The wife he gave away

Untitled EpisodeChapter22

A decision already made

“I just came from seeing the Alpha.”

Dominic’s voice was the first thing I heard when he entered the room, and something about the way he said it made my chest tighten before he even finished speaking. He didn’t look at me properly at first. His focus was elsewhere, like he was still trying to process whatever conversation he had just walked out of.

When he finally stepped fully inside, he closed the door more slowly than usual, and that alone told me this was not going to be a normal message.

“He said I’m going with Valeria to settle the border duspute,” he added.

For a moment, I didn’t respond. The words didn’t immediately settle in the right place inside my mind. They hovered there, suspended, as if my thoughts were refusing to accept them. Then they did settle, and when they did, I felt something tighten sharply in my chest.

“With Valeria?” I repeated slowly.

Dominic nodded once. Not firmly. Not confidently. Just once, like he wanted the sentence to end quickly so he wouldn’t have to explain it further.

I stood up immediately. “No.”

The word came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t soften it. “That doesn’t make sense. There are other escorts. Other warriors. Why would you be the one sent with her?”

He ran a hand over the back of his neck, avoiding my eyes. “It’s an order.”

“That is not an answer,” I replied quickly. “That is avoidance dressed as obedience.”

He didn’t respond. And that silence told me everything I needed to know.

“You can't go with her,” I said firmly, surprising myself.

He looked at me like I had said something abominable.

“Go fetch my food before I lose my appetite,” he said and walked away.

I didn’t wait anymore. I left the room immediately, moving faster than I should have, my thoughts already beginning to fracture into something I couldn’t fully organize. By the time I reached the Alpha’s chamber, I didn’t pause to be announced. I pushed past the guard and entered.

Alaric was inside, standing near the map table like he had already expected me.

When he saw me, his expression didn’t change. “You’ve already heard,” he said.

“Yes,” I replied, my voice tight. “And I am here to tell you that it is a mistake.”

He tilted his head slightly. “A mistake?.”

“Yes,” I said again, firmer now. “Sending Dominic with Valeria is a mistake. You know what is happening between them. You know they cannot be placed together without consequences.”

At that, something subtle shifted in his gaze. It was not surprise. Not irritation. It was something more controlled, like he was measuring the structure of my concern rather than reacting to it.

“I am asking you not to do this,” I added quickly. “Assign someone else. Anyone else. But not them together.”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he walked slowly toward the table and placed one hand on the edge, as though grounding himself in the silence before speaking. When he finally did, his tone was steady.

“This is not a discussion,” he said.

My fingers tightened slightly at my sides. “It becomes one when it affects the pack.”

His eyes met mine fully now. “And who are you to decide for me? Do you realize that your life can be taken away with just one word I say? Do you?!”

I could feel his wolf rising. And that scared me so much. I quickly knelt down and said the words… “Forgive me, Alpha. I lost my mind.”

“You think I don’t understand what affects my pack?”

The question was quiet, but it carried weight that pressed against the room.

I hesitated for a fraction of a second, then forced myself forward anyway. “Then you should understand why this is dangerous.”

I don't know where I found the courage again. For a brief moment, silence stretched between us again. Not empty silence. Controlled silence. The kind that already knows what will be decided.

Then he spoke… “They will go together,” he said simply.

My breath caught slightly. “Alaric—”

“No,” he cut in, not raising his voice, but ending the conversation cleanly.

I tried again. “Valeria is not stable. And Dominic—”

He lifted a hand slightly, stopping me without effort. “I am aware of exactly who I am sending.”

That sentence made something inside me go still… because it meant he was not unaware. He was not uncertain. It was deliberate.

I lowered my voice slightly. “Then why?”

For a moment, he said nothing. His gaze shifted briefly toward the maps again, as if the answer already existed there.

Then I turned at the sound of movement in the corridor.

Valeria.

She stepped into the chamber without urgency, as if she already belonged in the space between authority and interruption. Her eyes moved first to Alaric, then briefly to me, and in that brief glance, I felt something sharp and deliberate pass between us.

“I heard there was an issue with the assignment,” she said lightly, her voice carrying a calm that didn’t match the situation.

Alaric didn’t react immediately. “You were not called here.”

“I didn’t need to be called,” she replied softly, almost politely. “I heard enough.”

My jaw tightened. “This is not your place.”

She turned her attention to me slowly, as though considering my existence rather than acknowledging it.

“I believe it is,” she said, smiling faintly.

The smile didn’t reach her eyes. It never did.

“You are speaking about my escort,” she continued gently. “And my safety during an Alpha-issued assignment.”

Dominic shifted behind her words, entering the chamber behind her, and I saw the way his presence immediately changed the air. He didn’t speak at first, but his silence beside her was louder than anything he could have said.

Valeria stepped slightly closer to me, lowering her voice just enough to make it feel personal.

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “I will make sure your Dominic is well taken care of. Alpha Alaric never make mistakes.”

The words were polite, almost kind. But they carried something underneath them that made my skin tighten.

Dominic looked at her immediately, tense. “Valeria—”

She didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes on me for one final second longer than necessary, then turned away as if the conversation had already ended in her favor.

Without another word, she left the chamber. Dominic followed after her a moment later, hesitating in every step he took.

And I was left standing there still, breathing too slowly and trying to understand why a simple assignment suddenly felt like something larger than it should have been.

I turned back to Alaric. He hadn’t moved. Hadn’t intervened. Hadn’t even looked surprised.

“They will go together,” he said again when I didn’t speak.

My voice came out lower now. “Why are you doing this?”

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he stepped away from the table, slow and controlled, as if the answer had already been decided long before I asked.

“Because it is necessary,” he said.

“That is not a reason,” I replied quietly.

“It is the only one you need,” he answered.

I opened my mouth again, but he continued before I could speak.

“They must think I am a fool,” he said calmly. “I just want them to give me enough reason to remind them that I am Alpha Alaric, the greatest there is, and the greatest there ever will be.”

Then he walked away.

And this time, there was nothing left to say.