knew that I had done this. I had silenced an entire room with my voice, and I did not know if I should be proud or terrified.

I took another deep breath and tried to calm down. The anger was still there, but it was fading, replaced by something I did not understand.

The power began to recede, flowing back down through my throat, my chest, into that deep place where it had been sleeping.

Suddenly, Alpha Stone slumped back in his throne, gasping for breath. His hands were shaking, and his face was pale.

The guards blinked and started looking around like they had just woken from a dream. And their hands dropped from their weapons.

Kaelen’s hand fell to his side, but he was still staring at me.

Alpha Stone looked up at me, and his eyes were no longer filled with rage. They were filled with something else I had not expected to see. Something like fear, confusion, and wonder.

"What... what was that?" he whispered.

I looked at him. His face was pale, and sweat dripped down his temples. His hands were still shaking, and his breath came in short, shallow gasps.

He looked afraid of me, but I did not want him to be afraid. I wanted him to listen, and I wanted him to understand that I was not his enemy.

"I am not here to hurt you," I said, trying to stay calm. "I am here to help."

He stared at me, and his jaw trembled. "What just happened?" he asked in the softest voice I had ever heard.

My heart was still pounding, and my hands were still shaking slightly. But my voice was steady.

"That was me not taking NO for an answer," I said.