Chapter 12: THE CRUMBLED DOMINANCE
1322 Words
The last three days had been a confusing, living hell for my leadership.
Silas constantly demanded reports regarding the security of the northern border, while Sera never stopped sending servants to summon me to her room.
Every time I intended to step out, Sera would experience a 'relapse'—her chest tightening, her energy turning critical, and her groaning as if death would claim her if I let go of her hand.
The heavy sense of debt tied me to her side, forcing me to ignore everything else.
Until this morning, as I walked past the right-wing corridor of the castle, a strange, profound loneliness suddenly hit my chest.
I stopped right in front of Aira's room.
Usually, at this hour, I could hear the rhythmic clicking of her fingers typing a novel on her laptop keyboard.
But today, there was dead silence.
I let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of my throbbing nose.
"She must still be on a hunger strike because of what happened in the hall," I muttered in annoyance.
I knocked heavily on the wooden door.
"Aira? Open the door. You’ve been locking yourself away for three days like this."
"Don't be childish, Aira. You're an adult; you should understand that last night was a real emergency for Sera. I had no choice but to prioritize her."
There was no answer.
Only the echo of my own voice bouncing off the empty corridor.
My annoyance turned into an anger fueled by pride. How dare she ignore the words of her Alpha?
"Aira! Open the door right now, or I'm breaking it down!" I threatened, releasing a fraction of my Alpha aura.
Still silence.
*Crash!*
With one powerful kick, the wooden door shattered completely.
I stepped inside with ragged breath, ready to vent my frustration.
However, my steps came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the room.
The room was empty.
The bed was neatly made, showing no signs of life over the past few days.
Her laptop was gone, her books were missing.
And what made my heart drop the most... her scent—the sweet, mesmerizing Silver-Blood aroma that should have filled this room—had completely evaporated.
It left behind nothing but cold dust.
"Aira...?"
My mind suddenly went blank.
The nerves in my neck suddenly throbbed painfully, as if my mark of ownership on her skin was being forcefully erased by something.
A panic I had never felt before gripped my chest.
My Luna was gone.
Then, a memory spun in my head.
That night... Kaelen.
That bastard was the one who had carried her away from the hall after humiliating me in front of the elders.
"Kaelen!!!"
My roar shook the castle walls as I sprinted toward the training field in the backyard.
My blood boiled.
If anyone knew where Aira was, that bastard was the answer.
Arriving at the field, I found Kaelen standing calmly.
He was holding a heavy wooden training sword, practicing alone under the morning sun.
His movements were precise, completely composed, as if the world around him was perfectly fine.
"Where is Aira, Kaelen?!" I shouted as I lunged forward, grabbing the collar of his sweat-soaked shirt.
Kaelen didn't flinch.
He slowly lowered his wooden sword, then stared at me with his silver eyes that were cold as ice.
A cynical smirk formed at the corner of his lips.
"Oh... so you only realized it now, Alpha?" his baritone voice mocked, every word stabbing at my pride.
"Where were you yesterday? Busy managing the fake tears of your other woman, to the point that you didn't even notice your own Luna leaving?"
"You bastard! You took her away that night! Tell me where you’re hiding her!"
My fist flew, striking Kaelen’s jaw and sending him staggering back a few steps.
Kaelen wiped the thin trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, and his gaze suddenly turned incredibly dark.
"You don't deserve to speak her name, Eros."
Kaelen threw down his wooden sword and lunged straight at me.
A brutal fight broke out in the middle of the field.
I unleashed the full extent of my Alpha power, calling upon the golden aura of dominance that usually forced every wolf in this pack to their knees in terror.
For all this time, the entire pack thought Kaelen was just a flawed wolf.
A broken Omega who had lost his title and only became my right hand out of my mercy.
I tried to suppress his soul by force.
"Submit to me, Kaelen! I am your Alpha!" I roared.
However, something impossible happened.
My aura of dominance shattered into pieces the moment it touched Kaelen’s body.
Instead of submitting, a pressure so ancient and heavy erupted from Kaelen that the morning sky seemed to dim.
It wasn't an Alpha aura, nor was it an Omega.
It was the highest-tier Sigma aura—an independent power that rejected all forms of hierarchy and could never be dominated by anyone in this world.
"You... you hid this power?" I whispered in shock.
I felt my knees tremble under the pressure of the ice storm radiating from his body.
*Thud!*
Kaelen slammed into my chest with a brutal kick, sending me crashing to the ground, gasping in pain.
"Eros! Kaelen! Stop! What are you doing?!"
A shrill voice broke the tension.
Sera ran from the castle corridor, her nightgown in disarray.
Apparently, panicked servants had reported the fight to her.
Sera's face was pale, but there was a strange spark of satisfaction in her eyes.
Arrogantly, she assumed that the two strongest men in this castle were beating each other up over her.
"Please stop! Don't fight over me!" Sera screamed dramatically.
She ran right into the center of the field, acting as if she were the ultimate female protagonist everyone was fighting for.
"Kaelen, don't hurt Eros! I know you're jealous because Eros is always with me, but—"
"Get out of the way, trash!"
Kaelen, consumed by his Sigma rage, didn't care who blocked him.
As he swung his sharp claws toward me, a reckless Sera caught the crossfire.
*s***h!*
Kaelen’s sharp claws sliced deep into Sera’s arm.
Fresh blood immediately seeped through, staining her white gown.
"ARGHHH! It hurts! Eros, help me!"
Sera screamed hysterically, collapsing to the ground while clutching her wounded arm.
"Sera!"
Silas, who had just arrived with a pair of castle guards, screamed in fury upon seeing his daughter hurt.
"Guards! Subdue Kaelen! He has defied the Alpha and endangered a pack member's life!"
Dozens of wolf warriors immediately surrounded Kaelen with spears tipped in thin silver.
Facing the encirclement, Kaelen suddenly suppressed his aura. His icy chill vanished.
He looked at Silas and me with completely hollow eyes, then lowered his hands without any intention of fighting back.
He allowed the guards to lock his wrists in heavy chains.
"Throw him into the deepest dungeon! Lock it tight!" Silas ordered furiously.
Kaelen went submissively as he was dragged away.
His eyes locked onto mine for a split second, as if to say I was too late for everything.
I didn't care about Sera crying in Silas’s arms.
I stood up, my body suddenly feeling incredibly weak.
This weakness... wasn't just from Kaelen’s strike.
My heart beat with a slow, bizarre rhythm.
My power... the Alpha energy in my veins felt like it was draining drastically, leaking away like water from a broken vessel.
I touched my own neck.
The internal bond linking me to Aira felt incredibly thin, nearly dead.
I finally realized something terrifying.
Because I had ignored her for too long and left her to suffer through the adaptation process, our bond had weakened.
And without constant union with Aira’s silver blood, my Alpha power was slowly beginning to fade away.
"Aira..." I whispered hoarsely, staring out at the vast forest beyond the castle.
"Where are you...?"
- Writer
