5
1713 คำ
CELESTE
The mansion stood at the heart of the Pack, just as I remembered it, sprawling, cold, beautiful, and lifeless. My stomach twisted. Word had spread fast. I could feel the stares from the guards at the gates.
Knox drove through the gates with the calm arrogance of a man who knew no one could stop him. The guards stepped aside, their heads bowed, though whether it was for him or for me, I didn’t know anymore. By the time we got to the courtyard, the pack house was buzzing.
Alpha James Callahan, my father, stood at the foot of the mansion steps. His silver hair gleamed under the porch light, his sharp jaw and cold green eyes were a mirror of the man I’d spent years trying not to become. His hands were clasped behind his back, posture straight as a wall. He hadn’t aged as much as I expected. But he was still every inch the formidable Alpha.
Knox parked the car and got out first. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My fingers gripped the edge of my seat as though I could anchor myself there forever.
“Out,” Knox said quietly.
I shot him a glare but didn’t move.
He came around and opened my door himself.
“I can walk on my own,” I muttered.
“I know,” he said.
He stepped back, letting me pass first. For a second, I caught a flicker of something in his expression, regret, maybe or worst pity. I wasn’t sure which was worse. My legs trembled slightly. Knox walked beside me, silent but radiating that same controlled dominance he always carried. My father’s gaze flicked between us as we approached. His lips pressed into a thin line.
The sound of his footsteps drew my attention. My father stopped dead at the top of the courtyard steps. His eyes widened. His mouth parted, then closed again.
“Celeste?”
I stood frozen, every muscle screaming to run. To turn and vanish before he reached me. But my feet wouldn’t move.
Knox’s hand brushed my shoulder briefly and then fell away.
“Alpha Callahan,” he said formally.
My father’s gaze snapped to him, then back to me. His eyes were glassy, too bright. “You, I thought you were gone.”
He started down the steps, slow, almost afraid. “My girl…”
The sound of it, my girl, shattered the last of my composure. I backed away, shaking my head.
“Don’t.” My voice came out raw. “Don’t call me that.”
He stopped short, pain flickering across his features.
Knox’s eyes were on me, but I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t look at either of them.
“Alpha Morrison.” My Father’s tone suddenly became clipped and polite.
“Alpha Callahan.” Knox inclined his head in greeting, formal and cool.
They shook hands like two predators assessing each other.
Then my father’s eyes fell on me again, and all the emotions had vanished. “Celeste.”
“Father.”
He studied me, from the faint scars on my arms to the pallor of my face.
“Where did you find her?” he asked Knox, like I wasn’t standing right there.
“At the edge of the forests in my territory,” Knox replied evenly. “She was injured and poisoned. I brought her in before the toxin took hold.”
My father’s eyes sharpened. “Poisoned?”
Knox nodded. “Severe dose. Enough to kill a dozen wolves.”
I felt my father’s gaze settle on me again. “And you have no idea who it was?”
I said nothing.
He sighed, the sound full of disappointment, the same tone he used to take when I was a child who’d failed another training test. “You always did have a talent for attracting trouble.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood.
“She needs rest,” Knox said stiffly.
“She’ll have it,” my father replied, his expression unreadable. Then he added, “For now.”
Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.
He dismissed the guards with a flick of his hand, and suddenly it was just the three of us in the courtyard, the air charged with things unsaid.
“I’ll take her inside,” Knox offered.
My father raised a hand. “Not yet.”
Knox frowned slightly. “With respect”
“This is my daughter,” my father cut in. “And in my house, I make the terms.”
Knox’s jaw ticked, but he said nothing.
I looked between them, two powerful Alphas locking horns, both too proud to bend. I wanted to scream at both of them.
My father’s gaze returned to me. “You look like hell.”
“Nice to see you too,” I said dryly.
For a second, I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Then it was gone. “Ten years, Celeste. Ten years without a word. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”
I looked away. “You mean your reputation.”
His eyes darkened. “Watch your tone.”
I laughed bitterly. “Still giving orders, I see.”
“Still needing them, apparently.”
That silenced me. The sting of truth in his words cut deeper than I wanted to admit.
“Enough.” His voice softened slightly. “You’ve been through enough already. You’ll stay here tonight, after we discuss your future.”
The way he said ‘future’ made my skin crawl.
Knox shifted beside me. “She needs a lot of rest. She just got medical attention.”
“She’ll have it,” my father said again, cutting him off. “But first, she’ll hear my offer.”
“Offer?” I repeated, frowning.
He nodded once. “You left this Pack, Celeste. You abandoned your birthright, your responsibilities, your people. But I’m willing to take you back and reinstate you as my heir on one condition.”
A hollow laugh escaped me. “Of course. There’s always a condition.”
He ignored the jab. “You have two hours to decide. After that, the offer expires.”
The air left my lungs. “You’re giving me a deadline?”
“You gave me ten years of silence,” he said flatly. “Consider this mercy.”
My nails bit into my palms. “What’s the condition?”
He didn’t hesitate. “You’ll marry Alpha Knox Morrison.”
The world stopped.
At first, I thought I’d misheard him.
“You’re joking,” I said slowly.
“I never joke about Pack matters,” my father replied. “It’s simple. You marry him, and you reclaim your title. You refuse, and you’re no longer my daughter.”
My chest tightened painfully. “You’re throwing me to the first Alpha who’ll have me. Again.”
“Watch it,” Knox warned under his breath.
I ignored him. “This is insane, Father. You can’t just decide my life like this. Not again.”
He looked utterly unfazed. “You seem to forget, child, that this was the plan from the start.”
“What?”
He folded his arms. “The man you were betrothed to ten years ago, the one you ran away from, was Knox Morrison.”
My mind reeled. “What?”
“You were meant to seal an alliance between Dark Vine and Grey Storm. Your disappearance cost both Packs dearly politically and financially. That breach nearly destroyed what we built.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You’re saying this was all arranged? That I was supposed to,” I turned to Knox, fury burning hot through my veins. “You knew?”
He didn’t answer.
“Answer me!”
He met my gaze finally, his eyes unreadable. “I found out after you disappeared.”
“Convenient,” I spat. “And you just stood there, watching him barter my life again?”
His jaw tightened, but he stayed silent. That silence was louder than any words could’ve been.
My father exhaled slowly. “This isn’t personal, Celeste. It’s business. The Packs need unity, and the Goddess seems to have chosen to correct the mistake you made.”
“By chaining me to him?”
“By restoring what was broken,” he said simply.
I wanted to scream, but the fury in my throat came out as a cold and hollow laugh. “You’ve always been a businessman first, Alpha. Never a father.”
His eyes flickered, but his voice remained calm. “You have until 4 pm to decide. If you accept, walk through that door.” He nodded toward the mansion. “If not… the gates are open. You may leave and never return.”
He turned to Knox. “Lunch is ready inside. Join me.”
Without waiting for a reply, he walked back toward the house. The silence he left behind was suffocating.
I stared at Knox. “Say something.”
He looked at me for a long time. Finally, he said quietly, “It’s your choice, Celeste.”
“My choice?” I laughed bitterly. “You’re really going to stand there and pretend you had no part in this?”
“I didn’t plan this,” he said, voice low. “But I can’t undo it either.”
“Of course you can’t.” I turned away, my chest burning. “Because this benefits you, doesn’t it? The great Alpha Morrison gets his alliance, his Luna, his leverage.”
His silence was answer enough.
“Go enjoy your lunch, Alpha,” I hissed. “I wouldn’t want to ruin your appetite.”
He flinched almost imperceptibly, then turned and followed my father into the mansion, leaving me standing in the courtyard.
The gates loomed behind me. Freedom. Or whatever was left of it.
But my legs wouldn’t move. My heart thundered against my ribs, torn between rage and exhaustion. Ten years of running, of surviving, of fighting to be free, and in one afternoon, they’d dragged me back into the same chains.
The sky darkened, and I stood there until the first drops of rain began to fall.
- ผู้เขียน
