Chapter 28 THE BETA’S CHOICE
MONTY
"I'm taking her to Blood Moon territory."
The words fall into the war room like stones into still water. Ray's head snaps up from the tactical maps spread across the table. Kai stops sharpening his blade. Logan freezes mid-sentence.
And Alicia, standing by the window watching dawn approach, turns to stare at me like I've lost my mind.
Maybe I have.
"Say that again." Ray's voice is dangerously quiet.
"Someone needs to negotiate with Vincent before this turns into a bloodbath. I'm offering to do it." I keep my tone steady, reasonable. "Let me take Alicia back, talk to him face to face. Maybe we can end this without war."
"Absolutely not." Ray moves around the table, getting in my face. "You're not taking my mate into enemy territory."
"She's my mate too. And she's the only thing Vincent wants badly enough to negotiate over." I don't back down. Can't. "We have six hours until dawn. That's six hours to try diplomacy before people start dying."
"Diplomacy?" Ray laughs, bitter and sharp. "Vincent sent us a head with a threat carved into it. That's not a man interested in talking."
"Then what's your plan? Wait here and let him attack? Watch our wolves die defending territory against superior numbers?" I gesture to the maps. "Blood Moon outnumbers us three to one. We can't win a straight fight."
"We don't have to win. We just have to survive until reinforcements arrive."
"What reinforcements?" Kai's voice is flat. "The Nearest allied pack is two days away. Vincent knows that."
Ray's jaw clenches. He knows Kai's right. Knows we're trapped between pride and giving in.
"There has to be another way." Logan speaks up. "Some option that doesn't involve sending Alicia back to the father who wants her dead."
"Vincent doesn't want me dead." Alicia's voice is quiet but certain. "If he did, he'd have killed me when I was banished. This is about control. About forcing me back under his authority."
"Which is worse than death." Ray rounds on her. "You'd be his prisoner. His political tool. Is that what you want?"
"I want people to stop dying because of me!" Her voice cracks. "Vincent, Jake, the head, they're all sending the same message. Give me what I want or I'll destroy everything you love. So let's give him what he wants."
"No." Ray and I say it simultaneously.
For a moment, our eyes meet. Blood brothers. Best friends since childhood. United in this one thing, at least.
Then I ruin it.
"But if Alicia's willing to negotiate, we should let her try. With protection. With me."
Ray's expression goes cold. "You're my Beta. I gave you an order. Stand down."
"I'm also her mate. And right now, that matters more."
The room went cold.
"More?" Ray's voice could cut steel. "Being her mate matters more than your loyalty to me? To this pack?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean, Monty?" He steps closer, Alpha authority radiating from every pore. "Because it sounds like you're choosing her over your oath to me."
The oath. The blood oath we swore when we were fifteen years old, cutting our palms and pressing them together under the full moon. Brothers in everything but blood. Loyal until death.
I've never broken that oath. Never even considered it.
Until now.
"I'm choosing to save lives." My voice is steady despite the guilt churning in my gut. "Including yours. Because if Vincent attacks at dawn, you'll be his first target. You know that."
"Let him try."
"Ray, listen to yourself. You're letting pride override strategy." I can feel our friendship fraying with every word, but I can't stop. "This isn't about protecting Alicia anymore. It's about punishing her for saying another man's name."
Ray's fist connects with my jaw before I see it coming.
I stagger back, tasting blood. Alicia gasps. Kai moves between us, but I wave him off.
"Feel better?" I work my jaw, checking for breaks.
"Not even close." Ray's breathing hard, hands still clenched. "You want to talk about pride? You volunteered to be her mate to ease your guilt over wanting her for years. Don't pretend this is about strategy."
The accusation hits home because it's partially true.
"Maybe it started that way." I meet his eyes. "But it's not anymore. I care about her, Ray. Actually care, not just obsess over what I can't have. And I care about this pack. About you. Which is why I'm trying to prevent a war we can't win."
"By sacrificing yourself and Alicia to Vincent's mercy?"
"By trying to negotiate before the fighting starts." I wipe blood from my lip. "Give me six hours. If I can't broker peace, we fight at dawn like you planned. Nothing lost."
"Except you and Alicia could be captured. Killed. Used as hostages." Ray's voice is strained. "You're asking me to risk both of you on the slim chance Vincent will listen to reason."
"I'm asking you to trust me." The words hang heavy. "Like you used to."
Silence fills the room. Alicia looks between us, seeing the fracture opening in our friendship. Kai's expression is unreadable. Logan shifts uncomfortably.
Ray and I stare at each other. Fifteen years of brotherhood balanced against one impossible decision.
"No." Ray's voice is final. "You're not going. That's an order from your Alpha."
"And if I go anyway?"
"Then you're no longer my Beta." Each word sounds like it costs him. "You'll be banished from Dark Night Pack. Stripped of rank and title. Everything we built together, gone."
The threat should stop me. Should make me back down and apologize and fall back into line like I always do.
But I look at Alicia, pale and scared but trying so hard to be brave. Look at the maps showing impossible odds. Look at the window where dawn is creeping closer.
And I make my choice.
"Then I guess I'm no longer your Beta."
Ray's face goes absolutely blank. Like I've hit him harder than he hit me.
"Monty, don't." Alicia steps forward. "Not for me. Don't throw away everything."
"I'm not throwing it away. I'm choosing differently." I look at Ray, at my best friend, my brother. "You taught me that leadership means making hard calls. Means doing what's necessary even when it costs everything. So that's what I'm doing."
"By betraying me?"
"By saving you." My voice rough. "Because you're too hurt and angry to see clearly right now. Someone has to think strategically. Might as well be me."
Ray's hands shake. I can see him fighting the urge to shift, to let his wolf tear into me for this disobedience.
Instead, he turns away. Walks to the far side of the room and braces himself against the wall.
"Get out." His voice is hollow. "Take her. Go negotiate with Vincent. And when it fails, when you're both captured or killed, don't expect me to come save you."
"Ray,"
"I said get out!"
The Alpha command slams into me like a physical force. My wolf whimpers, instinctively submitting to the authority I've obeyed my whole life.
But I fight it. Force myself to stand straight. To walk toward the door.
Alicia follows, grabbing a jacket. "Ray, please. We'll be back by dawn. I promise."
He doesn't respond. Doesn't even look at us.
Logan catches my arm at the door. "This is a mistake."
"Probably." I don't slow down. "But it's my mistake to make."
"You're breaking his heart."
"Better his heart than his neck." I shake off Logan's grip. "Someone has to try diplomacy. Might as well be the Beta who's already lost his Alpha's trust."
Kai appears in the hallway as we leave. "You know this is suicide."
"Got a better idea?"
"Yeah. Stay here. Fortify. Let Vincent make the first move." He spoke seriously. "Going to him gives up all our advantages."
"We don't have advantages. We have pride and stubbornness." I keep walking. "Maybe those aren't worth dying for."
We make it outside before Alicia grabs my wrist, spinning me around.
"Why are you doing this?" Her eyes search my face. "Really. Not the strategic reasons. The real reason."
I could lie. Should lie. But I'm tired of lies.
"Because I've spent three years watching from the shadows. Three years wanting you but never acting. Three years being the loyal Beta who does what he's told." I cup her face with both hands. "And I'm done watching people I care about get hurt because I was too afraid to step up."
"This isn't your fault."
"Maybe not. But it's my choice." I press my forehead to hers. "Ray's drowning in jealousy and hurt. Kai's too pragmatic to risk himself. Logan's still recovering. That leaves me. The one expendable enough to try negotiation without losing critical assets."
"You're not expendable."
"To Ray I am. Right now, at least." The truth tastes bitter. "So let's make this count. Let's try to save everyone before dawn comes and choices become casualties."
She nods slowly. "Okay. We try. But if things go bad…"
"We run. Fast and hard." I manage a smile. "I'm not a hero, Alicia. Just a Beta who's tired of watching people suffer."
We slip out through the eastern gate, avoiding main patrols. The forest is quiet, waiting. Dawn is maybe four hours away now.
Four hours to broker peace with a man who sent a severed head as invitation.
Four hours to prevent a war.
Four hours until I find out if throwing away fifteen years of brotherhood was worth it.
Behind us, the packhouse stands silent. Ray's watching from his window. I can feel his eyes on my back, feel the mate bond between him and Alicia stretching thin.
Feel our friendship, already cracked, beginning to shatter completely.
"If you can't protect her, I will." I'd said those words to Ray once, when Alicia first arrived.
I meant them then.
I mean them now.
Even if it costs me everything.
We disappear into the trees, heading toward Blood Moon territory. Toward Vincent's anger and Jake's hatred and whatever trap they've prepared.
And I can't shake the feeling that I just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Or the best decision.
Time will tell.
If we survive until dawn.