Fated Tragedy

5. Fated Tragedy: Ryan POV

f*****g b***h.

Where the hell did she go? I swear I’ll find her, and when I do, I’ll make sure she never dares run from me again. Half a mind to drop her unconscious right where she stands and remind her exactly who owns her.

This damn hospital reeks of disinfectant and fear, and I’m tearing it apart to track my mate. The scent lingers, teasing me, mocking me. I know Alek’s busy with his precious little duties, but I don’t give a damn—our mate is out there, and I won’t rest until she’s back in my hands.

Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean he gets all the glory. He can keep his paperwork, his polite smiles, his speeches about honor and peace. That’s his cage. Not mine. I was born for war, bred to dominate. I’m an Alpha by blood, and cursed only by the mistake of our great-grandfather—his weakness flooding our line with pathetic excuses for wolves who can’t even act right.

I shoved a doctor out of my way, hard enough to make him stumble, nearly snapping his neck against the elevator rail where her scent was strongest. My chest thundered with rage as I roared, voice cracking through the hallway like a whip.

“WHERE IS SHE?”

A trembling nurse crept too close, her wide eyes begging me to calm down. Instead, I slammed her against the wall, pressing my nose to her throat, inhaling—searching. Not her. Wrong scent. Worthless. I let her drop like a sack of meat, her whimper grating against my ears.

Alek’s voice ripped through our mind link, sharp and scolding.

‘Ryan, what the f**k are you doing? The doctors won’t shut up—they say you’re tearing the place apart like a lunatic!’

Good. Let them quake. Let them fear me. Fear keeps them in line.

I snarled in response, pacing like a caged beast. My brother’s annoyance only made me wonder what he was hiding, why he wasn’t tearing walls down with me. Maybe he doesn’t feel her the way I do. Maybe he doesn’t need her like I do.

Because between the two of us, we both know who the real Alpha is. Alek may play the saint—an Alpha with soft hands, a poet, an artist, a dreamer. He’s their darling leader, their perfect king.

But me? I’m the nightmare they whisper about when the lights go out. I am the war-hound, the monster in the dark. I am the Alpha who takes, who conquers, who claims.

And when I find her, she’ll learn that there is no running from me. Not now. Not ever.

Growling, I tore through another hallway, claws itching to rip this place apart, when Alek’s voice slammed into my head through the link.

‘Ryan! I swear to the Goddess, I have half a mind to f*****g kill you for stirring s**t up for no damn reason! What the hell is wrong with you this time?!’

His scolding only fueled my rage. My lips peeled back, teeth bared as I snarled aloud.

‘You haven’t f*****g sniffed the air lately? Our mate was here. In this hospital! Don’t you dare tell me I imagined it.’

Alek groaned through the bond, frustration vibrating in every syllable, while I finished tearing apart the third godforsaken room in this cursed place. Cabinets shattered, beds flipped, the smell of antiseptic burning my nose. Then his voice snapped again, sharper, colder—firm enough to halt me mid-destruction.

‘I need you at home. Right now. You’re breaking s**t without knowing a damn thing, because you refuse to read anything other than warning, danger, mine. You’re blind, Ryan! Knock your s**t off before I put you down myself—and you know if I fight you, we’ll both pay for it. I can’t leave this room to clean up your mess because you won’t stop acting like a rabid dog. And remember—everyone here thinks you’re me!’

Fuck.

He was right. Damn him. Nobody here even knows I exist—because I’m always the shadow, the one sent to slaughter while Alek polishes the crown. He gets to be the perfect Alpha, the adored leader, the darling of the people. I get the blood. The fear. The war.

But that’s fine. Let him be their saint. Let him play king.

Because saints don’t keep mates. Monsters do. And when she’s mine, she’ll finally understand that being loved by a monster is better than being abandoned by a saint.

Leaving the fifth room of this sorry excuse for a hospital, I stalked into the damn elevator, shoving past some useless orderly who squeaked my brother’s name like I owed him something. Pathetic.

I had no choice but to keep my head low, hidden until I could return to the war. No one could see me running through the pack’s halls. If they did, if they mistook me for Alek, the illusion would crack. They’d know the perfect Alpha they adored wasn’t always the one standing in front of them. And this stupid, double-faced way of living—him in the light, me in the shadows—was slowly driving me insane.

As the elevator rattled downward, the air shifted. My nostrils flared, sharp and eager, because there it was—her. Our mate. The scent hit me hard, flooding every nerve with fire, every muscle twitching to tear through the steel doors and claim what was mine.

I growled low, chest vibrating, fists clenching at my sides as the machine crawled floor by agonizing floor. Impatience burned through me like acid. She was close. Too close.

Then Alek’s voice crashed into my head again, his Alpha dominance wrapping around my mind like chains.

‘Ryan. Stand down.’

His command carried the weight of our bloodline, the curse thrumming between us. My breath caught for a split second, my body betraying me with stillness before rage surged back, boiling over.

‘Don’t you f*****g dare leash me, brother. I smell her. She’s here. You can sit on your throne and play nice, but she needs me—ME. Not your tender words, not your poet’s heart. She needs my strength, my claim, my teeth in her neck reminding her she belongs.’

The bond crackled, Alek’s fury hitting harder, his dominance tightening until my vision pulsed black at the edges.

‘You’ll ruin everything. You think she’ll love the monster who terrifies healers and breaks walls? You think she’ll stay with the shadow while I’m the Alpha they all see? You’re nothing without me, Ryan. Nothing but chaos chained to my name.’

I snarled, slamming my fist into the metal wall of the elevator, leaving a dent. His words struck deep, but I twisted them, feeding them to the fire already consuming me.

Nothing without him? No. He was nothing without me. I was the blade in his hand, the fear in his enemies’ eyes, the reason anyone bowed to our name at all.

The elevator dinged, doors sliding open. The scent of her washed over me in full, intoxicating, undeniable.

And in that instant, no command, no curse, no brother—nothing—was going to stop me.

Alek’s eyes locked on mine as he held her, our mate cradled protectively against his chest. His lips shaped the command without a sound, but the weight of his Alpha power thundered through the bond.

“Don’t. Leave. Now.”

The command scraped against my skull, every syllable like claws digging into my brain. It made me want to roar, to tear the whole building apart just to drown out his voice. Obey him? Never. Not when she was right there, trembling, soft, beautiful, mine.

My rage snapped. In two strides I reached her. Alek’s glare flared with warning, but I didn’t care. With one swift, merciless motion, I seized her shoulder and slammed her perfect body against the cold metal drawers meant for corpses. The clang echoed down the hallway like a death knell.

She crumpled to the floor, fragile and gasping, her body curling in on itself. And in that moment, something darkly satisfying unfurled inside me. So weak. So breakable. A woman like this couldn’t protect herself, couldn’t protect a pack, couldn’t even withstand the smallest taste of my strength.

Pathetic.

And yet—my blood sang. Because weakness meant she needed me. Because fragility meant she was mine to mold, mine to own, mine to keep chained beneath my will. Alek could whisper poems to her, but she would learn that only the monster had the power to keep her safe.

I smirked, watching her struggle to breathe, and the thought burned hotter than fire in my veins:

This is no Luna. This is prey. And prey belongs to the hunter.