Chapter 164 ALPHA!

Chapter 164 ALPHA!


The ruins were stone and broken walls. An old altar in the middle.  
And there, standing in the moonlight, was Ivan.

He wasn’t tied.  
He wasn’t hurt.  
He was smiling.

And next to him, on his knees, was Kane. Hands bound. Mouth gagged.  
Alive. For now.

"I was wondering when you’d get here," Ivan said. "Brother."

Alex didn’t answer. He couldn’t.  
Words were hard.  
His jaw was too wide. His teeth too sharp. The curse had him.

Ivan tilted his head. Looked Alex up and down.  
"Wow. You really let it out, huh? You don’t even look like a wolf anymore. You don’t look like anything."

Alex took a step forward. The ground cracked under his foot.

Ivan held up a hand. "Easy. Easy. Before you do something you regret."

"Let. Him. Go," Alex growled. The words were broken.

Ivan laughed. "Or what? You’ll kill me? You tried that ten years ago. Remember?"  
He walked around Kane like he was showing off a prize. "I’ve been waiting for this version of you. The cursed one. The monster. This is who you really are, Alex."

Alex lunged.

They crashed together.  
Stone broke.  
Alex hit hard, but felt no pain. The curse took it.  
He swiped. Missed.  
Ivan rolled and came up with a blade. Silver.  
He cut across Alex’s shoulder.

Alex roared.  
It hurt. But not enough.

He grabbed Ivan and threw him.  
Ivan hit a wall and laughed. "Yes! This! This is what the stories should say about you!"

Kane made a sound behind the gag.  
Alex looked at him for half a second.  
That was a mistake.

Ivan was on him again. Blade in his ribs.  
Not deep. But deep enough.

Alex stumbled back.  
Blood. Hot.  
The curse screamed at him to kill. To rip. To tear.

But through the red, through the rage, one thought stayed clear.  
_Mia. Sara. Jenna._

If he killed Ivan like this, in rage, the curse would win.  
And then who would protect them?

Alex forced himself back. Breathed.  
His claws dug into the dirt.

Ivan saw it. His smile dropped a little. "What? You going soft?"

"No," Alex said. His voice was low. Human again, for a second. "I’m going to end this. The right way."

Ivan’s eyes narrowed. "There is no right way with me, brother."

"Then I’ll make one."

And he attacked again.

The fight tore through the ruins till dawn.  
Punch after punch. Blade after claw.  
Stone turned to dust.  
Neither of them won.  
Neither of them died.

By the time the sun came up, Alex was bleeding and barely standing.  
His shirt was torn. Cuts ran down his arms and chest.  
Ivan was bleeding too. A cut over his eye. Blood on his mouth. But he was still laughing.

"You can’t finish it," Ivan said, spitting blood. "Because if you kill me now, the curse kills you too. We’re bound, little nephew.”

Alex stared at him. Chest heaving.  
The curse wanted him to finish it.  
The wolf wanted blood.

He stepped back.

Ivan’s laugh got louder. "Running away? That’s new."

Alex didn’t answer.  
He walked to Kane instead. Cut the ropes with shaking hands. Pulled the gag off.

Kane coughed. "Alpha. You’re hurt."

"I’m fine," Alex lied. "Can you walk?"

Kane nodded. But his eyes were on Ivan.

Ivan was still on the ground, watching them.  
"You think tying me up will stop me?" Ivan said. "It won’t. Nothing stops me."

Alex looked at him. Really looked.  
Years of hate……years of pain.  
And he still didn’t kill him.

"Not yet," Alex said quietly.

\---

Alex’s hands were shaking.  
Not from fear. From holding back the curse.

Ivan lay on the ground of the ruins.  
Legs tied with silver rope.  
Hands tied behind his back.  
Mouth gagged so tight he could barely breathe.  
Blood on his face. But still smiling.

"Can’t kill me," Ivan mumbled through the gag. "Curse won’t let you."

Alex didn’t answer.  
He grabbed Ivan by the collar and dragged him across the stone.  
Ivan didn’t fight. Too weak.

Kane was at the car already, holding his bleeding shoulder.  
"Alpha," Kane said. "We need to go."

Together they lifted Ivan. He was dead weight.  
They threw him in the boot.  
Thud.
Door slammed shut.

For a second, it was quiet.

Only the sound of birds. The wind through the broken walls.  
Alex’s breathing. Too loud.

Alex wiped blood from his jaw. His own and Ivan’s.  
The wound in his ribs throbbed.  
He turned to get in the driver’s seat…

BANG.

Gunshot.

It split the morning.

Alex spun.  
His body moved before his brain did. Wolf reflex.

A second shot came right after.  
Aimed at his chest.  
Missed. Hit the car door. Metal screamed and dented.

"Get down!" Kane yelled.

Alex’s eyes found her.

Seraphina.  
At the tree line. 30 feet away.  
Gun in her hand. Smoking.  
Hair wild. Eyes red. No sleep. Just hate.

She raised the gun again. Steady.

"Kane, behind the car!" Alex ordered.

But Kane didn’t move.  
He stepped in front of Alex instead.  
Put his body between the gun and his Alpha.

"Kill me," Kane said to Seraphina. Voice steady. No fear. "Shoot me. But you don’t touch him. Not again. Not after what he’s been through."

Seraphina laughed. Cold. Empty.  
"He’s a waste already," she said. "Cursed Alpha. Broken pack. Half a man. Why are you protecting him?"

Alex stepped forward. Put a hand on Kane’s shoulder.  
"Seraphina. Put the gun down."

She looked at him.  
Her eyes scanned him. The blood. The cuts. The way he stood like he was holding himself together with string.

"You killed my parents," she said. Flat. Dead. "You burned our home."

"That was Ivan," Alex said. "Not me. You know that."

"Even at this point you still chose to lie?" She shifted the gun. Now aimed at Kane’s head.  
"Move," she told him. "Or I put one in your head, then one in his."

Kane didn’t flinch. "Then do it."

"Kane," Alex said quietly. "Get out of the way."

"No," Kane said. "I failed you once. At the packhouse. I let Ivan take them.  
I won’t fail you again."

Seraphina’s jaw tightened.  
She looked tired. So tired.  
"Fine," she said.

She lowered the gun for half a second.  
And that’s when she dropped the bomb.

"You know what Kane, I think you have a lot more on your plate than playing knight for your cursed alpha,wanna know it?" she said.  

Kane didn’t answer.  
"Your true mate was never me," Seraphina said. "It was Alessia.  

The Alpha's sister.  
And Alessia already has a bullet in her chest.  
I put it there.  
She’s probably dead by now. Or half dead. Bleeding out in the cabin I left her in. Miller cabin. By the river."

The world went still.

Kane’s blood turned to ice.  
The curse in him went quiet. Shocked.

"Where is she?" His voice broke. "Where did you put her?"

"Why?" Seraphina smiled, broken. Tears in her eyes now. "So you can go save her? The mate you didn’t even know?  
The mate you ignored for five years?  
I’m doing this for my parents. Last thing I can do for them is kill everyone including the Alpha who killed my parents since Ivan failed at it."

She raised the gun again.  
Aimed at Kane this time.

"You’re in the way," she said.

Kane stood tall. Didn’t move.  
"Then shoot," he said.

Alex saw it.  
Her finger on the trigger.  
The small shake in her hand.  
Kane in front of him.  
No time to think. No time to talk.

The curse screamed move.

"No!" Alex roared.

He moved.  
Fast.  
He grabbed Kane and yanked him hard to the side.

BANG.

Pain.  
Hot. Sharp.  
Right under his ribs.

Alex grunted.  
The world tilted.  
He fell to one knee, still holding Kane.

Kane’s eyes went wide. "Alpha!"

Blood. Warm. Spreading on Alex’s shirt.  
Dark red. Fast.  
The bullet was in him.