"Until you understand that fighting the Alpha King will be catastrophic."
Lucas stepped forward but Dennis raised a hand gently, then asked calmly, "Do you have a mate, Councilman Eryx?"
Eryx blinked. That wasn't the question he was expecting. He shifted slightly and nodded. "I do."
Dennis tilted his head. "And if she were taken? If she were locked in the North right now, under that psycho's rule, what would you do?"
The older man hesitated. There was a softening behind his eyes, just a flicker. "I would move the heavens and the earth to get her back," he admitted.
Lucas stopped pacing. "Exactly."
"But," Eryx continued, eyes now hardening again, "you must also understand something. This council was forged for moments like this—for chaos, for crisis. We do not act based on love. We act for the greater good. We act for everyone."
Dennis stood. "And that's the problem. You think love and strategy are opposites. They're not. They're what makes a good Alpha."
