CHAPTER 5
1487 Words
The morning of Lucas's arrival, I woke with my heart racing. Ryan had tried to convince me to stay inside, to avoid the confrontation altogether, but I needed this. I needed to see Lucas one more time. To look him in the eyes and show him I was still standing.
The pack gathered in the challenge circle—a wide ring of packed earth where formal disputes were settled. Ryan stood in the center, calm and ready. His pack surrounded the circle, wolves who'd come to respect me in just three days. Claire stood beside me, a steady presence.
"He's almost here," she murmured.
I smelled them before I saw them. Multiple vehicles. Lucas hadn't come alone—he'd brought warriors. A show of force. Ryan had maybe thirty wolves total. Lucas brought fifty.
Then I saw him.
Lucas stepped out of the lead SUV, and my traitorous heart skipped. He was still beautiful in that cold, perfect way. His black hair was shorter now, his gray eyes harder. Sophia emerged after him, clinging to his arm, but something was different. She looked tired. Thinner. The confident smile she'd worn at the ceremony was gone.
Lucas scanned the crowd and found me immediately. He went completely still. His eyes widened, then narrowed. I saw his lips form my name, though no sound came out.
"Emma?" Sophia followed his gaze. When she saw me, her face went pale. "What is she doing here?"
"Quiet," Lucas snapped at her. Actually snapped. The chosen bond was definitely cracking.
Ryan stepped forward. "Alpha Lucas. You've come to challenge me for my territory?"
But Lucas wasn't looking at Ryan. He was staring at me like I was a ghost. Maybe to him, I was. The omega he'd thrown away, assumed would disappear into nothing.
"You're alive," he said.
"No thanks to you." The words came out stronger than I felt.
He took a step toward me, but Ryan moved between us. "You're here to challenge me. Leave her alone."
Lucas's eyes flashed. "You dare tell me what to do with—" He stopped, but we all heard what he almost said. 'My mate.'
"Your rejected omega?" Ryan's voice was deadly quiet. "The one you humiliated? Broke? Nearly killed? Yes, I dare."
"You don't understand," Lucas said, but his voice had lost its edge.
"I understand perfectly. You chose power over love. Status over your mate. And now you want my territory too." Ryan smiled, but it was all teeth. "Challenge accepted."
The rules were simple. Alpha to Alpha. No weapons. Fight until submission or death. The winner took everything—territory, pack, everything.
They circled each other, two predators sizing up prey. Lucas struck first, fast and vicious. But Ryan was ready. He dodged, countered, landed a blow that made Lucas stumble.
They fought in human form first, trading blows that would kill normal humans. Lucas was stronger, but Ryan was smarter. He used Lucas's strength against him, letting him overextend, then striking weak points.
But Lucas started winning. His youth, his power, it was too much. Ryan went down hard, blood streaming from his nose.
"Submit," Lucas commanded.
"No."
Lucas kicked him in the ribs. I heard something c***k. "Submit!"
"No."
This time Lucas shifted partially, claws extending. He raised his hand for a killing blow—
"Stop!" I didn't remember moving, but suddenly I was in the circle, standing between them. "Stop, please."
"Emma, get back," Ryan wheezed.
But I was looking at Lucas. His hand was still raised, claws gleaming, but his eyes... his eyes were full of something I'd never seen before. Pain. Regret. Longing.
"Move," he said, but his voice shook.
"No. You want to kill him? You'll have to go through me first." I spread my arms. "But then, you're good at hurting me, aren't you?"
He flinched like I'd slapped him. "I never meant—"
"You rejected me. In front of everyone. Said I was weak. Worthless. Not good enough." Each word made him pale further. "Was I really that repulsive to you?"
"No!" The word tore from him. "You were—are—"
"Lucas!" Sophia's sharp voice cut through. "Finish this! Kill him and take the territory!"
But Lucas was lowering his hand, staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time. "Your wolf. She's stronger."
She was. Being with Mountain Ridge, being with Ryan, had helped her heal. Not completely, but enough.
"No thanks to you," I repeated.
"I'm sorry." The words fell between us like stones in still water. "Emma, I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was stupid and proud and—"
"Lucas!" Sophia grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"
He shook her off, violent enough that she stumbled. "Shut up! This is your fault!"
"My fault?" Her voice went shrill. "You chose me!"
"You manipulated me! The herbs, the potions—I know about them, Sophia. I've known for weeks." He turned back to me. "She used wolfsbane mixtures. Confused my wolf. Made me think—" He stopped, running his hands through his hair. "It doesn't matter. I still chose. I still said those words."
My world tilted. "She drugged you?"
"Influenced," Sophia corrected, chin high. "I just helped him see clearly. An omega could never be Luna of Silver Creek. I was doing the pack a favor."
Ryan had gotten to his feet, holding his ribs. Claire and others had entered the circle, surrounding Sophia.
"That's illegal," Claire said. "Using substances to interfere with mate bonds—"
"Prove it," Sophia smirked.
"I kept the vials," Lucas said quietly. "Evidence. I was going to banish her after this challenge."
"After you got more territory," Ryan observed. "How noble."
Lucas looked at him, then at me, then at the ground. "I withdraw my challenge."
Gasps rippled through both packs. An Alpha withdrawing from a challenge they were winning was unheard of.
"Lucas, no!" Sophia lunged for him, but his warriors held her back. "You promised! You said we'd be the strongest pack!"
"I promised a lot of things," Lucas said, still looking at me. "I broke the important ones."
He turned to his pack. "We're leaving. Sophia Martinez is hereby banished from Silver Creek Pack for crimes against the mate bond."
"You can't!" she screamed. "I'm your Luna!"
"No. You're nothing to me." He looked at her with the same cold eyes he'd used on me. "You never were."
His wolves dragged her away, still screaming. Lucas stood there for a moment longer, just looking at me.
"I know it doesn't mean anything now," he said. "But I loved you the moment I saw you. My wolf went crazy. You were perfect. But I was so scared of being weak, of having a weak Luna, that I let Sophia convince me... I let her poison my mind. Literally and figuratively."
"It doesn't matter now," I said.
"No, it doesn't." He smiled, sad and broken. "Be happy, Emma. You deserve it."
He shifted into his massive black wolf and ran. His pack followed, leaving silence behind.
Ryan's hand found mine. "You okay?"
"I don't know." It was honest. Learning that Sophia had influenced Lucas changed things. But it didn't erase the pain. The humiliation. The months of dying slowly.
"You were brave," Ryan said. "Standing between us."
"You were willing to die rather than submit to him."
"I was willing to die rather than let him anywhere near you again."
I looked at him—really looked. His face was swollen, ribs definitely broken, but his eyes were soft. Warm. Full of something that made my healing heart skip.
"Why?" I whispered.
"You know why."
I did. The same reason he drove six hours every week. The same reason he offered me sanctuary. The same reason my wolf, broken as she was, trusted him completely.
"I'm not ready," I said. "My wolf, my heart—I'm still healing."
"I know." He squeezed my hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere."
That night, the pack celebrated. Not the violence, but the victory. Lucas was gone. The threat had passed. And somehow, in standing up to my former mate, I'd found my strength again.
"You could have had him back," Claire observed, sitting beside me at the bonfire. "He would have taken you back."
"I know."
"But you don't want him."
I looked across the fire at Ryan, laughing with his Beta despite his injuries. He caught me looking and smiled, that warm smile that made me feel safe.
"No," I said. "I don't."
The Moon Goddess might have chosen Lucas as my mate. But I was choosing something different. Something better.
I was choosing to heal. To be strong. To find love that wasn't fated but chosen, worked for, earned.
I was choosing Ryan.
Not today. Not tomorrow. But someday, when my wolf was strong again, when my heart was whole again.
Someday soon.
- Writer
