Chapter 79 CONSEQUENCES I
RAGNAR’S POV
The room still smells like sweat and something else that clings to the air long after the act is over.
I stand at the edge of the chamber, with my arms folded behind my back, staring at the man before me.
Not Sebastian.
Alisander.
He lounges against the stone wall as though he owns with one boot braced behind him and his head tilted in amusement.
There is no shame in his posture and no trace of the humiliation he should feel after hours of being reduced to a trembling mess beneath my wolf’s hands.
That, more than anything, makes my jaw tighten.
The bastard was not restrained or anything so he could have stopped it at any time.
He didn’t.
And he will never admit why.
“You’re staring,” he drawls, his voice low and playful. “If you want another round, Alpha, you need only ask.”
My molars grind together.
This is exactly why he is dangerous. Not because of his strength, but because he turns every confrontation between us into a game he refuses to lose.
“This isn’t a game, Alisander ,” I say.
“Everything is a game and how do you know I'm not Sebastian?” He replies smoothly.
The bond hums faintly in my chest, reminding me that beneath this annoying soul’s smirk lies Sebastian, my mate.
I push the thought away.
Right now, I am not his refuge.
I am his Alpha.
And Alisander needs to remember that.
“You broke the law,” I say, voice steady.
He blinks slowly, feigning confusion. “Did I?”
“You took Acmonite. It's a banned herb.”
His lips curve. “No one saw.”
“I saw.”
The words come out sharper than intended.
For a moment, just a flicker, his expression stills before that annoying smirk returns.
“And did you enjoy it?” he asks out of the blue.
The air between us snaps tight.
Yurik surges beneath my skin, but I push him back down.
I step forward.
The distance between us disappears but if anything, his smile grows wider.
“Careful,” I murmur. “You’re testing the last of my patience.”
His eyes flicker to gold. When did he have gold eyes? “You don’t have patience, Ragnar, you have restraint. And restraint is just patience but boring.”
He is baiting me.
He wants me to react, to prove that I am exactly what he’s expecting.
But I will not give him that satisfaction.
Not like this.
“You think this is about pride,” I say quietly. “It isn’t.”
He lifts a brow. “No?”
“It’s about survival.”
That word lands and he doesn’t speak.
So I continue.
“You took Sebastian to that forest and let Sebastian bleed and nearly die for your sick satisfaction, while you threatened a Beta. You’ve revealed power you cannot afford to reveal when you forced Ava to kneel. You’ve made yourself a target.”
His gaze sharpens.
“I made them hesitate,” he corrects. “There’s a difference.”
“There isn’t,” I snapped. “Not when that hesitation of theirs turns into fear. And what happens when they all think you're a strong threat to them?”
The room feels smaller as I exhale.
“You think they won’t unite against you?” I continued. “Against us? Against Sebastian? You think they’ll let an Omega like that stand beside the Alpha of Alphas?”
He shrugs.
“They can try.”
This! This reckless arrogance is what terrifies me.
Not his strength, he doesn't have that anyway.
His stupid certainty.
“You don’t understand the costs of what you've just done. I was banking on the fact that they won't be interested in you because there's nothing to you.” I say.
His eyes flash. “I understand war.”
“And I understand politics,” I fire back. “And politics will kill you long before war will ever do.”
He pushes off the wall, straightening to his full height.
I'm taller, way taller than him but the annoying wolf doesn't seem to be affected by it.
“You’re afraid,” he says softly.
“Oh don't you try to change our conversation. And I'm not afraid, I’m realistic.”
“You’re afraid,” he repeats, a little quieter now. “Not of them or anything, you're afraid of me.”
My wolf snarls in defiance but I do not deny it.
Because the truth is far worse than fear.
I am not afraid of what he might do to me in the sense he's thinking, I am afraid of what he might turn Sebastian into.
“You’re not the only one in that body,” I say. “And every time you take control, he loses something.”
His jaw tightens.
Good, finally a crack in that armor.
“He is only alive because of me,” Alisander says.
“He is in danger because of you.”
The words hang heavy between us.
For the first time, he looks away.
“He would have died without me,” he says after a moment.
“Maybe,” I admit. “But you took him there in the first place.”
That lands harder than any blow, I can see it in his eyes .
His fingers curl slightly at his sides.
“You think I am stealing him,” he says.
“I think you are trying to make decisions for him.”
Silence.
The bond pulses faintly, feeling confusion and strained tension between us.
When he speaks again, his voice is lower.
“He asked me for strength.”
“And you decided what that meant,” I replied.
His gaze snaps back to mine.
“And you decided weakness was acceptable?” he challenges. “You would send him into that arena to be torn apart just to preserve his sense of ‘self’?”
The image he's painting flashes in my mind right then.
Sebastian on the arena floor, his bones breaking under another wolf's jaw..
My stomach twists.
“That’s why we train,” I say.
“And that’s why he will die.”
My control slips at that last part.
“Enough.”
The word is quiet and absolute. I cannot take another mention of death from Alisander especially since how he looked bloody and mangled three days ago.
I force my voice back into calm.
“This ends now.”
His head tilts. “Ends?”
“You will not participate in the challenge as punishment.”
The words fall like a blade between us, as he goes very still.