THE ASHWOOD LEGACY

JEALOUSY UNLEASHED

Chapter 20 — Jealousy Unleashed

Damian heard about Kade's offer before Elena had a chance to mention it herself — pack politics moved fast, and a formal mate claim proposal from a rival alpha wasn't the kind of news that stayed contained for long — and by the time he found her in the compound's private garden that evening, his carefully maintained composure had already begun to fray.

"Kade Osric proposed a mate claim," he said, without preamble, the words clipped and tight. "You were going to tell me this when, exactly?"

"I don't answer to you, Damian." Elena kept her voice level, though his obvious agitation sent an unwelcome flicker of satisfaction through her that she immediately felt guilty for. "We're not mates. You made that decision very clearly three years ago, in front of three hundred witnesses, if you'll recall."

"That's not—" He stopped himself, visibly reining in whatever he'd been about to say, though the effort cost him. "You're right. I have no claim on your choices. I just—" He raked a hand through his hair, frustration radiating off him in waves that Elena could feel through the thin, unbroken thread of the bond between them. "The idea of you standing in a mate claim ceremony with him makes me want to tear the entire Ashgrove territory apart with my bare hands, and I recognize that reaction is neither rational nor fair to you, but I can't seem to make it stop."

They were in a boardroom twenty minutes later, an emergency session Damian had called to address rumors about the Ashgrove offer circulating through the merger negotiation team, when the fragile control he'd been holding onto finally cracked. A junior board member made an offhand comment about Elena's "market value" in light of the Ashgrove interest, and Damian's composed CEO exterior shattered entirely — a low, involuntary growl tearing from his throat, his eyes flashing amber for one unmistakable, terrifying second before he wrestled the shift back under control.

The room went dead silent. Elena, seated across the table, watched him grip the edge of the conference table hard enough that the wood groaned beneath his fingers, his knuckles white, his breathing ragged as he fought his own wolf back into submission in front of a room full of witnesses.

"Meeting adjourned," he said finally, his voice rough and barely steady. "Everyone out. Now."

The room emptied with barely concealed alarm, and within the hour, word had reached Margaret, who arrived in Damian's office with the particular grim satisfaction of someone who'd been handed exactly the leverage she needed.

"An alpha who cannot control his shift in a business meeting is an alpha this council will question," she said, without preamble, closing the office door behind her. "You lost control in front of six board members and at least two council-affiliated staff, Damian. Do you understand what that instability signals, especially now, with an Ashwood bloodline situation this delicate?"

"I understand that you're about to use it as leverage." Damian's voice was flat, exhausted.

"I'm going to use it as motivation," Margaret corrected coolly. "You will finalize the marriage arrangement with Vivienne Hale within the week. A confirmed engagement, moving swiftly toward formal mate bonding, will demonstrate to this council — and to every rival territory currently circling this situation — that Crimson Hollow's leadership remains stable and decisive." Her expression hardened. "Or I will personally move to have the council review your fitness to continue as alpha, given tonight's display. I will not let your unresolved feelings for an unclaimed bloodline heir destabilize thirty years of careful pack governance, Damian. I mean that."

Damian stared at his mother for a long, silent moment, the weight of an ultimatum he hadn't seen coming settling heavy across his shoulders.

"One week," he repeated quietly.

"One week," Margaret confirmed. "Finalize the marriage, Damian, or prepare to lose everything you've spent eight years building as this pack's alpha."

She left without waiting for a response, and Damian sat alone in his darkened office for a long time afterward, staring at the cracked glass conference table visible through the wall — still not repaired since Elena's first day back in his life — and understanding with sick clarity that whatever choice he made in the next seven days was going to detonate every fragile piece of the world he'd spent three years rebuilding.