Chapter 39: Shattered Duty

Chapter 39: Shattered Duty
Who the hell was that?

The voice from the corridor carried raw fury, the kind that made warriors reach for weapons without thinking, and I looked at Marcus watching his jaw clench so hard I heard his teeth grind together as his grey eyes darkened with something between irritation and exhaustion.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes skyward like he was praying for patience that wasn’t coming, and I could tell he recognized whoever was shouting, could see that he’d been expecting this.

The dining room doors burst open before anyone could react and a young man strode in with three Shadow Pack warriors at his back, fury rolling off him so intensely it made the air feel thick and hard to breathe.

I didn't recognize him and wondered who the hell he was, he was lean and athletic, built like someone who spent more time fighting than eating, sandy hair fell across his forehead framing a face covered in battle scars that told stories of violence survived while his blue eyes locked onto Marcus with an intensity that bordered on violent, his hands clenched into fists at his sides like he was restraining himself from throwing a punch.

Behind him, three warriors stood, looking equally battle-worn with their dark traveling cloaks dusty from hard riding, faces grim with exhaustion, whatever had brought them here clearly wasn’t good news.

Dad stood immediately, his Alpha presence flooding the room in an instant as every Night Pack warrior bristled, hands moving toward weapons while they surrounded us protectively, the temperature in the room seeming to drop ten degrees as two packs faced off across the breakfast table.

But Marcus just held up a hand, his expression shifting from irritation to something more carefully controlled as he said to our warriors, his voice carrying that authority of his, “Stand down, he’s from my pack.”

The tension didn’t ease though, if anything it got worse as Marcus turned to the sandy-haired warrior, his grey eyes going cold and distant when he asked, “Why are you here, Ryan?”

The name meant nothing to me, but clearly this Ryan was someone important from Shadow Pack judging by the way he carried himself and the deference the other warriors showed him.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” Ryan’s voice was low and dangerous, each word clipped short like he was biting them off while his hands shook slightly at his sides, rage barely contained beneath warrior discipline. “You’re actually standing there asking me why I’m here?”

Marcus’s expression didn’t change as he said simply, “Yes.”

“You abandoned your pack!” The words exploded out of Ryan like a dam breaking, echoing off the stone walls. “You left me to handle everything while you stayed here having absolutely no idea what’s been happening back home!”

I saw Marcus flinch slightly, saw something like guilt flash across his face before he buried it behind that cold mask he wore so well, my heart ached watching him stand there taking the verbal assault without defending himself.

Ryan turned to look at the other Shadow Pack warriors scattered around the room, the ones who’d stayed with Lucian, and his blue eyes blazed with accusation and disappointment as he said to them, voice dripping with disgust, “And you, not one of you tried to convince him to come back, did any of you bother to ask him what was happening or were you all too comfortable here?”

The warriors looked away, guilt written across every face, and one of them, a younger man with a healing wound on his arm, opened his mouth like he wanted to defend himself then closed it again because what could they say when Ryan was right?

“Did you know,” Ryan continued, his attention back on Marcus now while his voice got louder with each word, “that more people have been challenging you for the Alpha position, four different challengers in two weeks, four!”

Gasps echoed around the room and even I felt my eyes widen in shock because four challenges for the Alpha seat was unheard of, that didn’t happen in stable packs with respected leaders, it meant something was seriously wrong back at Shadow Pack.

Marcus’s hands clenched at his sides but his voice stayed level when he said, “I handled it when I went back.”

Ryan laughed and the sound was bitter enough to curdle milk as he said, “Oh you handled it alright, beat down four men in four separate battles to keep your seat, very impressive actually,” his voice dripping with sarcasm now, cutting and cruel. “You’re lucky you’re our best warrior Marcus, lucky that that brute strength of yours can somewhat make up for abandoning your responsibilities.”

I remembered now, Marcus had left suddenly a few days ago racing back to Shadow Pack after receiving an urgent letter, and when he’d returned he’d looked terrible, exhausted and injured with fresh bruises darkening his jaw and cuts on his knuckles that were still healing.

I’d thought it was just pack business, standard Alpha stuff, but now I understood he’d been fighting for his right to lead, fighting to keep the position he’d inherited from his father, and he’d won but at what cost?

“Ryan,” Marcus said quietly, warning in his tone. “That’s enough.”

“Enough?” Ryan’s voice rose to a near shout. “I haven’t even started, you handled the challenges sure, proved you can still beat any warrior who steps up, but you haven’t faced the real problem have you?”

Marcus’s entire body went rigid as he growled, “Shut up.”

“The council is furious Marc, the elders are demanding answers,” Ryan took a step closer, invading Marcus’s space with the familiarity of someone who’d known him for years. “You think beating down challengers solves everything, what about the alliances falling apart, what about—”

“I said shut up!” Marcus roared, his Alpha command rolling through the room like thunder, making windows rattle and warriors flinch back from the sheer force of it.

But Ryan didn’t back down, he’d probably lived with Marcus’s authority too long to be cowed by it now as he said with devastating clarity, “What the hell are you going to do about your engagement to Zara Nightshade?”

The words landed like an explosion in the middle of the room.

I felt the blood drain from my face as my hands went numb where they gripped the edge of the table, the world seeming to tilt sideways while my brain tried to process what I’d just heard, because engagement? Marcus was engaged to someone named Zara Nightshade!?

Around me shocked whispers erupted as Mom’s hand flew to her mouth while Dad’s expression went carefully blank the way it did when he was furiously thinking through political implications, and Fiona looked between Marcus and me with something like horror and shock on her face.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but stand there while my heart felt heavy.

Across the table Lucian dropped his head into his hands with a long exhausted sigh, and when he looked up his brown eyes were filled with resignation and weariness because this was it then, the final secret now dragged into the open for everyone to see, everything laid bare.

“The union was fucking arranged to strengthen Shadow Pack’s position Marc,” Ryan continued, his voice slightly calmer now but no less intense. “It’s political, it’s necessary, and it’s been waiting for you to stop being selfish and do your duty.”

Political marriage, alliance through bonding, the most common way for packs to secure their positions and create unbreakable ties, and Marcus had never mentioned it, not once, not when he’d confessed his feelings for me, not when he’d talked about our past and promises made and broken, not when everything had gotten so impossibly complicated.

“Marcus,” Ryan said and now his voice held exhaustion instead of anger as he continued, “I’m tired, I’m so damn tired of running your pack while you chase ghosts, I’m tired of making excuses to the council, tired of holding off challengers, tired of being the one who actually puts Shadow Pack first.”

He stepped closer, close enough that I could see the genuine pain beneath his fury as he said, “For once in your life think about something other than yourself, think about the hundreds of pack members depending on you, think about the alliances that keep us safe, think about your duty as Alpha.”

The dining room was dead silent as no one moved, no one breathed, everyone just watched Marcus waiting to see how he would respond to this public confrontation.

Marcus’s face was a mask of anguish with his grey eyes hollow like someone had scraped out everything inside him and left only empty space behind, and for a long moment he just stood there frozen in place.

Then his gaze found mine.

The look in his eyes made my chest physically hurt because I saw pain and longing and regret all mixed together into something so raw it felt obscene to witness, and he looked at me like he was memorizing my face, like he was saying goodbye to something precious that he’d never get to hold again.

Then he nodded once, and for some reason it felt sharp and final.

“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes,” he said quietly, his voice stripped of all emotion. “Have the horses prepared.”

The words hit me like a physical blow because he was leaving, going back to his pack and his responsibilities and his fiancée, and from the way he said it, from the resignation in his posture, he wasn’t coming back.

Ryan nodded, satisfied at last as he said, “Finally showing some sense,” before gesturing to the other Shadow Pack warriors. “Get your things together, we ride in half an hour.”

Then he turned and strode out of the dining room taking his warriors with him, the doors closing behind them with a finality that echoed through the sudden silence.

Nobody spoke because what was there to say?

Marcus stood there for another moment with his hands clenched so tight his knuckles had gone white, then without looking at anyone, without saying a word, he turned and walked out, the sound of his footsteps fading down the corridor being the loneliest thing I’d ever heard.