Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 217

Enzo's POV

The chamber doors slammed behind me, the echo ringing through the vast stone hall like a war drum announcing my arrival. My footsteps struck the marble floor in steady rhythm, a deliberate beat that made the elders flinch where they sat in their elevated seats. Their faces were masks of disapproval, eyes sharp, lips tight, all pretending that their supposed wisdom outweighed my rage.

I didn’t slow down until I reached the center of the circular floor, the seat of judgment where anyone daring to challenge me was meant to stand. I refused to bow my head to them. I stood tall, chest heaving, my eyes sweeping over their lined, pompous faces.

“You summoned me,” I spat, my voice low, dangerous. “So speak.”

Elder Samuel, the one who thought his age gave him superiority, leaned forward. His thin hands trembled on the armrest, though he tried to steady them. “Enzo, you’ve crossed a line. Your actions are reckless. We—”

“Reckless?” I cut him off with a snarl, slamming my palm against the stone table at the center. The sound cracked through the air, silencing murmurs. “Do you call protecting our kind reckless? Do you call fighting for survival reckless?”

Elder George, with his perpetually narrowed eyes, lifted his chin. “No one denies the need for strength, Enzo. But strength without discipline leads to destruction. You are blinded by anger, driven by impulses. That is not leadership—it is tyranny.”

Tyranny. The word slithered from his lips and coiled around me like a challenge. My fists clenched. I wanted to leap across the floor and show him exactly how tyrannical I could be. But I didn’t. Not yet. I let the silence hang heavy, suffocating them with my glare before I spoke again.

“You sit on your thrones, breathing the safety I carved with blood, and you dare lecture me about leadership?” My voice rose, vibrating with the fury clawing inside my chest. “I have faced enemies you wouldn’t dare look in the eye. I have buried brothers because of your hesitation. And you call me reckless?”

Elder Edgar raised a hand, his voice stern but wavering slightly. “Enough. This anger of yours proves the council’s concerns. You are too unstable to make decisions that affect us all. We need calculated moves, alliances built with care. Instead, you threaten war at every turn.”

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and sharp. “Alliances?” I stepped forward, pointing directly at him. “Tell me, Edgar, where have your alliances gotten us? Betrayal after betrayal. Our enemies grow bolder while you waste time whispering treaties that crumble at the first sign of blood.”

A ripple of murmurs spread through the chamber. Some of the lesser elders shifted uncomfortably, not meeting my gaze. They knew I spoke truth, but fear of defiance held their tongues.

I turned slowly, addressing them all. “I will not sit idle while danger claws at our gates. I will not hide behind parchment agreements and meaningless words. I will fight. And if you call that reckless, so be it.”

Elder Samuel banged his staff against the ground. “You will not threaten us, boy!”

“Boy?” I laughed again, but this time it was darker. “I have lived through more wars than your fragile bones could endure. Don’t mistake my youth for inexperience. I have killed kings while you argued over scrolls.”

“Your threats will not bend the council,” George said firmly.

I stalked closer to his seat, every step deliberate, the heat of my rage rolling off me. “Then perhaps I should bend you instead.” My eyes locked on his, daring him to move. “Do not test me, George. I will not hesitate.”

A guard shifted at the edge of the chamber, his hand twitching toward his weapon, but one look from me froze him in place.

Samuel tried again, his voice quivering with false authority. “If you continue down this path, Enzo, you risk tearing apart everything we’ve built. You risk leading us into ruin.”

“Ruins?” I roared, my voice echoing so fiercely that dust rained from the high ceiling. “We are already in ruins! You just refuse to see it. Every day, enemies tighten their grip while you cling to outdated customs. I will not let us be buried because you are too cowardly to act.”

The council erupted into overlapping protests, voices rising like a storm. Words like “arrogant,” “dangerous,” and “unfit” flew across the chamber. I stood in the center, their fury crashing against me, but none of it pierced my skin. I welcomed it. I thrived in it.

“Silence!” I bellowed finally, the command ripping from my throat like thunder. The chamber fell quiet instantly, their protests choking back in their throats. I looked each of them in the eye, holding their gaze until they squirmed.

“You think you can cage me with your words, your votes, your titles. But let me remind you—your power exists only because I allow it. Without me, this council is nothing more than a group of frightened old men hiding behind tradition.”

“You would dare undermine the council?” Edgar’s voice trembled with fury.

I leaned forward, my face inches from his. “I would burn this council to ash if it meant survival.”

His breath hitched, and for a moment, fear flickered in his eyes. I caught it. I savored it.

George slammed his hand against his armrest. “This is exactly why you cannot be trusted. You are a threat to order itself.”

I straightened, turning to face them all again. “Order means nothing if we are dead. I am the only thing standing between us and annihilation. You may hate my methods, but you will obey them. Or you will get out of my way.”

The silence that followed was thick, suffocating. None dared answer immediately. They exchanged nervous glances, whispers of uncertainty passing between them.

Finally, Samuel spoke, softer this time. “And if we refuse?”

I smiled, cold and sharp. “Then you won’t live long enough to regret it.”

The threat hung in the air, undeniable, undeniable as the rage coursing through me. The chamber seemed smaller now, their thrones lower, their power weaker. They could cloak themselves in age and tradition all they wanted, but I had stripped them bare with truth and fear.

I paced slowly, my boots echoing. “You can plot against me. You can conspire in your shadows. But remember this—every breath you take is because I permit it. Cross me, and I will rip it from your lungs.”

Their silence was answer enough.

I stopped in the center once more, lifting my chin, letting them see the fury blazing in my eyes. “This meeting is over. And you will remember my words.”

With that, I turned sharply, my cloak whipping behind me as I stormed toward the doors. The heavy wood groaned as I shoved them open, the sound reverberating through the chamber like a final warning.

I didn’t look back. I didn’t need to. Their fear was enough.

But deep inside, a darker fire whispered that fear alone would not hold them for long. And when the time came, I would make them kneel.