CHAPTER 14 ALPHA'S COMMAND
1103 Words
Ryker stood in his hotel room with his phone pressed to his ear and knew he was about to lose everything if he couldn't find the right words.
"It's complicated because the elders have legitimate concerns about an alpha heir being raised outside pack influence," he said carefully. "But that doesn't mean they get to dictate terms."
"So you're saying they do have some authority over Kade," Kyra said, her voice breaking. "You're saying I can't actually protect him from this."
"I'm saying I need time to navigate pack politics," Ryker said. "But I promise you, Kyra, I won't let them take him from you."
"Your promises don't mean anything," Kyra said coldly. "You promised to let me go six years ago and look where we are."
The words hit like a physical blow. "That contract was the worst decision I ever made," Ryker admitted. "But I'm trying to fix it now, trying to do right by you and Kade."
"By bringing your ex-girlfriend to town?" Kyra asked. "By letting your elders threaten me? Great job fixing things."
"Seraphina came on her own and she's leaving today," Ryker said. "I've already arranged her flight back to pack territory."
"She said Kade belongs to the pack," Kyra said. "Is that true? Does the pack law give them rights to my son?"
Ryker closed his eyes because this was the conversation he'd been dreading. "Traditional pack law says that alpha heirs are raised communally," he said. "But those traditions aren't enforced anymore in most modern packs."
"Most isn't all," Kyra said. "What about your pack specifically?"
"My elders are traditional," Ryker admitted. "They believe in the old ways, including communal raising of future leaders."
"So they do think they have rights to Kade," Kyra said, and he heard her crying. "They think they can take him from me and raise him in your pack house."
"They can try," Ryker said. "But I'm the alpha and what I say goes, and I say Kade stays with his mother."
"Can you actually back that up?" Kyra asked. "Can you override the elders if they push back?"
Ryker thought about pack hierarchy and elder authority and the delicate balance of power he'd been maintaining for six years. "It would cause problems," he said honestly. "It would make them question my leadership and potentially challenge my position."
"So you're asking me to trust that you'll risk your alpha status to protect a son you just met," Kyra said. "That's what this comes down to."
"Yes," Ryker said simply. "I'm asking you to trust me."
"I can't," Kyra whispered. "I can't trust you, Ryker, not after everything."
"Then what do you want me to do?" Ryker asked. "Tell me what you need and I'll make it happen."
"I need you to legally renounce any claim to Kade," Kyra said. "I need you to sign papers saying you're not his father and you have no rights to him."
Ryker's wolf howled in protest. "I can't do that," he said. "He's my son, my heir, I won't deny him."
"Then we're at an impasse," Kyra said. "Because I won't risk losing him to your pack politics."
"There has to be a middle ground," Ryker said desperately. "Some way we can both be in his life without the pack interfering."
"Like what?" Kyra asked. "You visit on weekends? We co-parent across state lines while your elders plot ways to take him?"
"We could mate properly," Ryker heard himself say. "Complete the bond, make you my Luna officially, bring you both into the pack under my protection."
The silence on the other end was deafening. "You want me to come back to the pack that rejected me?" Kyra finally said. "To be Luna for the wolves who saw me as trash six years ago?"
"They were wrong," Ryker said. "I was wrong, and I want the chance to prove that."
"By making me give up my life here?" Kyra asked. "My job, my home, my independence, everything I built after you threw me away?"
"We'd figure it out together," Ryker said. "I could relocate pack operations to Portland, we could build something new."
"You're delusional," Kyra said. "You think I'd actually mate with you after one breakfast that ended in disaster? After your ex showed up threatening my son?"
"I think the mate bond is killing both of us," Ryker said. "And I think Kade deserves to have both his parents in his life without all this drama."
"The drama is because of you," Kyra said. "Your pack, your ex, your inability to have stood up for me six years ago when it mattered."
"I know," Ryker said. "And I'm sorry, Kyra, I'm so f*****g sorry for all of it, but I can't change the past and all I can do is try to fix the future."
"I don't want your apologies," Kyra said. "I want my son to be safe from wolves who see him as property."
"He is safe," Ryker insisted. "I won't let anyone take him, I swear on my life."
"Your life isn't worth much to me," Kyra said coldly. "But I'll make you a deal. You handle your elders, you send Seraphina back to wherever she came from, and you give me space to think about what's best for Kade."
"How much space?" Ryker asked.
"A week," Kyra said. "No contact, no showing up at my apartment, no surprise breakfast dates, just give me a week to process everything."
"That's too long," Ryker said. "Kade will think I abandoned him."
"Then you should have thought of that before you brought chaos into our lives," Kyra said. "One week, Ryker, or I pack up and disappear and you'll never find us."
She hung up before he could argue and Ryker stood there staring at his phone, feeling like he'd just lost a battle he couldn't afford to lose. Kai knocked on his door and entered without waiting for permission.
"The elders are on their way here," Kai said grimly. "They want a face-to-face meeting about the heir’s situation."
"Tell them to turn around," Ryker said. "I'm handling this my way."
"They're not asking," Kai said. "Elder Malthos specifically said if you don't meet with them, they'll go directly to Kyra."
Ryker's blood went cold. "They wouldn't dare."
"They absolutely would," Kai said. "They see Kade as pack business and you as compromised by the mate bond, so they're taking matters into their own hands."
"Over my dead body," Ryker growled, his alpha power flooding the room. "Set up the meeting. I'll deal with the elders once and for all.”
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