“I don’t want you messing with witches,” Ryan snarls, and if he weren’t behind silver bars, I might knock his head against the wall. My nails dig into my palms as I attempt to anchor myself in the bare hint of pain.
“Why the hell not?” I snap. “She doesn’t even want payment, and it means you can get out of here. That you’ll be okay.”
“Ryan,” Dad cuts in, voice calm but firm. “You need to listen to your sister. This is your life we’re talking about.”
My chest swells with warmth and pride, hearing my dad having my back. I’m not alone. I’m not the only one trying to force Ryan to live, to fight for himself.
But Ryan just exhales, long and ragged. His eyes are heavy with exhaustion, but underneath that, something steadier glints. “We don’t need to involve witches.” He pushes his shoulders back, and when he looks at me, his expression is unflinching. “My wolf finally agreed to let me choose someone.”
I reel back, the world tilting sideways. “What?” My voice cracks. I glance around the room as if a female will materialize from the shadows. Luca and Dad look as surprised as I feel, judging by the raised eyebrows and slack jaws.
I’ve been trying to convince Ryan to take a chosen mate for weeks, and only now that I can find his fated mate, he is willing to choose. It doesn’t make sense.
Luca finds his voice first. “Who?”
Ryan doesn’t flinch. “My therapist. Maya.”
The silence that descends on us is heavy. Thick with disbelief and confusion so raw I can taste it.
“But she’s… human.” I say, stating the obvious. The pack won’t accept her as luna. The elders won’t let him remain as alpha if he has a human mate. The ruling from the council is clear that humans can’t be told of our existence. Unless… unless they are fated mates.
But that has never happened with a ranked wolf before. Ryan meets my gaze and stares at me for a few beats before replying. “I know.”
The quiet that follows is brutal. Dad looks as if someone’s knocked the wind out of him, shoulders slumping. Luca’s jaw flexes like he’s grinding stone.
The air feels heavier, pressing in. My mind flashes through every pack gathering, every whispered tradition, every law. My stomach knots. “The pack won’t accept her. They’ll never—”
“They’ll learn,” Ryan interrupts, voice rough but certain. His eyes drop to the floor, then lift again with something like defiance. “Or they won’t. But she’s the only one I’ve ever been able to be just me with. She doesn’t care about my rank or being alpha. She pushes me to be better. My wolf respects her because she doesn’t back down. Because she isn’t afraid to call it like it is. She makes me want to fight for myself. My wolf has settled just from talking to her.” His lips twitch with something that might be a smile. “And she’s the most stunning creature I’ve ever seen.”
I blink, stunned. I hoped therapy would help him look at things differently. Not that he would fall for the person who got him todo that. But still, there’s a raw truth to his words that cuts deeper than any political argument.
But politics still matter. They always do. “What does this mean for the pack?” I whisper. “The council will never—”
“I need to leave,” Ryan cuts in, his voice steadier now. “I want to be alpha, it’s what I was born for. But the truth is, I can’t—not without a mate. Not without someone to balance me. And she’s the only one my wolf will accept. So, I’ll go to the city. Convince Maya to agree to be my mate. Bring her back. Simple”
“What if she doesn’t want to come back here?” Luca asks. “What if she’s not interested?”
Ryan raises an eyebrow and smirks at him. “She’s either my mate, and it’ll be easy, or she’s not and I’ll convince her. While I’m gone, I need you to step up. Take on the role of alpha. At least temporarily. If you want to keep it after…” he trails off before taking a deep breath. “I won’t challenge you.”
“No.” Luca’s reply is instant, flat, unyielding. He crosses his arms over his chest, gaze hard. No hesitation, no flicker of doubt under Ryan’s scrutiny.
Ryan straightens. “If you don’t, I can’t go. And then I’ll lose my damn mind. You’ll have to put me down and take over, anyway.”
“I’m not saying you can’t go.” Luca’s voice is steel, as his gaze locks onto Ryan. “But I am saying I won’t take over as alpha. I’m a beta; I always will be. I don’t see the big picture. I can’t think of the greater good in the way an alpha needs to. I’ll always prioritize my mate above all else. Including the pack. I got warriors killed thelast time I tried to call the shots, and you know it could have been so much worse.”
My core and my pussy both clench at his words. The sureness of me being everything to him.
“And anyway,” he continues, “we have a perfectly good Alpha right here who can take over for you.”
Ryan looks at Dad, and his face softens. “I’m so glad to have you back with us, Dad. For the past few weeks, you’ve really been there for me, but…” he looks back to Luca and shakes his head. “But I can’t ask that of him. He—”
“Not him,” Luca replies, cutting Ryan off while staring at me. “No offence Alpha Elliot, you know I have a lot of respect for you. But Sofia is the obvious choice.”
“What?” I ask, blinking at him. There’s never been a female Alpha before. Not here. Not anywhere.
Luca steps closer, his voice steady and unwavering. “You’re smart, and brave, and a natural leader. You’re the one who kept us alive out there, who refused to give up on Ryan and provided a safe space for a lost and broken omega. You see the bigger picture. And I’ll follow you anywhere.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, part fear, part disbelief. My mind spins—every council law, every tradition, every story drilled into me since childhood screams that this is impossible. But the way Luca looks at me… the way Dad regards me like he’s seeing me clearly for the first time…
