The Alpha's Temptation

derrick POV(continued)

The moment I stepped out of the car, the guards straightened like their spines were being pulled by invisible strings. Liam followed a step behind me, matching my pace, but even he couldn’t soften the intensity rolling off me.

The headquarters doors swung open before I touched them.

Inside, the atmosphere shifted instantly.

Conversations died mid-sentence.

Footsteps halted.

Every pair of eyes dropped to the floor.

Good.

Fear kept the weak in line.

My executive assistant hurried forward, hands trembling around a stack of files. “A-Alpha—good morning. Your schedule is—”

I walked past her without slowing. “Put it on my desk.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Staff scrambled out of my path as I strode through the lobby, the click of my shoes echoing off the marble floor like a warning. Even the omega at the reception desk ducked her head so fast I thought she might faint.

I didn’t stop. I didn’t acknowledge anyone.

But everyone felt me.

My presence.

My power.

The pressure in the air that said: Submit or get crushed.

By the time I reached the elevator, two senior pack members were already waiting. They bowed deep, but their heartbeats were loud—too loud.

Nervous.

Guilty.

Annoying.

I stepped into the elevator. They hesitated, unsure whether they were allowed inside with me in this mood.

I raised an eyebrow. “Get in or get out of my sight.”

They rushed in.

Liam stifled a smirk.

The doors closed.

Silence again—tense and suffocating for them, comfortable for me.

Halfway up, one of the men cleared his throat. “Alpha… there’s a council meeting today at eleven. The elders… insist you attend.”

I didn’t bother turning my head. “Insist?”

“Yes, Alpha. They… they said it concerns the Blood Moon.”

My jaw twitched.

Of course it did.

Everyone suddenly wanted to remind me of a prophecy they barely understood.

“Cancel it,” I said.

“But—”

I looked at him.

Just one look.

His voice died instantly. His wolf submitted so quickly I felt the ripple of fear through the confined space.

Liam stepped in before I could say more. “Reschedule it. Afternoon.”

He glanced at me. I didn’t object.

When the elevator reached my floor, the doors slid open, and the hallway outside fell into a dead silence. My executives stood waiting—lined up like soldiers facing judgment.

Good.

At least they remembered who ruled this pack.

I walked into my office—the largest room in the building, overlooking the entire territory. The moment I entered, the windows dimmed automatically, adjusting to my aura.

Liam shut the door behind us.

I stood at the window

Liam approached quietly. “Derrick… your power is changing.”

I didn’t move. “How?”

“It’s stronger. Darker. You can feel it, can’t you?”

I finally turned, eyes cold. “I feel everything.”

He swallowed. “It’s the Blood Moon. She’s getting closer to you.”

I didn’t flinch.

But the air did.

A deep crack of energy rippled through the office light—

quiet, violent, invisible.

Liam stepped back. “Derrick…”

My eyes darkened, wolf pushing forward for a moment—

fighting, clawing, reacting to something it sensed beyond the horizon.

Something coming.

Something approaching.

Something inevitable.

I steadied myself, breath slow, controlled.

“I’m not afraid,” I said.

“No,” Liam replied softly. “But everything around you is starting to be.”Liam stayed quiet for a moment, watching me like he was measuring how far he could push before he crossed a line. Then he exhaled and spoke carefully.

“Derrick… an arranged marriage won’t kill you.”

My jaw tightened. “Don’t start.”

“I’m not your parents,” he said calmly. “I’m your beta. Your friend. I’m telling you the truth because no one else can.”

He stepped closer. “Mating with the girl—whoever she is—doesn’t mean you have to love her. It doesn’t chain you. You can still live however the hell you want.”

I turned away, staring out the window again. “I’m not tying myself to someone I don’t want.”

“You don’t have to want her,” he countered. “You don’t even have to like her. You just need to mate her to break the curse.”

A dangerous heat flickered in my chest.

“So you want me to mark a stranger?”

“I want you alive,” Liam snapped, losing his usual calm. “I want you leading this pack. I want to stand by your side for the next fifty years—not bury you because you were too damn stubborn to do the one thing that could save you.”

I didn’t respond.

The silence stretched—heavy, pulsing, charged.

Liam dragged a hand through his hair. “Derrick, listen to me. Mating her doesn’t chain you to a marriage. It doesn’t control you. You can still have your life, your rules, your women—whatever you want. You only need her once. Just enough to break the curse.”

My wolf growled inside me, low and hostile.

“You’re suggesting I use her,” I said.

“I’m suggesting you survive,” he shot back.

More silence.

He stepped forward again, voice softer. “Your parents are panicking. The seer is panicking. The whole damn pack is terrified. But me?”

His eyes met mine. “I’m just trying to keep my best friend alive.”

I stared at him long enough for the air to chill.

Finally, I said, “Did my mother put you up to this?”

Liam laughed under his breath. “No. She knows better than to ask me to talk sense into you.”

“Then why the hell are you doing it?”

“Because you listen to me,” he said simply. “Not them.”

I let out a slow breath—anger, pride, and something I didn’t want to name tightening inside my chest.

He wasn’t wrong.

Annoying as he was, he wasn’t wrong.

The curse.

The prophecy.

The blood moon counting down like a ticking clock in the back of my skull.

And the truth I hated the most:

My wolf wasn’t stable anymore.

I turned fully toward him.

“Fine.”

Liam blinked. “Fine… what?”

“Fine,” I repeated. “I’ll look for her.”

Relief washed across his face, but then he stiffened, cautious. “And the mating?”

My voice dropped to a cold, deadly calm. “If she’s truly the one tied to this curse… then I’ll do what I have to do.”

Liam nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

I stepped closer, eyes sharp as blades.

“But let me make one thing clear.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not doing this for fate.”

My voice was ice. “I’m doing this so nothing—not a curse, not a prophecy—ever tries to control me again.”

Liam swallowed and nodded.

That was enough.

For now.

---

Liam's_ POV

Watching him stand there, jaw tight, shoulders squared like the weight of the entire world rested on him, I could feel the storm inside him before he even spoke. Derrick Evans didn’t do doubt. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t bend. But right now… something was cracking.

I exhaled slowly. “Derrick… an arranged marriage won’t cure anything. You can still live as you want. You just need to mate with the girl to break the curse.”

He turned, eyes like knives, and I felt that familiar alpha force that made everyone else tremble. “Did my mother put you up to this?”

“No,” I said quickly, keeping my voice calm. “She knows better than to ask me to talk sense into you. I’m doing this because you’ll listen to me. Not them.”

He stared at me for what felt like an eternity. I could see the wolf inside him stir, restless and sharp, feeling the pull of the Blood Moon, feeling the weight of fate trying to corner him.

“You’re suggesting I use her,” he finally said, low and dangerous.

“I’m suggesting you survive,” I snapped. My voice was tense—not because I was afraid, but because I knew how stubborn he could be when his pride got involved. “I want to stand by your side for another fifty years, not bury you because you refused to do the one thing that could save you.”

The silence that followed was heavy. My heart thudded—partly because of him, partly because I was terrified of what would happen if he refused.

Then… slowly… finally… he said it. “Fine.”

My chest unclenched slightly. Relief, yes—but caution too. He’d agreed, but Derrick Evans never agreed lightly. I knew that.

“Fine… what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

“I’ll look for her,” he said, voice ice-cold. Then, a pause. “…If she’s truly the one tied to this curse, I’ll do what I have to do.”

I nodded, feeling the tension in the room finally ease… a little. But I kept my eyes on him, always on him, because Derrick wasn’t just an alpha. He was my best friend, my beta, the wolf I’d followed since we were kids.

And now, more than ever, I knew he needed me. Not to save him—he never needed saving—but to make sure he didn’t destroy himself before the Blood Moon came.

“You’re doing the right thing,” I said quietly.

He stepped closer, eyes cutting into mine. “I’m not doing this for fate. I’m doing this so nothing—not a curse, not a prophecy—ever controls me again.”

I swallowed. That was Derrick Evans, all right. Untouchable. Dominant. Ruthless. And yet… somehow, just enough to remind me why I followed him all these years.

And I would. For however long it took