Chapter 62 A THREAT
SEBASTIAN'S POV
Beta Ava straightens with satisfaction flickering across her face as she sees the doubt take root in mine.
“You see it now, haven’t you? Caring for you, being with you and even protecting you–costs him something every single day.”
My throat burns. “He doesn’t see it that way.”
“Because he’s blinded by ‘you’,” she says sharply as she gestures with disgust. “And blinded Alphas always make mistakes.”
Silence stretches again between us but this time, it's filled with me trying to hold back my tears.
Then Ava’s expression hardens into something final as she takes a breath.
The air all of a sudden feels dangerous.
“So I’ll make this simple for you Sebastian,” she says. “You leave this instant. Quietly and on your own. You disappear before your scent and influence sinks any deeper into this pack causing problems for me.”
She steps closer one last time, squinting straight into my eyes as her voice drops to a lethal whisper.
“Or I will remove you myself.”
My heart stutters. “You wouldn’t… you wouldn't dare.”
Her smile is thin and merciless. “I’m a Beta,” she reminds me. “I’m the Beta of this pack and it's my duty to assist the Alpha and neutralize threats even when he's too confused to realize he's sleeping with one. My job is to clean up threats before they become disasters for him .”
She takes a step back and looks at my expression like she's waiting for my decision.
“Choose wisely, Sebastian,” she says. “Because if Ragnar doesn’t lose you by your own will and choice…”
Her eyes gleam darkly.
“…he’ll lose you by your blood.”
The words echo across the room long after they leave her mouth.
For a moment, I can’t breathe.
It feels as though something cold has wrapped around my spine and is slowly squeezing my heart until even the act of standing upright feels like defiance.
My hands curl at my sides as my nails start biting into my palms as I stare at her in shock.
I'm trying to reconcile the calmness in her voice with the violence of what she’s just promised would happen to me.
“You’re threatening me,” I whisper.
Ava tilts her head as if considering, before she nods. “I’m warning you.”
My chest rises and falls too fast. “You can’t just–you can't kill me. Ragnar would–”
“–do what?” She cuts in looking bored. “Grieve for you?” Her lips curl. “Be angry for a time? Maybe yeah but it won't take long. He'll move on. Alphas always do, then he won't even remember you.”
The certainty in her tone hurts more than the threat itself.
I shake my head weakly. “You don’t know him.”
Her eyes flash at me. “I’ve known Ragnar since before he could even walk.” She steps closer again, looming over me even though I'm taller. “You think whatever infatuation he feels for you outweighs his duty? Outweighs his pack's survival?”
My voice trembles despite my effort to steady it. “I didn’t ask for this. I certainly didn’t seduce him. I didn’t plan any of this.”
“And yet here you are,” she says coldly. “A liability to him.”
Something sharp twists in my stomach
I think it's fear. “If you hurt me–if you touch me–he’ll never forgive you.”
Her smile returns now, the thin and cruel one. “You assume I’ll leave proof that it was me?”
My breath catches as tears sting my eyes again. I blink them back furiously not wanting her to see them or to see that she's gotten to me.
“You’re not protecting him,” I say hoarsely. “You’re just protecting your control over him.”
That lands.
For the first time since she entered, her composure fractures just slightly.
Her jaw tightens with her eyes narrowing to slits as I see I've struck something sensitive.
“You’re far bolder than your place allows,” she says.
“I’m scared,” I snap back, surprising even myself. “And you’re enjoying it.”
Her hand moves faster than I expected.
She grips my chin sharply, forcing my face down as pain flares, but I don’t cry out. Her fingernails are sharp and stinging.
“You should be terrified Omega,” she murmurs. “Because you wouldn't be the first stupid wolf to have ambitions for the Alpha and to want to climb higher than they should.”
I gulp as the coldness in her eyes doesn't move an inch as she continues. “Because you don’t belong here and the longer you stay, the uglier this will get for you, I assure you.”
My vision blurs, not just with tears, but with pressure.
A familiar one I've been questioning and begging to answer me for quite some time now.
“She doesn’t get to threaten us.”
The voice surges up from deep inside me, no longer quiet or pretending to be dead.
“She doesn’t get to decide whatever the hell we want to do.”
“No,” I whisper, clutching my head as the pressure spikes violently and I try to fight it. “Alisander–wait–”
Too late.
The world tilts as pain lances through my skull as something pushes hard, forcing me to tumble backwards in my mind.
Ava releases me abruptly, stepping back with a sharp curse. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I gasp as my fingers start digging into my temples and as my vision sharpens.
And then–
I’m not me anymore.
ALISANDER’S POV
I leave Sebastian alone for just one fucking moment and of course this happens.
The first thing I register when I open my eyes and get used to seeing is her dominant and aggressive stance right in front of me.
The second thing is the audacity.
“You dare threaten me?” I say, my voice rolling out of Sebastian’s mouth lower than it should be and sounding incredulous.
A mere Beta challenging me?
Ava freezes as she takes a step back to look at me with more confusion.
Her eyes widened just a fraction before hardening. “What sort of trick is this, why do you smell different?”
I straighten fully, ignoring the tremor in Sebastian’s muscles as I take full control by force.
His fear is pressing against me frantically and desperate but I hold him back and push him into the deeper recesses of our minds.
“Be still,” I ordered him. “I’ve got this.”