Chapter 58 Fifty Eight
Chapter 58 Fifty Eight
Zander
A week.
Seven fucking days of silence.
Nothing, nothing but the echo of her last words in that hotel room and the memory of her standing there, tears in her eyes, telling me it was both hate and need, revenge and something real.
I hadn’t slept properly since.
Every night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying that morning in my penthouse. The way she had said “fuck me” like she was dying for it. The way her body had clenched around me when she came. The way she had looked at me afterward, like I was the only real thing left in her world.
And then the fight, the truth.
The way I had stormed out of her hotel room, angry and lost, because I couldn’t tell what was real and what was part of her plan.
I hadn’t reached out to her.
I couldn’t.
Not after what my father had shown me, not after he had reminded me that she was the same girl I had destroyed that night on his orders.
But the silence was killing me slowly.
My phone buzzed on the desk. A message from my father.
I stared at the screen for a long moment, jaw tight, then grabbed my jacket and headed out.
The drive to Ashveil Tower felt too short. When I stepped into his study, Aldric was already waiting behind his desk. Dorian wasn’t there this time...a relief just my father, cold and controlled as ever.
“Sit down,” he said without looking up from the papers in front of him.
I stayed standing.
Aldric finally lifted his eyes. “The rift between our family and the Vornes is widening, Zander. Celeste has been humiliated. Her father is furious. The entire alliance is at risk because of your… indiscretion with that omega.”
I felt my hands clench at my sides. “Her name is Iris.”
“No,” Aldric said coldly. “Her name is whatever lie she’s been using. She is the omega you rejected that night and she has come back to destroy us. But we are not here to discuss her. We are here to fix what you broke.”
He leaned forward, eyes hard.
“It is time for you and Celeste to get married. Immediately. A formal ceremony within the next two weeks. We will announce it publicly. It will seal the two families, repair the damage your affair has caused, and show the packs that the Ashveils and Vornes are united. Strong and ynbreakable.”
The words hit me like a punch.
“Married?” I repeated, voice low. “Now? After everything that’s happened?”
“Yes,” Aldric said flatly. “Now. The longer you delay, the more power that omega gains over you. The more the packs whisper about weakness. The more Dorian questions whether this alliance is worth saving. We merge the families at once. You will stand beside Celeste in front of everyone and make it official.”
I laughed once, sharp and angry. “You really think a wedding will fix this? Celeste was attacked in my own home. By the woman I...” I stopped myself, swallowing the rest of the sentence. “By Iris. And you want me to marry her like nothing happened?”
Aldric’s eyes narrowed. “What I want is for you to act like the alpha you were raised to be. You have a duty to this family. To this pack. To the future we have spent decades building. That omega is a distraction. A weapon aimed at your heart. Marrying Celeste will remind everyone including you where your loyalty belongs.”
I stepped closer to the desk, fists clenched.
“My loyalty?” I said, voice rising. “You want to talk about loyalty after you hid the truth from me? After you let me fuck the same girl I once destroyed on your orders? After you sat there and told me she came back for revenge and then expected me to just… forget her?”
Aldric stood slowly, eyes cold. “I expected you to remember who you are. You are an Ashveil. You do not throw away your future for a woman who has spent years planning your destruction.”
I slammed my hands on the desk, leaning forward.
“And what if I don’t want Celeste?” I snapped. “What if I can’t look at her without seeing the way Iris looked at me when she came apart in my arms? What if the only person I can think about is the woman you told me to break all this time?”
Aldric’s face hardened into something dangerous.
“Then you are a fool,” he said quietly. “And you will watch everything we built crumble because you cannot control your cock or your wolf. Marry Celeste. Seal the alliance. Do it within two weeks or I will do it for you.”
The threat hung in the air between us.
I stared at him, chest heaving, anger and pain and confusion twisting together until I couldn’t tell them apart.
“You would force me?” I asked, voice low. “After everything? You would stand there and force me into a marriage I don’t want just to keep your precious alliance alive?”
Aldric didn’t blink.
“I would do whatever is necessary to protect this family,” he said. “Including reminding you of the night you stood in that hall and did exactly what I told you to do. You broke her once. You can break whatever feelings you have for her now. Marry Celeste. End this nonsense or I will end it for you.”
The silence that followed was heavy and dangerous.
I straightened slowly, jaw tight, eyes locked on my father’s.
“You can threaten me all you want,” I said quietly. “But I am not a boy anymore. And if you push me on this… if you try to force me into that marriage while I’m still trying to figure out what the hell is real between me and her…”
I paused, letting the words settle.
“Then you might lose me completely.”
Aldric stared at me for a long moment, eyes cold.
Then he smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
“Think very carefully before you make that threat, son,” he said softly. “Because if you choose her over this family… over this alliance… over everything I have given you…”
He leaned forward, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“I will make sure you lose her too.”
The words landed like a blade.
I turned and walked out of his office without another word, the door slamming behind me.
My heart was pounding.
My mind was spinning.
And as I stepped into the elevator, one chilling thought refused to leave me
My father had just drawn a line in the sand.
And I had no idea which side I was going to stand on when the time came to choose.