Chase POV
The council could go fuck themselves. I was done playing their games, done bowing to their endless rules and expectations. They'd already stripped so much from me, forced me into a role that I never truly wanted. But not this. Not now.
Leila sat beside me, her hand resting lightly on Ash's leg as he dozed against her. She was trying so hard to look calm, but I could see the tension in her posture, the way her fingers twitched whenever she thought I wasn't looking. She didn't trust this. She didn't trust me. And hell, I couldn't blame her.
But I'd be damned if I let the council—or anyone else—take this moment from me.
As the car sped through the dark roads, I clenched my fists, my mind already spinning with the possibilities. If they tried to stop us, if they so much as looked at Leila or Ash the wrong way, they'd regret it. I didn't care what laws or traditions they wanted to throw in my face. My family came first.
