Chapter 5
1300 Words
Steven
My wolf howled inside my chest.
I shot to my feet so violently that my chair crashed backward against the stone floor with a deafening bang. The sound echoed through the room, but I barely heard it.
My hands curled into tight fists until my nails bit into my palms. Pain grounded me for only a fraction of a second before another wave of fury swept through me.
She hadn't saved him.
She could have... but she hadn't.
And she was going to marry me anyway.
The Alpha's heir.
The future Alpha.
The man who would inherit everything.
The realization settled inside me like poison spreading through my veins.
Everything clicked into place then, and the picture it formed was ugly and treacherous.
Rage built inside me, replacing confusion with a certainty that felt both devastating and righteous.
How convenient for her. How perfectly positioned she was to gain everything, power, position, influence by becoming my mate and future Luna.
Of course, If she became my mate, she wouldn't just become my wife. She would become Luna.
She would have influence over every member of the pack. Power beyond anything someone her age could have dreamed of. Wealth. Respect. Authority.
Everything.
My wolf snarled violently inside my mind.
No. Something is wrong. She isn't like this.
I clenched my jaw until it hurt.
"You don't know her," I muttered under my breath.
She's our mate.
"Our mate?" I laughed bitterly. "Or a liar who fooled both of us?"
My wolf fell silent, but I could still feel his unease.
He didn't believe what I believed. He wanted to defend her. He wanted to believe that the girl whose scent calmed us, whose presence made something deep inside us ache with longing, couldn't possibly be capable of something so monstrous.
I needed answers from her.
I stormed out of the room, following the scent of her into the shadows of the corridors. My wolf was alive now, burning with something that felt like betrayal and something darker I couldn't name. Every muscle in my body was coiled and ready to strike.
My wolf warned me against my judgement. But I chose to ignore him. He just wanted her to be an innocent girl with whom he could complete his mated bond.
My heartbeat thundered louder than the last.
My father's face flashed before my eyes.
His smile.
His laugh.
The way he'd rested a hand on my shoulder only days ago.
"Marry her, Steven."
The memory twisted into something ugly.
Marry the woman who had left him to die?
No.
Never.
I burst through the door without knocking. Voices drifted from the study, Amber’s soft, melodic tone and Marcus’s gruff one. I froze just outside, hidden in the shadows, my heart pounding.
That's when I heard it.
“...I could’ve tried harder to save him, Uncle,” Amber was saying, her voice laced with sorrow. “The wound was too deep, the poison too strong.” Her voice trembled.
Beta Marcus sighed. “I know, child. But now... with Alpha’s wish, you have to step up. Marry Steven, take the position beside him. The power that comes with it. It's your duty now. The pack needs stability.” His voice carried exhaustion.
She nodded her head and looked at him. I couldn't see her expression from where I stood, only the slight movement of her shoulders.
Position and power? The words exploded in my mind like a grenade. She couldn’t save him? Or wouldn’t? And now she was talking about claiming the power for herself?
His hand reached out to comfort her. But then his voice changed, became more tactical. "But this marriage is not a loss. In fact, it may be the greatest opportunity our bloodline has ever received. With you as Luna beside the new Alpha, we secure the pack's leadership. The power and position that will come with this union—"
She said softly. "Uncle, I just want—"
But I didn't hear the rest.
Rage boiled up, hot and blinding, my vision tunneling. My wolf howled in betrayal, but beneath it, a sharper pain stabbed..disappointment? Hurt? No, I wouldn’t let it be that.
I shoved the door open so hard it slammed against the wall.
Amber froze. The color drained instantly from her face.
Beta Marcus's eyes widened.
I stepped inside, my face a mask of fury.
“You manipulative b***h,” I growled, my voice low and lethal. “You let him die so you could claw your way to power? Is that it?”
Her eyes widened in horror, her hand flying to her mouth, face paling like she’d seen a ghost. Beta Marcus shot to his feet, shock etching his features.
“Steven, no—you misunderstand—”
I didn't hear it because something inside me had already shattered into a million pieces, and each fragment was cutting me from the inside out.
What I heard was confirmation of every poisonous doubt that had been planted in my mind.
She wanted power. She wanted the position. She was calculating, manipulative, and she'd sacrificed my dad, the only family I had to secure her own future.
And I was the means to that end.
Her face went pale. "Please—"
"Don't." The single word came out like a blade, sharp and cold. I looked at her, really looked at her and I made a decision in that moment that would poison everything between us. I looked at the woman my wolf recognized as his mate, the woman my dad wanted me to marry, and I decided to hate her.
Marcus immediately stepped between us.
"Steven.” His voice was firm. "Calm yourself."
I laughed but the sound held no humor.
"Calm?"
I pointed toward Amber. "She admitted it."
Marcus frowned and said, "You misunderstood."
"I heard everything.” I declared and looked at Amber.
"You'll marry me," I said, and my voice was hollow, devoid of any emotion except carefully controlled rage. "You'll take the position. You'll stand beside me as Luna. But know this, Amber…I see exactly what you are. I see through the innocent act, through the tears, through the performance. You let my dad die so you could climb higher."
"That's not—" Beta Marcus stepped forward, but I cut him off with a look that made him falter.
She was shaking. Her eyes were wide with terror, and there was something in them, a plea, a desperation to be understood, but I refused to see it. I had to face the terrifying reality that my mate was the scheming, cold-blooded female.
Tears already shimmered in her eyes.
I stepped closer.
"So listen carefully." I said, my voice was cold and icy. "I see exactly what you are."
She flinched.
I continued, "I see through your tears."
Another tear slid down her cheek.
"I see through every innocent smile."
She whispered, "Please stop..."
"I see through every performance.”
“I’m not lying..,” she uttered.
"Enjoy your victory," I said, turning away. "But understand that everything you gain through this marriage will be built on blood. My father's blood."
"Steven, please!" Her voice broke as she called after me, and that sound, that desperate, anguished sound felt like the cruelest punishment for my wolf too. "You don't understand. Please, just listen—"
‘Listen to her!’ my wolf suggested.
"I said no!”
I didn't listen. I couldn't. Because listening would require patience, and all I had in that moment was anger, rage, and a desperate need to protect myself from the vulnerability she made me feel.
I only knew that I hated her.
And I would do everything in my power to make her regret the day she was born as my mate.
- Writer
