CHAPTER 40
965 Words
(Dexton’s POV)
The night was colder than usual. The wind cut through the trees like whispers of a thousand ghosts—some from the past, some still haunting him now. I stood just beyond the border of the estate, gripping the letter from the Council so tightly that the edges had already crumpled under my fingers.
The words were simple, yet venomous.
“The time is now. Choose where you stand. Your Alpha is weak, blinded by lust. A true leader would take back what was his and restore order. If you do, we will back you.”
I read it again. And again. As if hoping the words would change. That somehow, I had misunderstood.
But no… they were clear. Blunt. Poison coated in promise.
I could barely breathe. My heart thundered in my chest, not with excitement, but with fury.
Lucian.
He was my father. My Alpha. The one I had admired, followed, and fought beside since I first shifted. The one who trained me raised me to lead.
And now?
Now he’d taken the one thing that had ever belonged to me.
Selene.
She was my mate.
Or at least… she was supposed to be.
The memories hit hard—how she looked at me, how she trusted me, how she loved me. And how I broke her. I rejected her because I was too much of a coward. Because the Council warned me she was weak, tainted. Because I cared too much about my damn image.
And now?
She looked at me like a stranger. Worse, like an enemy.
I threw the letter to the ground and kicked it into the underbrush.
“Damn it!” I roared into the night.
My wolf stirred restlessly, clawing beneath my skin. Not out of bloodlust—but from shame.
Did I still love her?
Gods, maybe.
But could I stand by and let her be claimed by him?
No. No, no, no.
She was mine.
At least… that’s what every cell in my body screamed.
But my soul?
My soul wasn’t sure anymore.
Because deep down, I knew I had lost her the moment I let her go.
And Lucian? He didn’t take her. She chose him.
That was the bitterest pill to swallow.
“Thinking about your future, son?”
A voice cut through the silence like a dagger.
I spun around, eyes blazing, only to see Councilman Rhys step out from the shadows. Dressed in his usual charcoal robes, hands clasped behind his back, face as cold as a winter storm.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped.
He smiled like a serpent. “Making sure you read your letter.”
I scoffed, turning my back. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“You’re angry. I understand. Your mate… stolen. By your own father, no less. The entire territory’s laughing at you, Dexton.”
“Shut up,” I growled.
But Rhys stepped closer. “They say you're weak. That you couldn’t keep a mate. That even your own blood thinks you’re unworthy.”
I turned to him slowly, my hands curled into fists.
“You think this will convince me to betray my Alpha?” I sneered. “My father?”
Rhys tilted his head. “You already have. In your heart, you’ve turned on him. And Selene? You still want her. We all know it.”
He paused, eyes narrowing. “But she will never look at you the same way again. Not unless you take back what is yours.”
I stayed silent.
The bastard could see the war raging inside me.
Rhys stepped even closer, his voice dropping. “The Council can help you. We’ll back your challenge. You defeat Lucian in ritual combat, the pack will have no choice but to name you Alpha.”
I barked a humorless laugh. “And if I die?”
He smirked. “You won’t. Not if you fight like you truly want to win.”
I stared at him, silent. Thoughts swirling like a cyclone.
Lucian had always been stronger than me. Faster. Sharper.
But lately… he wasn’t the same.
Ever since Selene came into his life, he had been distracted. Always watching over her. Always protecting her. As if she were made of glass. She had become his weakness.
And maybe…
Maybe that’s how I could win.
I turned away from Rhys and looked up at the moon. It was full and bright, like an eye watching my every move.
“I need time,” I muttered.
“You have until the blood moon,” Rhys said softly. “Then the Council will no longer wait. Either you stand with us… or be swept away like the rest.”
I returned to the estate in silence.
The guards at the gate stiffened but didn’t stop me. They still recognized me as their Alpha’s son. Not an enemy.
Not yet.
But the looks they gave me were uncertain.
Suspicious.
Harper spotted me first as I stepped into the foyer. She raised an eyebrow, clearly ready to ask what I was doing skulking outside in the middle of the night. But I ignored her and kept walking.
I passed the dining room—and froze.
Selene.
She sat at the long table, talking quietly to a servant, her hair falling in soft waves down her back. She looked so… calm. Content.
Like she belonged here.
In his house.
I clenched my jaw and moved past without a word. She didn’t even notice me.
Or maybe she did.
And simply didn’t care.
That night, sleep didn’t come.
I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, hearing Rhys’s words over and over.
“Take back what was yours.”
And maybe…
Just maybe…
It was time I did.
- Writer
