Chapter 153 THE CHALLENGE
Chapter 153 THE CHALLENGE
The chamber smelled like old stone and older blood.
Torches lined the walls. No windows. No escape.
Twelve chairs in a half circle. Twelve elders. All of them were older than Alex’s father.
All of them looked at him like he was already dead.
Alex stood in the center of the floor.
Mia on his right, holding Sara. Sara wouldn’t stop crying.
Kane behind Mia, hands at his sides. Face blank.
Seraphina to the left, standing with Ivan’s people. Eyes on the floor.
And 40 feet back, in the shadow of the doorway, Alessia.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
But she was.
Because Ivan told her Kane was hers.
Because Ivan told her Seraphina put a spell on him.
Because all Alessia wanted was Kane to look at her the way he was looking at Mia right now.
No one saw her. Except Alex.
His eyes flicked past the elders, caught her in the dark, and moved on.
“Alessandro De Luca,” Elder Varro said. His voice cracked like dry wood. “You were summoned.”
“I came,” Alex said.
“You brought them,” Elder Thorne spat. Pointed at Mia and Sara. “The Caruso girl. The abomination.”
Sara cried louder.
“She has a name,” Alex said. “Sara.”
The room murmured. Wolves. Always murmuring.
Elder Varro raised a hand. Silence.
“We have heard the accusations,” he said. “We have seen the proof. We have heard the pack.”
He leaned forward. “You have two choices, Alpha.”
Alex didn’t answer.
“Choice one,” Varro continued. “You leave. Tonight. Alone. Abdicate the title. Sign the papers. And your family stays. Under the protection of the next Alpha. They will be safe. Fed. Honored.”
“And choice two?” Alex asked.
“You leave with them,” Marek said. “And you put them all in danger. The pack will not follow a murderer. The Council will not recognize a Luna with Caruso blood. You will be the first Alpha in the history of Black Fang to be stoned to death by your own people.”
Stoned.
The word sat in the air like a blade.
Mia shifted Sara. Whispered to her. “Shh. Shh, baby.”
Kane didn’t move. But his eyes were on the door. On Alessia. On everything but Alex.
Alex looked at all of them. Then he looked at Seraphina.
“Are you sure you want to take that path with Ivan?” he asked. Quiet.
Seraphina’s head snapped up.
Ivan stepped forward. “Face the matter at hand, Alessandro. Don’t try to manipulate the girl.”
Alex ignored him. “Seraphina. I’m asking you. Are you sure?”
She didn’t talk.
“Second time,” Alex said. “Are you sure you chose that path?”
Her jaw tightened. Still nothing.
“Third time,” Alex said. His voice dropped. “Are you sure?”
Silence.
Alex nodded once. “Then you’ve taken your path.”
He turned back to the Council.
“I wanted to go,” he said. “On my own. To live a peaceful life with my family. No throne. No pack. No blood.”
He gestured to Mia. To Sara. “I wanted that for years.”
Marek scoffed. “Then go.”
“But you won’t let me,” Alex said. “You want it bloody. You want a fight. Because if there’s no fight, things don’t settle. If there’s no blood, the pack doesn’t remember who’s in charge.”
He took one step forward.
“I avoided going feral for years,” he said. “When you chased me out. When you told me my mate was dead. When I had to live with the idea that I killed her father.”
His eyes went to Mia. “I didn’t. But I believed it. And I stayed sane for her.”
Sara was screaming now. Full lungs. Wolf-loud.
Alex didn’t flinch.
“Now I found her,” he said. “Now I have her. Now I have a daughter.”
He looked at every elder, one by one. “And I will go feral. I will die. I will burn this mountain to ash before I let any of you touch them.”
“I’m an Alpha,” he said. “Not because of my name. Because I protect what’s mine.”
For three seconds, no one breathed.
Then Elder Coren stood. Youngest of them. 60 years old.
“You call her your mate,” he said. “Yet you haven’t marked her. She hasn’t marked you. Why is that, Alessandro?”
The question hit like a punch.
“Is it because you’re guilty?” Coren pressed. “Is it because you killed her father and you can’t stand to claim the daughter?”
The room erupted.
“Answer him!”
“Tell us!”
“Liar!”
Mia’s face went white.
Alex didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on Coren.
“No,” he said. “It’s not because I’m guilty.”
“Then why?” Coren demanded. “A true mate bond marks. It’s instinct. It’s law.”
Alex was quiet for a long time. Sara was still crying. Mia was rocking her, but her eyes were on Alex now.
“Because she didn’t ask for it,” Alex said finally. “Because after everything Ivan did to her, after everything I did to her by leaving, I wasn’t going to take that choice from her too.”
He turned to Mia.
“I was waiting for you to ask,” he said. Soft. Only for her. “I’ve been waiting 12 years.”
Mia stared at him. Tears in her eyes. Sara in her arms.
In the back, Alessia made a sound. Small. Broken.
Kane didn’t turn.
Ivan laughed. “Sentimental. Pathetic.”
Alex turned on him. “You want to talk about law, Ivan? Let’s talk about law.”
He pulled a file from inside his coat. Threw it on the stone floor. Papers scattered.
“Autopsy report. Marco Caruso. Cause of death: blunt force trauma. Not a car accident.”
Another paper. “Bank transfer. 2 million. From an offshore account owned by Ivanov Bratva. To the driver of the truck.”
Another. “Phone records. You. To the driver. 12 minutes before impact.”
The murmurs stopped.
“I didn’t kill him,” Alex said. “You did. Then you pinned it on me. Then you used it for years to keep me running.”
Ivan’s smile didn’t drop. “Forgeries. Easy to make.”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “But you know what’s not a forgery?”
He pulled out his phone. Hit play.
Audio. Static. Then Ivan’s voice.
“Make sure the Caruso girl never talks. And if she has the kid, bring me the kid.”
Recorded 3 days ago. In the greenhouse.
Ivan’s face finally changed.
“That’s enough,” Varro said, standing. “This is chaos.”
“No,” Alex said. “This is truth. And you don’t want it. Because if you admit the truth, you have to admit you’ve been following a murderer for years.”
He walked to Mia. Took Sara from her arms. The baby quieted instantly against his chest.
“I’m not leaving,” Alex said to the Council. “I’m not abdicating. I’m not giving them up.”
He looked at Ivan. “And you don’t get her. You don’t get her. Not by law. Not by force. Not ever.”
Ivan took a step forward. Dante moved with him.
“Then we do this the old way,” Ivan said. “Challenge.”
The word echoed.
“To the death,” Ivan added. “You and me. Right here. For the title. For the pack. For her.”
Alex bounced Sara once. Handed her back to Mia.
“Okay,” he said.
Mia grabbed his wrist. “Alex—”
“I’ve been running from this since I was very young,” he said. “I’m done running.”
He turned to the Council. “Rules. No weapons. No outside interference. To the death or surrender.”
Varro looked sick. “You understand if you lose—”
“I know what happens if I lose,” Alex cut him off. “They get taken.”
He looked at Mia. “I won’t lose.”
In the shadows, Alessia stepped forward. “Kane,” she whispered.
Kane didn’t answer.
Ivan smiled. “Then we begin at dawn. In the circle.”
He turned to leave. Stopped. Looked at Seraphina.
“Come.”
She followed. Without looking at Alex. Without looking at Mia.
The elders filed out. Whispering. Arguing.
Only Kane stayed. And Alessia. And Alex. And Mia.
Kane walked to Mia. “Are you okay?”
Mia nodded. Didn’t look at him.
Alessia watched from the doorway. Tears on her face.
Alex put a hand on Mia’s cheek. “You heard what I said.”
“I heard,” Mia whispered.
“Do you want it?” he asked. “The mark. Me. All of it.”
Mia looked at Sara. Then at Alex.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ve always wanted it. I was just scared.”
Alex closed his eyes. Relief hit him like a wave.
“Then after,” he said. “After dawn.”
He kissed her forehead. Then Sara’s.
Outside, the pack was gathering.
Torches. Weapons. Whispers.
Stoned to death. First in history.
Alex walked to the door. Stopped next to Alessia.
“You’re better than this,” he said to her. Low. “And you’re better than him.”
Alessia shook her head. “He said Kane is my mate.”
Alex looked at Kane. Then back at her.
“Then ask him,” he said. “Not Ivan.”
He walked out.
Dawn was in 4 hours.
The circle was already being drawn in the dirt.