Chapter 85 THE TRUTH THAT BITES BACK
SEBASTIAN’S POV
The word ancient does not belong anywhere near me, it should not.
But it echoes in my skull anyway, loud and wrong and simply quite impossible to ignore.
Ancient.
Ancient wolf, right inside me.
I stare up at the Alpha pinning me to the mud with my pulse hammering so violently I can already feel it in my throat.
The forest feels too quiet, like it’s leaning in to listen in on our conversation.
Even the wind has stilled, as if the trees themselves are holding their breath for whatever happens next.
Inside our shared consciousness, Alisander is silent.
Not the irritated silence he wears like armor nor the brooding quiet he retreats into when he thinks I’m being foolish.
This is very different.
This is the silence of something, or someone cornered.
The Alpha studies my face, his golden eyes sharp with interest and amusement. There's no hostility or macho dominance from him.
Only interest.
Weird, odd and disturbing interest, like I’m a rare specimen he’s been searching for, for years.
“Oh you didn’t know,” he murmurs out.
My mouth opens.
And closes.
I hate that he can see it.
I hate that whatever expression is on my face is answer enough for him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I manage, my own voice sounding thin and unconvincing even to my own ears.
His brow lifts slightly. “You’re a terrible liar, little wolf.”
“Get off me,” I snap in anger, trying to twist my wrists free. His grip doesn’t tighten, but it doesn’t loosen either.
It’s like trying to move a mountain that has politely decided not to budge or do anything.
Behind my eyes, I feel Alisander stir.
Finally!
“Do not engage him,” he says quietly.
My temper spikes. “Oh, so now you’re back.”
The Alpha’s gaze flickers, like he senses the shift happening inside of me. “He’s listening again,” he says softly. “Good.”
My stomach drops as I mask it.
“You,” I say, forcing the word past my dry throat, “are making a lot of assumptions for someone who is currently committing Omega harassment.”
The corner of his mouth twitches as his shoulders shake.
“I am making observations little wolf,” he corrects. “There is a difference.”
He leans closer, and his scent floods my senses. He smiles like old cedar and wormwood.
He practically smells like a walking library.
My wolf stirs uneasily under my skin, but Alisander remains coiled and watchful as we look at him in suspicion.
“You do not submit,” the Alpha continues at my distrustful gaze.
“You do not fear. Your wolf does not respond to regular Alpha’s command. And yet you are sleeping with Ragnar.”
My chest tightens at Ragnar’s name.
“You say that out loud like it’s a crime,” I mutter.
“For you, it may become one.”
The words land on me like a blow.
The forest seems to tilt as I turn to him.
“What?” The word scrapes out of me.
His gaze doesn’t waver as he holds my stare. “Ancient wolves were not entirely erased from history because they were fucking sunshines and harmless you know?”
Inside me, something cold coils as I recognize it as a feeling of dread.
Coming straight from Alisander.
“Do not listen to him,” Alisander says, too quickly.
My heart stutters. “But you’re not denying it.” I reply mentally.
For the first time ever, Alisander is actually afraid.
The Alpha continues, his voice low and measured. “They were all hunted and exiled since their existence destabilized the balance between packs.” He pauses to shift his stance on me as he continues.
“They did not submit to Alpha law. They did not obey the command and even worse, they challenged the Moon goddess.”
Each word feels like a stone dropped into deep water, pressing deeper in my chest.
“In short, they brought war,” he finishes.
My lungs forget how to work almost immediately.
War.
Inside me, Alisander’s presence sharpens, like a blade drawn in the dark.
“Enough! Stop listening to him” he says.
But the Alpha isn’t finished.
“And now,” he murmurs, studying me like he’s peeling back layers even I didn’t know I had, “one hides inside the body of an Omega having illicit relations with the Alpha of Alphas.”
My vision blurs at the edges.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whisper.
He tilts his head. “Oh don’t I?”
His grip finally loosens on me just enough that I can drag in a full breath, but he doesn’t move away.
His weight remains a steady, inescapable presence on me.
“You are the bridge Omega,” he says.
My heart stumbles. “The… what?”
“Bridge. Omega and ancient. Submission and defiance. Sleeping with the strongest Alpha alive.” His gaze darkens. “You are a convergence that should not exist.”
Inside me, Alisander is very still.
“He’s lying,” I tell myself. “He has to be, right Alisander?”
But the bond between Ragnar and me pulses faintly in my chest, like it’s listening too and agreeing.
“What do you want?” I whisper.
The Alpha studies me for a long moment, and for the first time, something like uncertainty flickers across his face.
“I just wanted to see if the rumors were true,” he says. “If Ragnar had truly bound himself to something… so weak. So imagine my surprise when I see you?”
Rumors.
My stomach churns.
“Am I supposed to feel flattered?” I ask weakly.
“That depends,” he says. “Do you intend to survive what is coming for you?”
The question slices through me.
“What is coming?” I demand.
His gaze drifts past me, into the trees, like he’s listening to something only he can hear. “The past,” he says quietly. “It has a certain way of devouring the present.”
Wow.
Way to be precise and straight to the point.
But inside my mind, something snaps.
“Alisander,” I hissed. “Start talking. Now.”
But nothing.
I am met with silence.
Rage floods me, hot and blinding.
“You let him say that! You let him talk about you like you’re some cursed relic and you’re just– what? Hiding?!”
“I am not hiding,” Alisander replies coolly.
“You fucking disappeared!” I fire back. “You left me pinned under a stranger while he dissected our existence like we’re some kind of fucked up experiment!”