Chapter 123 I KNOW YOUR SECRET
LANCE’S POV
My room door slams harder than it should when I enter.
My hands curl into fists at my sides with my claws threatening to break through skin as the rage spills all over.
“Unbelievable.”
The word comes out as a hiss followed by an uncontrollable low growl.
I pace around the room dragging a hand through my hair and tugging at it as if that will somehow ground the storm clawing its way through my chest.
“I gave you time,” I snapped into the empty room.
Years actually.
Years of restraint and of stepping back.
Years of watching from a distance while he buried himself in grief over a dead mate that didn't want him as much as I did.
I let him have that.
I let him mourn and heal.
A humorless laugh rips from my throat.
“And this is what I get?”
Some nobody, some stray mutt of an Omega appears out of nowhere and suddenly Ragnar forgets everything we've shared?
For him?
My jaw clenches so hard it aches.
“No.”
The word is final and absolute.
“I don’t accept that.”
I turn sharply, knocking over a chair without care. When it hits the ground with a dull crash I barely register the sound.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
I was supposed to come back when the time was right.
When Ragnar had finally let go and would be willing to forgive my actions.
When he was ready or at least… available.
I exhale harshly, pacing the room again.
“I waited,” I muttered. “I gave you the grace of years Ragnar.”
And he couldn’t even–
He's been celibate all this while only having the occasional fuck buddies so what changed? Why now?
My thoughts cut off, twisting into something darker and uglier.
“And then he just comes in,” I continue with my voice dropping. “Out of nowhere and take what was mine like it was nothing.”
My lips curl.
“No.”
I shake my head once, sharply.
“That doesn’t stand for me.”
A knock sounds at the door as my head snaps toward it instantly.
Annoyance flashes hot and immediate in me.
Who the fuck is that?!
Whoever it is, they picked the absolute wrong time to see me.
Another knock sounds and this one is more insistent.
I stalk toward the door with irritation on my every step, and yank it open without bothering to mask any of my annoys.
“What–”
The word cuts off from my mouth because it’s not just any random person.
It’s him.
Elder Torin.
He stands there like he's perfectly composed with his hands folded neatly behind his back.
His posture after so many years is still straight and his expression calm in that infuriating, measured way of his.
Like he’s above everything and that nothing would ever rattle him.
My irritation doesn’t fade the slightest and if anything, it actually spikes at his presence.
“What do you want?” I ask flatly.
Torin’s gaze flickers over me as if he's assessing me
“I came to see you,” he says simply.
“Of course you did,” I mutter, stepping back just enough to let him in without actually inviting him in.
He walks in anyway like he was expecting me to act this way.
The door closes behind him with a quieter click this time, but the tension in the room only thickens as I turn to face him fully.
“You’re the one who wanted me to wait this long,” I say, cutting straight through whatever polite pretense he might have been planning.
“You’re the one who set all of this in motion.”
My eyes narrow slightly.
“So tell me, Elder–”
I let the title drip from my mouth with just enough disdain to make the point clear.
“–what exactly was the reason?”
Torin doesn’t react the slightest.
He looks bored and for all I care, he looks like he's looking for someone else.
“You’ve been careless,” he says after a moment of staring at me.
My brows draw together slightly.
“What?”
“You moved too soon,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken at all. “You should have waited and not directly approached Ragnar.”
“At least not until after the challenge.”
My expression darkens instantly.
“Don’t presume to tell me what I should have done!” I snap, stepping closer. “You don’t know me old man.”
Torin’s gaze sharpens slightly.
“Oh, I know enough about you.”
Something in his tone is grating and deeply annoying.
“I’m an Alpha,” I say, my voice growing louder “In my own right. You would do well to remember that, and tread carefully, old man.”
Torin exhales softly almost in disappointment after a brief moment of silence.
“You should not even dare bring up power right now,” he says.
My jaw tightens.
“In my prime,” he continues calmly,
“I could best even the strongest of wolves, you however cannot.”
A pause as his eyes lock onto mine.
“And now?”
There’s something in the way he says it almost deliberately like he's waiting for the big finish.
“You only sit in that Alpha position because you killed the former Alpha.”
The words land like a strike to me and my body stills completely.
I can feel a cold air spreading through my chest, slow and creeping its way to my spine.
“That never happened,” I said immediately.
Torin’s expression doesn’t change.
“Please,” he says lightly. “I might be an old man but do not insult me.”
My gaze flickers for just a second in calculations and he catches it.
“I have spies in almost every pack,” he continues. “I know exactly what happened.”
I force my expression back into place, my shoulders straightening slightly as I push the reaction down.
Control, I need to be calm.
If he hasn't rattled me out, then there's a reason he needs me here.
“What do you want?” I ask again but colder this time. “Because you didn’t come here just to talk or threaten me.”
Torin watches me for a long moment.
“I invited you here,” he says slowly, “because you serve a purpose for me..”
I don’t like the way that sounds.
At all.
“And what purpose is that?” I ask.
His answer comes without hesitation.
“I want you to separate them.”
My eyes narrow.
“Ragnar and Sebastian.”
“And why,” I ask slowly, “would I do that for you?”
Torin’s lips curve faintly to something that's not quite a smile but more like an evil grin.
“Because you already want to.”
He’s not wrong and that’s the problem.
But what would he be getting from this?
“And because,” he continues, “you are one of the few who might actually succeed in doing it.”
A pause.
“But.”
The word cuts through the moment cleanly.
“Due to… recent developments I did not foresee or know,” Torin adds, his tone shifting just slightly, “that plan will have to be postponed for now.”
My irritation spikes again.
“What?”
His gaze sharpens.
“Its just until the challenge begins, I have a plan.”