My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 76

Sera

Yvara marched me forward. Fenris fell into step right behind us. His presence was a massive, looming shadow at my back.

We walked out of the warm, humid garden and back into the freezing stone corridors of the fortress. We moved fast. Nobody spoke.

We reached a set of heavy wooden double doors on the second level. Two guards stood outside. They took one look at Fenris's murderous expression and immediately stepped aside, pulling the heavy iron rings and throwing the doors wide open.

Fenris walked into the room. Yvara and I followed right behind him.

The council chamber was a circular room with a large, round wooden table in the center. Five older men sat around it.

The shock on their faces was immediate and absolute. Conversations stopped dead. Chief Vane dropped his iron cup. It hit the wood with a loud clatter. They had not invited the Alpha.

Fenris smiled. It was a terrifying, cold baring of his teeth.

"Why is a council meeting holding without my presence?" Fenris asked. His voice was dangerously quiet.

I looked at the table. Kael was sitting in the high-backed wooden chair at the exact head of the room. The Alpha's seat.

Fenris didn't pause. He walked straight toward Kael.

The other elders looked at each other, panic flashing in their eyes. Then, their faces soured completely as they noticed me standing behind Fenris.

"What is the Southern Princess doing here?" Kael demanded, standing up quickly from the chair. His face turned a splotchy, angry red. "She is not supposed to be in this chamber."

"Neither was I," Fenris responded sharply. He stopped two feet away from Kael. "But here I am."

Fenris reached out, grabbed the heavy wooden chair to the right of the head seat, and pulled it back. He looked at me and pointed at the leather cushion.

I swallowed hard. I walked forward and sat down. My hands were shaking. I pressed them flat against my thighs to hide the tremor. This was entirely different from standing trial for punching Taya. Right now, I was actually sitting directly in the middle of their secret council.

Kael immediately vacated the head seat. He realized the optics of sitting there while the Alpha stood over him. He stepped to the side, his eyes boiling with hatred as he glared down at me. He walked around the table and took an empty stool on the far side.

The effrontery for him to actually take the head seat in the first place was staggering. He was openly trying to lead a coup.

Fenris sat down in the Alpha's chair. He leaned back, spreading his broad shoulders, completely dominating the space.

"She has no place here, Alpha," Chief Vane spoke up. His scarred face was tight with disapproval. He pointed a thick finger at me. "Having a southern outsider sit in our council is a direct slap to our faces. We discuss Ironmaw blood here."

"And holding a closed meeting without informing your Alpha is treason," Fenris shot back instantly. He leaned his forearms on the table. He smiled at them again. "Are you plotting against me, Vane?"

The denial was instantaneous and chaotic.

"No, Alpha."

"We were merely discussing the hunting yields."

"Never, Alpha."

Kael shook his head rapidly. "It was just a preliminary discussion, Fenris. Nothing official."

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