Chapter 30 Restructuring
JAIME
I cleared my throat and tried to wipe the tears I still had on my cheeks. I’d already made a fool of myself plenty in his pack. No need to do it again.
“Alpha Jaime.” His voice was cold. “I’m here on behalf of Arya.”
I stood quickly, trying to compose myself. “Is she okay? Did something—”
“She’s fine. Better than fine, actually.” He stepped into the room. “She wanted me to collect some personal items she left behind. Letters from her grandmother, mostly. A few photos.”
“Of course. Whatever she needs.”
Cyrus moved to the dresser, carefully packing the items into a box. “You know, I’ve heard the stories about you two. How the pack said she was weak. How you let them mistreat her.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did. By not stopping it, you condoned it.” He turned to face me. “But seeing you here, crying over her sweater like a lovesick pup, I almost feel sorry for you.”
“I don’t want your pity.” I snapped.
“Good. Because you don’t deserve it.” He picked up the box. “What you deserve is exactly what you got. A failed marriage, a pack falling apart, and the knowledge that you destroyed the best thing in your life.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” Syrus’s eyes were hard. “Because from where I’m standing, you look like a man who only wants her now that she’s unavailable. Now that she’s powerful and claimed by a king. Where was this devastation when she was here? When she needed you?”
He was right. God, he was right.
“I was a fool.”
“Yes, you were. And now she’s moved on. She’s happy. Healing. Becoming who she was always meant to be.” He headed for the door. “Do yourself a favor, Alpha Jaime. Let her go. Don’t make this harder by trying to win back something you never valued in the first place.”
“What if I can’t? What if I—” My voice cracked. “What if she was my actual mate and I was just too blind to feel it?”
Cyrus paused. “Then you’ll have to live with that. Because Arya deserves someone who saw her worth from the beginning. Not someone who only realized it after she was gone.”
I watched him as he took pieces of Arya that I had planned on holding onto. And I couldn’t even fight him as he left with them. With her. Once again. Leaving me hollow and empty,
I sank back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
My wolf was howling internally, clawing at my consciousness. Demanding I fix this. Demanding I fight for her.
But how do you fight an eight-hundred-year-old Lycan King? How do you compete with destiny and prophecy and a mate bond that was probably far stronger than anything I’d ever given her?
My phone buzzed with a text from my Beta. My new Beta, since Ryker had officially resigned and left with Arya.
Council wants a meeting. They’re demanding you choose a new Luna ASAP. Elira is pushing hard.
I stared at the message, fury building.
The council. The same council that had pushed me to get rid of Arya in the first place. That had deemed her unworthy because she couldn’t shift, couldn’t handle the cold, couldn’t give me an heir fast enough.
They’d been wrong about everything.
And I’d been stupid enough to listen.
I typed back:
Tell the council I’ll choose a Luna when I’m damn well ready. And if they push, they can find a new Alpha.
It was a bluff. Mostly. But I was done letting others dictate my life.
Done making decisions based on politics instead of what actually mattered.
Even if it was too late to fix what I’d broken. I could at least try to not make more mistakes.
That night, I called an emergency pack meeting.
Everyone assembled in the main hall, confusion on their faces. I’d never called a meeting like this, unscheduled and mandatory.
I stood on the platform where I’d given countless speeches as Alpha, looking out at the faces of my pack.
The pack that had failed Arya as much as I had.
“I have something to say,” I began, my voice carrying through the space. “And I need all of you to listen.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“Five years ago, my grandmother chose a woman named Arya to be my mate. To be your Luna. Many of you thought it was a poor choice. An orphan with no wolf, no strength, no real value to the pack.”
More murmurs. Some guilty faces.
“You were wrong. WE were wrong. All of us.” I let that sink in. “Arya held this pack together. She managed our alliances, our trade agreements, our training schedules. She solved disputes, supported our warriors, and worked tirelessly to make this pack stronger. And how did we repay her?”
Silence now. Heavy, uncomfortable silence.
“We mocked her. We questioned her worth. We made her feel invisible in her own home. I made her feel invisible.” My voice roughened. “I let you disrespect her. I let Elira undermine her. I let the council pressure me into planning her replacement. And when she finally had enough and left, I had the audacity to feel betrayed.”
Someone in the back shifted, clearing their throat.
“Three days ago, I signed divorce papers. I ended our marriage because a Lycan King demanded it. Because Arya is his mate. His truemate, the kind that transcends politics and pack expectations.” I laughed bitterly. “She spent five years trying to be a good Luna, a good wife, and I gave her nothing. And now she’s with someone who sees her value immediately.”
“Alpha,” one of the council members stood, “this is highly inappropriate—”
“Sit down.” The Alpha command in my voice made him drop instantly. “I’m not finished.”
I looked around the room, making eye contact with as many pack members as possible.
“This pack has a choice to make. We can continue as we are, focused on tradition, on bloodlines, on power for power’s sake. Or we can learn from our mistakes. We can become the kind of pack that Arya tried to build. One where worth isn’t measured by strength alone. Where compassion and intelligence matter as much as dominance.”
“And if we don’t want that?” Elira’s father spoke up, his voice challenging.
“Then you’re welcome to leave. Challenge me for Alpha position. Call for a vote. Whatever you want.” I met his eyes. “But I’m done making decisions based on your expectations instead of what’s right.”
“This is about her,” Elira’s father sneered. “You’re letting emotions cloud your judgment—”
“My judgment was clouded when I listened to you instead of my own wolf!” I roared. “When I valued council approval over my mate’s happiness! When I let politics destroy the one good thing in my life!”
The hall was dead silent.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I continued, calmer now. “We’re restructuring. Every policy, every tradition that hurt Arya or held her back. We’re examining it. Women in this pack will have equal opportunities for leadership positions. Strength will be valued, yes, but so will intelligence, compassion, and innovation.”