The Alpha Of My Ruins

Chapter 2

XAVIER’s POV

The council chamber reeked of desperation as the advisors shifted into practiced existence. I sat at the head of the mahogany table, listening to my Beta, Kael, as he read through the terms of the truce again. His voice was steady, but I was barely listening. My wolf was restless, pacing inside my chest like a storm locked in a cage.

“…in exchange for peace, Silverfang offers their heiress, Davina, in marriage.”

The room filled with whispers. The advisors nodded grimly in approval. Warriors shifted uneasily. I sat still, looking at them all.

There was something her name did to me when they called it, something strange. A flicker lit beneath my skin. I could feel my wolf claw within me. I ground my teeth against it.

“Marriage?” I said flatly, the word as flavorless as ash. “That is their condition for peace?”

“Yes, Alpha.” Kael’s eyes lifted to mine. He was loyal, more like a brother, but even he didn’t hide the tension in his face. “They accept to surrender their borders, disarm their remaining legions, and swear against attacking. But the Silverfang daughter should stand at your side. It is the only way their people will accept this treaty.”

Of course, it was.

Wolves cared for symbols almost as much as they cared for blood. Nothing defined submission better than handing over their Luna to the man they’d been at war with for years.

“And if I refuse?” I lean slightly back, my arms across my chest.

Kael hesitated. “Then they will fight to the last,” I raised a brow, “And though we would crush them, the cost in blood…”

“I do not fear cost,” I snapped, silencing the chamber as my voice echoed in the chamber. All the men in the room bowed their heads. “It’s weakness disguised as compromise.”

Weakness had no place in my world. I had built Blackmoon into the strongest pack across the northern territories not by bending over, but by breaking them. All of our enemies learned quickly: mercy was not in my nature.

And yet…

Davina.

Her name hovered in my thoughts, unwelcome. I had seen her once before, some years ago, across a battlefield. A flash of her red hair, daring green eyes, standing over her fallen warriors with defiance burning brighter than fear. She had caught my attention even then. Not for beauty, though she had that in abundance, but for the utter audacity of her rage.

I recognize those kinds of women, the kind who would rather burn than bow. And now they wanted to give her to me, wrapped in chains of a treaty?

“Alpha,” one of my advisors spoke carefully. Elder Varos, old but sharp. “Marriages unite more than treaties ever could. It would end decades of bloodshed. And with the Silverfang daughter at your side, your reign would be unquestionable.” Unquestionable. As if my reign had ever been questioned.

I said nothing. My wolf growled impatiently inside of me as if yearning for something I couldn’t understand.

“Xavier,” Kael’s tone dropped low, for me alone, “This war has been dragged too long. Our warriors bleed. Our coffers are empty. I know you’ve never shied from battle, but even the strongest army breaks if pushed too far. Let them offer their daughter. What’s one woman to you?”

One woman.

I wanted to agree. It was something to be dismissed as nothing, a political move, a necessary arrangement. But the moment her name echoed again in my mind, a strange flicker deep in my chest flooded, and my wolf pushed against me hard enough that my fingers curled into a fist.

Why? Why her?

I raised my head and rose to my feet. The chamber stayed still as all eyes turned to me.

“If Silverfang thinks I will be tamed by their offering, they are mistaken,” I said, my voice low. “I will accept this union. But hear me well, she will never be Luna of Blackmoon. She will play her part as a symbol and nothing more. She will stand at my side, but she will not touch my throne, nor my rule. Either she learns her place, or suffers it.”

The elders bowed in approval. Kael tilted his head, his eyes studied me carefully, too carefully.

“Prepare the envoy,” I ordered, heading to the door. “Tomorrow, we ride to Silverfang. Let their people see their precious Luna chained by treaty to the Alpha they hate most.”

I pushed past the doors. Swiftly, before anyone else dared to speak another word. The night air hit me like a blade, cold and sharp, carrying the scent of pine. My wolf howled restlessly and frustrated, inside me. I had mastered him for years, contained his savagery with firm control. But tonight was different; he paced within me like a caged beast.

Davina.

The name came unsummoned.

I snarled in the darkness, an effort to erase the effect it had on me.

Still…

When her name brushed against my thoughts again, I could see a single image: red hair tied up in battle, green eyes incensed with fury, lips curled in defiance.

The woman who would rather bleed than bend. And for the first time in years, I felt something different stir against the intensity of my ruthlessness.

Not fear.

Not rage.

But something far more dangerous.

Curiosity.

The next morning, the envoy rode out. Blackmoon flags flew in the wind, black and crimson against the pale dawn sky. The warriors marched in formation, concrete armor and sharp weapons gleamed dimly under the retiring sky. Not a display of peace, but power.

Kael rode at my side. “You’ve decided, then.”

“I’ve decided,” I confirmed. My voice is like iron. He studied me for a moment. “Do you mean to destroy her, Xavier? Or claim her?”

I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t know. We rode steadily until dusk. When Silverfang’s ruined creek came into view, I caught the first scent of her.

Sharp and clean. Like the scent of frozen roses. The scent snapped my wolf to attention, a growl wrenched from my chest before I could stop it from doing any further.

Kael shot me a long stare. I ignored him and tightened my grip on the reins instead. As we entered their creek’s remains, Silverfang wolves lined the cracked pathway, all their eyes burning either with hatred or fear. They parted, reluctantly, their stares cutting like knives.

And then. Her.

Davina stood on the concrete steps of the crumbling hall, elders behind her, wavy red hair spilled to her waist. Those green eyes, they were sharp… sharp enough to pierce steel. I could see her body tremble slightly, but it wasn’t from fear. But rage.

My eyes locked with hers, and before I could comprehend, my wolf surged violently within me, recognition flashing through him, a harsh pull that nearly buckled me.

Mate.

I stiffened. Not possible. I had no mate. I had rejected that very idea years ago, slaughtered it with blood and all certainty.

And yet…

Her eyes widened slightly, as though she felt it too.

And for the first time in my entire life, I, Xavier Blackmoon, Alpha of the strongest pack in the north, could feel control slip through my veins.