Chapter 17 17
Damien POV
I rose before dawn, heading out to oversee the morning training session. Lucas handled most of the drills these days as my beta, but every so often, I needed to see the warriors for myself needed to make sure discipline hadn’t slipped. I had no patience for weakness. Watching them push their limits always settled my wolf, reminding him we were still unmatched, still undefeated, still feared.
“Morning, Alpha,” Lucas called as he approached, having already sent the warriors out for their long run.
“Lucas.” I acknowledged him with a curt nod, my gaze fixed on the line of bodies disappearing into the trees. A couple of them had only recently come of age too slow, too soft. They’d need serious work.
“The young ones need more training,” I growled, irritation already tightening my jaw.
“I know, Alpha,” he replied quickly. “I’ve added them to the night training as well. They’re still finding their footing.”
“We prepare for war every day,” I snapped. “If they break under pressure, they’ll be dead inside two minutes.” My wolf surged forward, my vision tinting with his color.
I was Alpha King for a reason. Discipline was not optional. Respect was not optional. Strength was not optional. I had been molded this way since childhood my wolf had surfaced earlier than most, dragged into the world by necessity.
“Yes, Alpha. Understood,” Lucas answered.
“Good. Any updates?” I turned toward the Alpha mansion, motioning for him to follow.
Lucas had been born in this pack. We’d grown up together, training side by side. If I had anything resembling a friend, it was him. He was as ruthless as I was, and he understood the stakes. Any weakness in our defense could mean devastation. That was something neither of us would tolerate.
“Yes, Alpha… it’s about the Darkvale Pack.” His voice shifted as we climbed the mansion steps.
I stopped. That was sooner than expected.
“Not here.” I jerked my head toward my office.
Once inside, I sank into the leather chair behind my desk as Lucas shut the door. He was built like me hard muscle, sharp reflexes. His hair was cropped short, like most of my warriors. I didn’t need vain men obsessed with appearances when they were meant to be crawling through mud and shadows on reconnaissance missions.
“Well?” I demanded.
“Alpha… the Darkvale Pack has declined your invitation.”
“WHAT?” The roar tore from my chest before I could rein it in.
I heard sharp footsteps pounding down the hallway her heels echoing across the wooden floor. Always heels. Useless in a fight. Useless in a shift. For show only.
“What’s going on?” Geneviève burst in, wide-eyed as if she hadn’t been eavesdropping. Lucas’s subtle eye-roll didn’t escape me. She had a talent for inserting herself where she wasn’t wanted.
I shot him a warning glare. Disrespect toward her would not be tolerated not publicly.
But I understood his frustration. Geneviève treated every situation like a battlefield, and she wasn’t gentle about collateral damage. She thought in straight lines objective, methodical, emotionally detached. Innocents, women, children caught in crossfire? Not her concern. She focused on the outcome alone.
She was everything Aurélie wasn’t.
Aurélie… she had possessed a strange compassion I never quite grasped. She approached diplomacy before violence. She didn’t push into my meetings uninvited; she waited for permission. She diffused conflict with a single phone call, her voice alone enough to calm council leaders who refused to listen to anyone else.
Geneviève brought fire.
Aurélie had brought peace.
And for the first time in years, the comparison burned.