Billionaire Alpha's Plus-Size Mate

Chapter 10 Why Her?

Hayes' POV

The rain hadn't stopped since morning.

It rolled steadily down the tall windows of my office, washing over the glass until the mountains surrounding Arrowfang Pack disappeared beneath a curtain of grey. Normally I enjoyed the silence that came with rain. It gave me a rare excuse to think.

Today, it only reminded me of the meeting I'd had with the Elders a few hours earlier.

I hadn't wanted to hear what they had to say. The moment their message reached my office asking for an emergency meeting, I already knew what it was about.

Time. That was all anyone seemed to talk about these days. Time I didn't have.

"Alpha." Elder Victor's tired voice still echoed in my head. "We're running out of time."

When I walked into the council chamber that morning, every Elder had already been waiting for me. None of them looked me in the eye immediately. They sat there with the same defeated expressions I'd become used to over the past few years, each of them silently hoping someone else would say the words first.

Eventually, Elder Victor did. "You need to choose another woman."

I remembered looking around the table before answering. Another woman? Another woman to die because of me?

The thought alone was enough to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

"There is nothing else we can do," Elder Edward had said quietly after my silence dragged on. "Every day we pray the Creator will guide us to the right woman. Until then, we have to keep trying."

"We cannot afford to stop now," Elder Brown added. "Every day the curse grows stronger. Every day your body grows weaker."

I said nothing. What was there to say?

Everything they were saying was true. That didn't make it any easier to hear.

Grandma Eli slowly folded her hands in her lap before looking at me with the same kindness she'd shown me since I was a child. "My son," she said softly, "you're carrying this burden alone." Her eyes glistened with tears she didn't bother hiding. "We know what these choices cost you."

The room fell quiet. Nobody dared interrupt her. "If you don't leave behind an heir..." Her voice caught in her throat before she managed to continue. "We will lose you."

I lowered my eyes. Lose me. That wasn't the part that frightened me anymore. I had accepted my own fate long ago. What haunted me was everyone else's. The curse had claimed every Alpha in my bloodline.

I still remembered standing beside my father's bed during his final weeks. He had once been the strongest man I'd ever known, yet by the end he could barely stand without support. Every day the curse had taken another piece of him until all that remained was a man waiting for death while pretending not to fear it.

He had died before seeing his thirty-sixth birthday. Just like his father before him. Now the curse had reached me.

Unlike my ancestors, it hadn't managed to consume me as quickly. My wolf had always been stronger, my powers far greater than any Alpha before me. Some believed the curse had made me stronger in its attempt to destroy me.

Perhaps they were right. Strength meant very little when death was simply taking the longer road.

Elder Victor cleared his throat, drawing me back to the meeting. "We've discussed every possible solution." He hesitated before continuing. "We believe you should choose three women this time."

Several Elders nodded immediately.

"If one cannot survive," Elder Brown explained carefully, "another might."

Three women.

He spoke the words so calmly that anyone listening would think we were discussing numbers instead of lives.

All I could see were faces. Women who had walked through Arrowfang's gates carrying hope in their eyes. Women who had trusted us. Women who had died because they believed they had been chosen for something great.

"No." The word left my mouth before anyone could say another thing. "I won't do it."

The disappointment around the table was almost immediate.

"Alpha..." Elder Victor sighed. "Please understand."

"I understand perfectly."

"You have less than three years left."

"I know."

"If the curse claims you before an heir is born..."

"I know."

My voice remained calm, but inside I was exhausted.

There wasn't a single person in that room who reminded me of the curse more often than I reminded myself.

Choosing one woman already felt like asking the impossible of my conscience. Choosing three… I couldn't do it.

A sharp knock pulled me back to the present.

"Come in."

The office door opened, and Alex stepped inside.

My Beta rarely looked uncertain, but today his expression carried the same concern I'd seen on the Elders' faces that morning.

"The woman has arrived."

I nodded slowly. "And the Elders?"

"They're waiting in the Council Circle." He hesitated. "They aren't happy with your choice."

A faint smile almost reached my lips. "I wasn't expecting them to be."

Alex didn't argue. He never questioned my decisions unless I asked for his opinion.

I pushed myself away from the window. "Let's not keep them waiting."

*****

The Council Circle was already full by the time I arrived.

Every Elder rose the moment I stepped inside. After I took my seat, they quietly returned to theirs, but the uneasiness hanging over the room never left.

"A plus-sized woman?" Elder Victor spoke, breaking the silence. He didn't sound angry. Only deeply confused.

Elder Edward shook his head. "She doesn't even have a wolf."

"She is mateless," another Elder added. "If fate deemed her unworthy, why would you believe otherwise?"

The murmurs around the table quickly grew louder.

"You refused our request to choose three women."

"We respected that decision."

"But surely there were better candidates."

"Stronger women."

"Women from powerful bloodlines."

Their voices overlapped until Adrian quietly raised a hand. The room fell silent. Unlike the others, the pack's Gamma wasn't interested in arguing.

He simply wanted to understand. "Why her, Alpha?"

The question lingered between us. Every pair of eyes turned toward me. They wanted certainty, an explanation. Something they could hold onto.

Instead, I gave them the only truth I had.

"Because she'll survive."

Confused glances spread around the table.

Elder Brown frowned. "How can you possibly know that?"

I looked at him for a long moment before answering. "I don't." The room became even quieter. "I said I believe she will."

Nobody understood. Perhaps I didn't fully understand it myself.

From the moment I saw her standing on that stage, surrounded by women who looked far stronger and far more suitable, something inside me had been certain.

Not my mind. My wolf. It had looked at her once...and refused to look away.

I rose from my chair. "I've made my decision."

My voice remained calm, but there was no room left for discussion. "She is the one."

The Elders exchanged uncertain glances, yet not one of them challenged me again.

They knew me well enough to understand that once my mind was made up, nothing would change it.

As I turned to leave, Grandma Eli's gentle voice stopped me. "My son." I looked back at her. "If you truly believe she's the one..."

She offered me a small, sorrowful smile. "...then don't waste what little time you have left."

I held her gaze for a moment before looking at Alex. "Have her prepared."

Without waiting for a reply, I walked out of the Council Circle, already wondering whether the certainty my wolf had felt the moment

it saw Lillian would prove to be hope...

...or the greatest mistake of my life.