Chapter 44 44
Damien POV
Is she lying?
I turn inward, demanding an answer from my wolf.
No, he replies immediately. She’s an Alpha. She’s masking her aura, but it’s powerful. Very powerful.
“Fuck,” I snarl under my breath. “A female Alpha.”
Geneviève’s reaction is instant. She bursts into sharp, disbelieving laughter the kind that comes from shock, as though Aurélie has just struck her across the face.
“Excuse me?” Geneviève snarls, taking a deliberate step toward the Darkvale pack.
In response, their warriors swell their chests and bristle, clearly displeased by her advance. The tension snaps tight, drawn thin as a wire.
“I suppose you are the Beta?” I spit, turning my glare on Fabrice.
“Yes,” he answers smoothly, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Amongst other things…”
What the fuck did that mean?
My mind immediately races to a conclusion I don’t want to acknowledge. Mates? But Élodie had been right Aurélie still bore no mark. Could remaining married to me have prevented another bond from forming?
Jealousy coils deep in my gut. Sharp. Unfamiliar. As Alpha King, I am not accustomed to wanting something I cannot claim. Yet here I was, irrationally envious of a Beta.
And then the thought hits me.
If Aurélie is the Alpha… then the boy I met Dominique. He’d said he was the Alpha’s son. The future Alpha.
Was he hers?
Twins? Had she had children with Fabrice?
“You,” I growl, stepping forward, “you’re the one forming an alliance against me against this pack?”
Hostility meets my movement instantly. Her warriors shift, leaning forward onto the balls of their feet, backs elongating as they prepare to spring.
“Yes,” she answers simply.
No hesitation. No fear. Her tone is flat, cold, final.
“Why?”
“I have my reasons,” she replies. “I’m sure you remember.”
Her growl rolls through the air dark, unnatural, something dragged straight from the depths of hell.
What the hell does that mean?
She was the one who left. The one who abandoned her position as Luna.
As if bored by the conversation, she lifts a hand and her warriors immediately still. Then, without waiting for permission, she moves toward me.
“In private,” she commands. “My men will remain out here.”
I have to suppress a smirk as my wolf stirs, finding her dominant edge maddeningly attractive. She moves like an Alpha confident, commanding, unapologetic. An Alpha with balls of steel.
She strides into the Alpha house as if she never left it.
My chest tightens as Fabrice and Théo pass me to follow her inside. Fabrice pauses just inside the doorway, inhaling sharply, scenting the air then stiffens and continues after his Alpha.
“Lucas,” I bark at my Beta. “You’re with us.”
Geneviève is already moving, slipping past to follow Aurélie into the house.
With one last sharp glance at the Darkvale warriors, I command my men to stand down no harm unless provoked.
Inside, the tension thickens.
“Well,” Geneviève says coolly, her voice edged with ice, “this is certainly a turn-up for the books, Aurélie. We all thought you were dead.”
“Really?” Aurélie replies smoothly. “Damien trespassed onto my land just over a week ago. Surely he informed you of my resurrection.”
Her gaze slices into Geneviève as she stands beside me, while I settle into my chair behind the desk.
Aurélie takes the seat opposite mine deliberately while her Beta and Head Warrior position themselves at her sides.
Like sentinels.
Like a Queen who never lost her crown.