Chapter 54 AUDACIOUS WOLF
RAGNAR'S POV
The challenge. Oh goddess, the challenge I never wanted but I can’t avoid.
I agreed to it.
Or rather I had to, or they’d have branded me as a coward and claimed the moon blessing was waning because my focus was split by an Omega.
But agreeing to it means that Sebastian, my Sebastian, my mate who's very young will be expected to fight.
An Omega thrown into an arena with rival pack champions would kill him nevermind the rules of not killing.
Everyone now knows who is to me so they'll all be gunning for blood or something that'll hurt me.
Lance orchestrated this masterfully. He wants Sebastian to be exposed, humiliated and broken by the guards of every Alpha who resents my title.
He knows they'll want something to compromise me with, something that'll assure them all then even if I hold the title and power, the great Ragnar can still be brought to his knees by a boy half his age.
And now I walk into my own bedroom to find my father shouting at him, naked and defiant, I'm in shock.
The wolf shouting back at a powerful wolf, my father, was anything but weak.
He wasn't like anything I'd expected and from our mind, I can feel that even Yurik is also shocked.
When I turn around, he’s already dressed with my much larger tunic hanging loose on his slimmer frame like a gown.
I realize it's covering the marks I left last night and mild disappointment flickers through me before I can stamp it out.
I wanted to see more.
I wanted to linger on the bruises from my teeth and the hickeys all over his skin but it was all now covered.
But then, the scent hits me harder.
It doesn't smell like something that happened yesterday.
It smells fresh.
Like today.
Sebastian smells like… he just had sex.
The realization hits me almost in a funny way as I raise a brow.
Clearly they didn’t wait for me or anything. They took care of it themselves.
I'm not expecting Sebastian to do so especially in broad daylight so my bet is that his wolf took care of it.
I remember his name now.
I think it's Alisander?
But the thought of what he was doing on my bed stirs a possessive growl in my chest that I swallow down.
I catch myself and give myself a mental tirade of what's happening.
There are bigger things at stake than my cock’s disappointment right now.
The pack is fracturing, challenges are coming and my father’s disapproval is like the cherry on the icing.
I try to make my voice gentle as I slowly break the news to him.
“Sebastian, no Alisander? There’s something you need to know. The elders , well one of the elders, Torin… forged my seal and called a summit of Alphas without my knowledge. And they're all here now and insisting on a challenge.”
Alisander tilts his head, his brows lifting in curiosity mixed with suspicion. “A challenge?”
I nod, forcing myself to be calm despite the storm raging inside of me.
“A friendly one is what they called it, but it's to test strength between us all without an outright war. All packs send out their guards but no killing or maiming.”
He's still confused, looking at me. “And you're telling me this because…?”
“Well the winning pack from them will challenge the strongest pack and that's our pack, the MoonCrest pack.”
He blinks while still processing all this information. “And how does this concern me? Or concern us?”
I met his gaze. Those hazel eyes that are Sebastian’s are now sharper and edged with a dangerous glint. “Well… you’re a guard assigned by me so that makes you eligible for it. They’ll expect you to fight. To be one of the wolves representing Mooncrest.”
Silence stretches between us for a spell.
Then he explodes.
“How could you let this happen?” he shouts, leaping up from the bed with clenched fists.
“You’re the damn Alpha of Alphas! You’re supposed to command them and not be led around by your nose like some lost puppy! How did you agree to this idiocy?”
I’m shocked, no I'm stunned by this wolf’s audacity and sheer nerve.
No wolf has spoken to me like this in years without being afraid of me ripping their throat.
At least not since I claimed the title of Alpha of Alphas.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I snapped back with my voice rising despite myself.
“They cornered me at the summit. If I refused to agree they'd call me weak, say the blessing was failing because of–”
“Because of me,” he finishes.
His voice started rising even higher than I thought possible, cutting through mine without care. “Because of the Omega you’re fucking, because everyone hates me now because of you and you just handed them the perfect opportunity to lay hands on me, legally!”
“Alisander just–”
“No!” He steps closer, bristling with rage. His body language screams that he'll punch me. “Have you seen your own guards? They’ll pummel me in seconds. An Omega body against trained warriors? They’ll destroy this body.”
“And with the hate that’s already festering through everyone about the ‘stray’ distracting you, everyone'll be watching with glee as my ass is handed to me.”
He swears in a language I can't quite catch as he starts pacing the room.
“I’ll be lucky if I walk out alive. Hell I will consider it good faith if they don't even sabotage me to prove your choice wrong.”
He swivels to look at me with incredulity. “Why would you do something so stupid when you know an Omega like me would just end up dead? Is that what you want in the end? Your grand plan? For me to die so you can keep your precious title without the ‘weakness’?”
Rage flares hot in my chest at this last part.
No one, and no one speaks to me in this manner, how dare this foolish wolf?!
“Enough!” I bark out, my voice cracking out like thunder with the Alpha command and tone used to the fullest to shut this wolf up.