The Price of Ambition

The Price of Ambition
POV Sage Winters

Thorne's expression remained carefully neutral, waiting.

"When I married Celeste, it wasn't because I loved her," Damien said quietly, though his voice still carried the roughness of recent emotion. "It was pure strategy. Cold calculation."

He paused, his jaw working as he forced himself to continue. "You married Sage. An orphan with no Pack connections, no powerful family backing her up. And Celeste was her cousin—the daughter of Alpha Ronan, someone with actual political weight in the wolf community."

Damien's hands clenched at his sides. "I thought that by taking Celeste as my mate, I could show the entire Ashford family that I made smarter choices than you. That I was more strategic, more rational. That I understood what it took to build alliances and consolidate power."

His voice dropped lower, thick with self-disgust. "I wanted everyone to see the contrast. You with your nobody wife, and me with the daughter of an Alpha. I wanted them to question your judgment. To wonder if someone who chose emotional attachment over political advantage was really fit to lead."

The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken thoughts. I felt Thorne's hand tighten slightly on mine, but his expression remained impassive.

"I used her ambition," Damien continued, his voice barely above a whisper now. "And she used my position. It was a transaction. Nothing more. But I never imagined she would go this far. That she would try to murder Marcus and Lyanna. That she would poison our own family members for power."

His voice cracked slightly. "I almost got Marcus killed. My rivalry with you, my ambition, it created this whole situation. When she first mentioned wanting to help remove obstacles, I should have shut it down immediately. Instead, I told myself she was just talking, that she'd never actually do anything. I was wrong. And I'm partially responsible for that."

The room remained silent, everyone waiting.

"I won't compete with you anymore," Damien said, meeting Thorne's eyes directly. "The position of Alpha and CEO are yours. They always should have been. You earned them through loyalty and genuine care for this family. I just... I just wanted them. And I was willing to use anyone to get them."

Thorne studied his cousin for a long moment. Finally, he gave a single, sharp nod of acknowledgment. Not forgiveness, not yet, but recognition of the genuine regret in Damien's words.

Damien's hand went to his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper with an embossed seal. The marriage certificate. He held it up so everyone could see, then slowly, deliberately, tore it down the middle. The ripping sound was obscenely loud in the quiet room. He tore it again and again, reducing the certificate to ragged pieces that fluttered down like snow onto Celeste's bloodied form.

"Go rot in prison with your criminal parents," Damien said, his voice empty of all emotion now. "You're nothing to me anymore. You never were."

Celeste stared at the torn paper scattered around her, her mind struggling to process his words. Then it hit her. "What?" Her voice came out strangled. "Say that again..."

She looked up at him with dawning horror. "You knew? You knew about my parents?" Her breath came faster, more panicked. "Who told you? Who..."

Her face went white as understanding crashed over her. "It was Maeve. No... no, it can't be..."

"She told you everything," Celeste whispered, her voice breaking as the full scope of the betrayal became clear.

Her hands clenched into fists. "She used me. She made me believe we were working together, that she'd protect me. And all along she was planning to throw me away the moment I became a liability."

Before anyone could respond, the door opened again. This time uniformed police officers entered. The lead officer, a stern-faced woman with graying hair, stepped forward.

"Celeste Winters, you're under arrest for two counts of attempted murder in the first degree. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

The cuffs clicked into place with a sound of absolute finality as they pulled her arms behind her back. Celeste didn't resist as they hauled her to her feet. Her legs barely supported her weight, forcing the officers to half-carry her toward the door.

As they crossed into the hallway, she suddenly lifted her head and screamed, "Maeve! This is all Maeve's fault! She planned everything! She told me to kill Marcus! She gave me the poison! She promised to protect me!"

The officers tightened their grip on her arms, but Celeste continued to fight against them, her voice rising to a shriek. "She's the one who wanted them dead! She wanted Marcus and Lyanna both gone! She said once they were dead, Damien could take over! It was all her plan!"

Her desperate accusations echoed through the corridor as they dragged her toward the elevators. Then, suddenly, her wild eyes found me standing in the doorway. The hatred in her gaze was so intense it felt like a physical blow.

"You!" she screamed, struggling violently against the officers. "This is all your fault! Everything is your fault, Sage!"

Her face contorted with rage and desperation. "You stole my marriage! You ruined my life! You sent my parents to prison! You made Damien divorce me! Everything was perfect until you came back!"

The officers tried to pull her forward, but she planted her feet, still screaming at me. "I had to poison Lyanna! Don't you understand? I had to make Marcus watch her die so his heart would give out from the grief! I had to kill them both so Damien could finally become Alpha! So I could finally have what should have been mine!"

Her voice broke into hysterical sobs. "But you ruined it! You ruin everything! I hope you're happy, Sage! I hope you're fucking happy now that you've destroyed my entire life!"

The elevator doors opened, and the officers finally managed to drag her inside. Even as the doors began to close, I could still hear her screaming, the sound growing fainter and more frantic until it was finally cut off completely.

The elevator doors closed with a soft chime. Silence returned to the hospital corridor, heavy and exhausted.

I stood frozen, Celeste's words still ringing in my ears. The sheer depth of her hatred, her complete inability to take responsibility for her own actions, left me feeling hollow.

Thorne appeared at my side, his hand finding mine. His touch grounded me, reminded me that I wasn't responsible for Celeste's choices, no matter how much she wanted to blame me.

"It's over," I said quietly, though my voice shook slightly.

"For now," Thorne agreed, his thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of my hand. "But we're still standing. And she can't hurt anyone anymore."