THE DON AND THE ALPHA: MY BEAUTIFUL RUIN

Chapter 5—What He Chose

Zarkos POV

A month and I had not thought about her.

That was what I told myself every morning. That was the version of events I had decided on and I was sticking to it because the alternative was something I was not willing to open, not now, not when everything was moving exactly the way I had planned.

The arrangement with Vessa had been in motion for six months before the gathering. Her father, Aldric Darkmore, head of the most powerful bloodline in the eastern territories, had reached out through channels that did not leave records. Discreet. Deliberate. The kind of conversation that happened between men who understood what power required and did not flinch from it. The Darkmore line had held the strongest wolf bloodline in the region for four generations. An alliance through mating would elevate Ironmoor in ways that no amount of politics or negotiation ever could. Stronger wolves. Greater standing. A future that was built to last.

I had agreed within a week. The terms were simple. The gathering would serve as the announcement. Vessa would be introduced as my chosen Luna and the rejection of my existing bond would happen publicly, the way pack law required, clean and final and witnessed by everyone.

What I had not done was tell Aelindra.

She had been planning our ceremony. I knew that. I had let her plan it because ending things before I was certain felt premature and because some part of me that I was not proud of found it easier to let her believe everything was fine than to have a conversation I did not know how to start. She had shown me fabric samples three weeks before the gathering. Sat across from me in the sitting room with that particular light in her eyes she got when she was excited about something and talked about flowers and timing and which of her friends she wanted standing beside her.

I had nodded and told her it sounded perfect.

I was not proud of that either.

But I had done what I did for Ironmoor. That was not a justification, it was a fact, and there was a difference. A pack Alpha did not have the luxury of choosing with his heart. He chose with his bloodline, with his legacy, with the twenty or fifty or hundred years of wolves that came after him. Aelindra was warm and loyal and I had cared about her in the way you cared about something you had held for a long time. But her bloodline was ordinary and Ironmoor needed more than ordinary and that was the truth of it, simple and without ornament, and I had made my choice.

I did not wonder where she was. I did not think about whether she had eaten or slept or found somewhere safe to land after walking out of Ironmoor with nothing but the clothes on her back and two friends beside her.

I told myself that clearly and moved on.

Vessa found me in my study that evening. She leaned in the doorway with her dark hair loose and looked at me the way she always looked at me, like a woman who had already decided how every moment was going to end before it started. She was the product of four generations of careful selection, powerful and composed and completely without the softness that made people vulnerable. Her father had raised her to be exactly this, a Luna, a strategic alliance wrapped in beauty and certainty, and she wore it without apology.

She crossed the room and placed her hands on my shoulders and I set down what I was reading and looked up at her and did not think about anyone else.

She kissed me hard, mouth demanding, tongue sliding in like she was claiming territory. Her fingers worked my shirt open with practiced efficiency, nails grazing down my chest as she pushed me back into the chair. I gripped her hips and pulled her down to straddle me, feeling the heat of her through the thin fabric of her dress. She ground against me slowly at first, teasing, letting me feel how wet she already was before she reached between us and freed my c**k.

Vessa didn't waste time on gentle touches. She hiked her dress up, no underwear underneath, and sank down onto me in one smooth motion, taking every inch until her ass met my thighs. A low growl escaped her as she started to ride me, hips rolling in deep, deliberate circles that made her t**s bounce inside the low neckline of her dress. I yanked the fabric down, mouth latching onto one tight n****e, sucking hard while my hands dug into her ass, guiding her faster. She was tight and slick and so f*****g controlled even now, clenching around me on every downstroke like she wanted to milk me dry.

She leaned back, one hand braced on my knee, the other rubbing her c**t in quick circles as she f****d me harder. Her breath came in sharp gasps, dark hair sticking to her damp skin. "That's it," she muttered, voice rough. "Give it to me." I thrust up to meet her, the wet slap of skin on skin filling the study, her p***y gripping me like a vice every time I bottomed out. She came first, body shuddering, inner walls pulsing around my c**k as she bit her lip to keep from crying out too loud. The sight of her falling apart pushed me over and I followed right after, spilling deep inside her with a groan, hips jerking as I emptied myself.

Afterward she lay against my chest and the room went still.

I stared at the ceiling.

I did not think about whether Aelindra had left Ironmoor territory entirely or whether she was somewhere alone carrying something I had put in her chest without the decency to warn her it was coming.

I did not think about any of that.

I thought about the calls I had made to the neighbouring Alphas and the way those conversations had shifted and the alliance that was already doing exactly what I had been told it would do. I thought about Ironmoor ten years from now, stronger and more established, built on a foundation that ordinary bloodlines could never have provided.

I thought about all of it and none of it helped.

Because somewhere in the silence between one thought and the next her face came anyway. Just for a second. Dark eyes and a green dress and her hand pressed to her chest in the middle of a crowd while I said the words I had been rehearsing for weeks and did not look at her once because I had known that if I looked at her I would not be able to finish.

I shut it down. Hard and immediately, the way I shut down anything that was not useful.

I shifted away from Vessa slowly and sat at the edge of the bed in the dark with my elbows on my knees and looked at the floor.

I had done what was right for Ironmoor. The bond was severed. Whatever I was feeling right now was residual and it would pass and Aelindra Stormveil was wherever she was and that was not my concern anymore.

I said it once, quietly, to no one.

I was still sitting there when morning came.