To ruin an Omega-Chapter 187: On Neutral Ground

Chapter 187: On Neutral Ground
FIA
For a moment, it looked like the meeting was ending.
Elder Matthias gathered his papers with slow, deliberate movements. Marcus shifted in his chair like he was already halfway out of the room. Elder Vera’s attention softened, her gaze drifting, the way people did when a matter had been decided and filed away in their minds.
Cian spoke before anyone could stand.
"Give us time to prepare," he said.
It was not a command. Not quite. It landed more like a careful request, measured and controlled, though I knew the restraint it took for him to phrase it that way. "A few hours. My mate has been through enough already. I need to be there."
Elder Matthias paused. His fingers stilled on the edge of the table. He did not sit back down.
"That will not be possible," he said.
Cian turned his head toward him, slow and precise. "The hearing is scheduled in a few hours. That is time."
"It is not about time," Elder Vera said.
Her voice slid into the space between them, smooth but stripped of warmth.
"It is about presence."
The word settled heavy in the room, like it carried more weight than it should have.
Cian’s eyes sharpened. "Explain."
"There are concerns," Matthias said, choosing each word like it might cut him if he moved too fast, "that extended proximity between you and the council may complicate matters."
"Complicate," Cian repeated.
"In matters of judgment," Elder Vera continued, "power has weight. And your presence carries considerable influence. You are Alpha of Skollrend."
I felt Cian go still beside me. Not rigid. Not tense. It was something quieter than that. Something held back so tightly it bordered on dangerous.
"You are saying," he said slowly, "that my existence is inconvenient to your sense of fairness."
"We are saying," Matthias replied, "that justice must not be swayed by strength, authority, or fear. Especially not in a world like ours."
The meaning was clear enough.
Too much power warped outcomes, even when it was well intentioned. Especially when it was well intentioned.
Cian’s hand closed around mine, firm and grounding, like he was anchoring me to the present.
"Then my mate will remain here," he said.
The room stilled.
Not sharply. Not all at once. Just enough that every movement stopped halfway through happening.
"She will not be rushed," Cian continued. "She will not be isolated. And she will not be paraded to reassure a council afraid of its own resolve. You have enough evidence already. That audio recording alone should be sufficient."
Elder Vera’s gaze flicked to me. Not unkind. Not sympathetic either. Measuring, like she was calculating how much of me was person and how much was liability.
I could not speak yet. Not while Cian’s presence rolled off him in steady waves, possessive without being loud, protective without apology.
"That is not enough," Matthias said. "There will be another hearing in a few hours. One that requires her presence."
I lifted my chin. "Another?"
"Yes, Luna," he said. "Another."
"And why the urgency," Cian asked, his voice cooler now, stripped of warmth, "if not fear that time might restore balance instead of disrupting it."
Matthias hesitated.
"Justice," Elder Vera said, clipped and deliberate, "can only prevail when evidence remains uncompromised."
Silence pressed in from all sides.
I felt it in my chest, the way my breathing narrowed without me meaning it to, the way every gaze in the room stayed trained on me without quite daring to linger. They were waiting.
Not for Cian.
For me.
I turned my head slightly toward him. His jaw was set, his posture unyielding, like the ground beneath my feet had decided it would rather break than shift.
"I will go," I said.
The words were quiet, but they cut anyway.
Cian turned to me immediately. "No."
"This is not a demand," I said. "It is my choice."
"You are not obligated to meet their fear halfway," he said. "They can wait. They can sit with it."
"They will not," I replied. "These are the same people who judged quickly when Hazel framed me. Time will not soften them. It will only harden them further."
"You should not care what they believe," Cian said, and he was right.
He was painfully right.
But there was something else at play here, something older and sharper. I had something to prove, not to them, but to the story they thought they already understood. This was retribution long delayed. If my face had to be the one Hazel fixated on while the hammer finally came down, then so be it.
I faced the emissaries again.
"You want my presence because you believe time changes outcomes," I said. "It does. Just not in the way you think."
Cian’s fingers tightened around mine. "Fia."
"If I stay," I continued, "you will say I am being shielded. If I delay, you will say I am avoiding scrutiny and must have something to hide myself. And if I arrive flanked by my mate’s authority, you will question whether my words carry my own weight at all."
I let the silence stretch after that.
"I will go," I said again. "On my terms."
Elder Vera’s expression did not change. But her eyes sharpened, just a fraction, like something had clicked into place.
"I will go," I continued. "Because I will not have my testimony reduced to a question of proximity."
Cian shook his head once. It was a small movement, restrained, but it carried everything he did not say. "You do not have to do this alone."
"I am not," I said quietly. "I am choosing it."
He studied my face longer this time. Not looking for resolve. He already knew I had that. He was searching for something else, for any sign that this would cost me more than I was ready to pay. For fear. For doubt. For harm waiting just under the surface.
Whatever he found made his grip loosen, just slightly.
"This is not over," he said.
"No," I agreed. "It is not."
"I am not fine with this."
I reached up, cupped his face, and smiled at him anyway. "I know."
Elder Matthias inclined his head. "Then we should proceed."
"There are conditions," Cian said. His voice did not rise, but it carried. "I have conditions."
All of them turned toward him at once.
"My mate will not be escorted by sentiment," he said evenly. "Nor by intimidation. If you insist on separating her from me, then it will be done by protocol alone."
"That is understood," Matthias replied without hesitation.
"She will not be accompanied by your high pack authority," Cian continued. "Nor by family."
"No one here is direct blood." Matthias inputted.
"Extended then." He quickly quipped. "She will be driven in one of our own cars and of course a sentinel capable of protection from your end is demanded. One from my pack will be given as well."
Elder Vera nodded once. "Neutral escorts," she said. "As procedure dictates."
Cian’s gaze cut to her. "Truly neutral."
"Yes," she replied. "Someone answerable to the council and another answerable to you."
I felt the shift then. Subtle, deliberate, like a door closing softly somewhere behind me.
Cian exhaled slowly through his nose. "Very well."
It was not surrender. It was a concession, given with teeth still bared beneath the calm.
"I will escort her."
Baruch’s voice entered the space without force. Calm. Unassuming. Certain.
The words settled rather than struck.
Matthias glanced toward Vera. Vera did not object.
The other sentinel whose name I remembered to be Marcus only watched, his expression giving nothing away.
Cian’s eyes finally moved to Baruch. Measuring. Assessing. Weighing the balance of risk and control.
"You," Cian said.
"Yes," Baruch replied.
"I see."
There was no challenge in it. No triumph either. Cian was mostly apathetic. At face value at least. The mate bond that flared between us told a different story however.
"I will accompany her to the council chambers alongside whoever is charged with me," Baruch continued. "Ensure procedure is followed. Ensure neutrality is maintained."
Silence stretched around us, thick but not hostile.
Then Matthias nodded. "That will suffice."
Cian turned back to me. His hand lifted, brushing over my knuckles once, deliberate and grounding, like he was imprinting himself there so I would not forget where I belonged when the doors closed behind me.
"I will be waiting," he said.
"I know," I replied. I looked past him, back to the council. Then back at him again "And I want Garrett assigned as the pack sentinel from Skollrend that escorts me."
The request landed cleanly.
"Garrett?" Cian mused. "Is there a reason why you chose him?"
"Because I trust him." I said.
And I did.
Baruch stepped aside then, already positioning himself for departure, professional and composed, as if this were any other assignment. But this was an avid opportunity for us to talk.