Unmated by Fate

CHAPTER 3. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

The silence that followed the howl was unnatural. It pressed down on us like thick fog, curling in the corners of the room and tightening in my chest.

Then, without warning, the pack, those brutal, blood-soaked killers, burst into laughter.

Not mocking.

But happy.

Boisterous and echoing, like thunder rolling off canyon walls.

I didn’t move. I didn’t trust it.

The gang leader, a towering, terrifying figure, stepped forward. His bloodstained cloak swayed as he bowed low.

“I am Sameer,” he said, his voice booming and clear. “Second-in-command of the Giant Claws.”

My grip tightened on my blade.

“You killed Gat,” Sameer said, rising slowly. “Our Alpha. In combat. Though not in the pit.” He spread his arms wide. “And by the laws of our kind… that makes you the Alpha now.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

“What?” I whispered, sharp and low.

Sameer smiled, not cruelly, but reverently. “You took his head with fire in your eyes and steel in your grip. None have done that in years. You own our loyalty now.”

The others… bowed.

Every last blood-marked killer in the room lowered their heads and dropped to one knee.

My breath caught in my throat.

It was absurd.

It had to be a trick.

I stepped forward, drawing my blade in a swift, silent arc and pressing it against Sameer’s thick neck. “If this is a joke,” I growled, “you’ll be laughing with a smile slit from ear to ear.”

But he didn’t flinch.

“Try it,” he said softly. “If I die by your blade, I die proud. But you’ll see… they’re already yours.”

The room spun for a moment. A memory of the pit. He was a strong being, but there was something Marcus had put in me that made me as fast as the wind. I had done the impossible.

I am their Alpha now. And a female. Other Alphas would not like it.

Behind me, a chair scraped back violently.

I turned.

Marcus stood. His eyes burned with betrayal, rage and hurt.

“What is all this nonsense about? You are no Alpha!”

“Marcus—”

But he was already moving, storming toward the door.

“This?” he said, gesturing wildly to the bowing wolves. “This is how it starts. The war. The blood. And you… right in the centre.”

He shoved the door open, disappearing into the night.

I stood frozen, my blade still at Sameer’s throat, my crown unclaimed, my heart torn.

And in the silence, the pack still knelt, waiting for their new Alpha to speak.

“Was this a mistake?” I asked no one in particular.

“Nope,” Sameer said softly. “Nobody has ever defeated Gat in a one-on-one battle, and no one can until you.”

“So his death brought this drama?” I asked.

Sameer sniffed, “Well, someone does not like your rise.”

It was like the pack was happy to have me as their female Alpha. They were delighted to break the rules of the Outlands.

After all, like we say in Outlands, “There are no rules that keep us in bondage, no rules.”

They left after I accepted their emblem.

I looked at Luke, “I think it’s time you left.”

He smiled. “The Capital will be glad to have someone like you.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said.

Luke came straight to me. I stood to meet him. My hand was firmly on my blade.

“Alpha Alicia,” he whispered.

“Luke,” I replied.

There were no other words. We were so close that we breathed each other’s air.

The fire in the room had long since burned low, but when Luke stepped toward me, it was as if something reignited.

I didn’t know if he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t need to.

His kiss found me like a storm meeting the sea. I tried to resist, tried to remember the chaos we had just survived, but passion surged louder than reason.

I couldn’t even believe myself.

I yielded.

He lifted me as though I weighed nothing, setting me gently into the worn leather of the chair, and the world narrowed to just his breath on my skin.

He kissed all over my upper body.

“L.. .l .. lu … lu.” I moaned.

“I like the name Lu,” he whispered.‘

Each kiss was a delicate prayer, a promise.

His lips trailed a slow reverence over the contours of my body, worshipping battle-worn skin like it was holy.

“Hmm,’ I sighed as his tongue finally landed on one of my n*****s.

When his hands touched my thighs, I felt the trembling ache of surrender, not of fear, but of want.

His mouth moved lower, and my breath caught.

Not from surprise, no. From the unbearable tenderness in his touch, the devotion in his gaze.

It was not just lust alone, it was awe.

It was as if he had found something sacred in the wreckage of this war-torn world.

And at that moment, I wasn’t a warrior.

I wasn’t an Alpha.

I was a woman, desired, cherished, and undone.

I stopped moving.

Breathless. Heart pounding. My hands rested against his chest, and I sat there, still, straddling him, the tension between us hanging like smoke in the air.

His eyes were locked on mine, it was dark, steady, and searching.

“What is this really, Luke?” I asked, my voice quiet, but edged with steel. “What do you want from me?”

He blinked once, then spoke with unexpected softness. “I came for alliances,” he said honestly. “That was the plan.”

His hands moved gently along my waist. “But it seems… I’m getting something more than I planned for.”

I scoffed, a breath of amusement escaping my lips. “Love?” I echoed, shaking my head. “That’s dangerous talk in a place like this.”

“But you feel it too,” he said, and I hated that he wasn’t wrong.

I sat straighter, narrowing my gaze. “I’m not who I was before, Luke. I’m not your leverage. Not your rebellion. I’m an Alpha now.”

He smiled, it was slow and sharp. “And I’m Lucious’s son.”

The weight of that name settled between us like an unsheathed blade.

He leaned in closer, his voice low and laced with command. “The Lion Alpha. The King of all Alphas.”

I raised my chin, not yielding an inch. “And what? You think that makes you greater than me?”

“No,” he whispered. “I think it makes us equals. Fire and storm. But even storms need grounding.” He looked at me, deeply, deliberately. “You’re a woman, Alicia. Powerful, feared… but even you need someone who sees you beyond the fangs.”

His words cut deep. Not because they were wrong, but because they might be right.

And before I could speak again, his hand rose, fingers brushing gently across my jaw as he pulled me back down into him, this time it was like fire colliding with fire.

We started where we stopped, and I was about to pull off all my clothes.

The door slammed open with a crash that shook the walls.

“Get away from her!” Marcus’s voice thundered like a storm breaking through the calm skies.

I froze. Luke turned his head sharply, eyes narrowing, body tensing.

Marcus stepped in, fury carved into every muscle. His fists were clenched, his chest rising and falling like a beast on the edge of violence.

“You ruined everything!” he shouted at Luke, voice echoing through the room. “We had one chance, one plan, and you’ve shattered it because you couldn’t keep your damn hands to yourself!”

Luke stood, his shirt half-undone, but the fire in his eyes wasn’t guilt—it was defiance.

“I came for alliances, not for your permission.”

Marcus laughed bitterly, but there was no humour in it. Only pain. Only rage.

“You think you can come to the Outlands, kiss the one person who holds it all together, and just walk away clean? You’ve destroyed our leverage, Luke. You’ve made her a target.”

He turned to me now, eyes filled with betrayal.

“And you, after everything we built, everything we survived, this is how you repay it?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the weight of his words crushed my breath.

Marcus’s voice dropped, cold and sharp.

“Get out, Luke. Before I remind you that not all monsters wear fur.”

Luke hesitated. Then slowly, he stepped back, locking eyes with me one last time. There was something in his gaze, regret, maybe… or a warning.

And as he disappeared into the night, Marcus turned toward me again.

“This changes everything.”