Chapter 27 The Alpha's Dilemma (Alpha Damien's POV)
The knock on my office door came at one in the morning. I'd been expecting it.
"Come in."
Knox entered, looking like he'd been through a war. Blood on his shirt, bruises forming on his face, and an expression that told me everything I needed to know before he opened his mouth.
"He's gone." Knox's voice was flat, defeated. "Trey severed from the pack. Took two wolves with him."
I set down the glass of whiskey I'd been nursing. "Sit down and tell me exactly what happened."
Knox collapsed into the chair across from my desk, his hands shaking slightly. "I did what the elders ordered. Contacted the hunter network. Arranged a meeting with The Widower for tomorrow night at eleven."
"And Trey found out."
"He confronted me. Demanded to know what I'd been planning." Knox looked up, his expression haunted. "I told him I contacted a hunter to eliminate the threat. He attacked me."
"Before or after you told him which hunter?"
"After." Knox's voice cracked slightly. "The Widower is her father. Marcus Thorne. I didn't know until Trey told me."
"You arranged for a father to hunt his own daughter?"
"I didn't know!" Knox stood, pacing. "How was I supposed to know The Widower was Ember Thorne's father? The network only uses aliases. I thought I was just contacting an effective hunter, not setting up some twisted family tragedy."
I poured another glass of whiskey, drinking it in one swallow. "What happened after Trey found out?"
"He declared formal severance. Right there in the common room with half the pack watching." Knox stopped pacing, turning to face me. "Said he rejects Elder authority, rejects pack law, rejects everything we stand for. Then Sarah, Derek, followed him out the door."
"Where did they go?"
"The old cabin on the north edge of campus. Former pack property." Knox met my eyes. "Alpha, I'm sorry. I was trying to protect the pack. To save Trey from a mate bond that was destroying his judgment. But I made it worse."
"Yes. You did." I kept my voice level despite the fury building in my chest. "You allied with hunters without full intelligence. You gave information about a student to someone who murders our kind. And you drove my son into exile."
"The elders approved..."
"I don't care what the elders approved!" The words came out sharper than I intended. I took a breath, regaining control. "You should have come to me first. Before making contact. Before arranging meetings. I'm still Alpha of this pack, and major decisions go through me."
"I'm sorry, Alpha."
I studied him for a long moment. Knox was a good Beta, willing to make hard choices. But this situation had spiraled beyond anyone's control.
"Keep me informed of every development. Every contact with the hunter, every movement from Trey's group. I want to know everything." I moved back to my desk. "You're dismissed."
He left, and I sat alone in my office, staring at my phone. My son's contact information glowed on the screen, daring me to call.
Instead, I dialed Elder Benedict.
"Damien." His voice was alert despite the late hour. "I heard about Trey's declaration."
"News travels fast."
"Pack bonds breaking make noise. Magical noise. Every wolf in the network felt it." He paused. "This is a disaster."
"It's a complication. Not a disaster."
"Your son just rejected pack law and took wolves with him. That's the definition of disaster." Benedict's tone turned sharp. "We need to discuss consequences."
"Tomorrow. My office. Ten o'clock. Gather the other elders."
"What are you planning?"
"To fix this." I ended the call before he could argue.
The office felt too quiet after that.
I poured another whiskey and pulled up old photos on my phone. Trey at five years old, learning to shift for the first time. Trey at twelve, accepting his role as heir with solemn determination. Trey at sixteen, already showing the leadership qualities that would make him a great Alpha.
And now, at eighteen, throwing it all away for a girl he barely knew.
The mate bond. That's what everyone kept saying. As if supernatural destiny excused betraying centuries of tradition. As if love justified abandoning family.
But I'd had a mate once. Trey's mother. And when she'd died, I'd kept leading, kept protecting, kept doing my duty despite the grief that nearly destroyed me.
Because that's what Alphas did. We sacrificed. We endured. We put pack before personal desires.
Something my son needed to learn.
I pulled up his contact again, my thumb hovering over the call button. It was late. He'd be dealing with the severing, the physical agony of pack bonds breaking. Probably wouldn't even answer.
But I had to try.
The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. I hung up and tried again.
This time, it rang eight times. Then voicemail.
Third try. I let it ring until the system disconnected me.
Fourth try, he answered.
"What." His voice was rough, strained with pain.
"Trey. It's your father. How about some respect?"
"I know who it is." A sharp intake of breath, like he was fighting through something. "What do you want?"
"To talk. About what happened tonight."
"There's nothing to talk about. I made my choice. I'm dealing with the consequences." Another pained breath. "Now leave me alone."
"I can't do that. You're my son."
"I was your son. Now I'm a rogue. That's what happens when you sever from your pack, right? You become the enemy." Bitterness bled through the pain. "So treat me like one. It'll be easier for both of us."
"Don't be dramatic. You're not the enemy. You're just... confused. The mate bond is affecting your judgment."
"My judgment is fine." His voice strengthened slightly. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm choosing my mate over a pack that would rather ally with hunters than face change."
"Knox made a mistake. A severe one. He'll be disciplined appropriately."
"He made a deal with a hunter to kill Ember! To kill my mate!" A crash came through the phone, like something being thrown. "That's not a mistake. That's betrayal. And you approved it."
"I approved gathering intelligence. Exploring all options. Not arranging assassinations." I kept my voice calm, measured. "Knox overstepped his authority. But that doesn't change the fundamental problem... this girl is dangerous. The prophecy is clear about what she represents."
"The prophecy is about her children. Not her. And those children don't exist yet."
"But they will. Soon, probably, given that you've already completed the mate bond." I leaned back in my chair. "What happens when she's pregnant, Trey? When those prophesied children are growing inside her? Will you still defend her when every instinct you have screams that this is wrong?"
Silence on the other end. Then, quietly: "She's not wrong. She's just scared and confused and trying to survive in a world that sees her as a weapon."
"And what does that make you? Her protector? Her savior?" I softened my voice, trying a different approach. "Son, I understand. I had a mate too. Your mother. I know how powerful that bond is. But you can't let it blind you to reality."
"Reality is that Knox contacted a hunter. That the elders you work with approved using our greatest enemy to solve internal pack problems." His voice turned cold. "That's the reality I'm seeing clearly for the first time."
"We're trying to protect you..."
"By arranging to have my mate killed? By allying with people who've murdered our kind for centuries?" He laughed. "That's not protection. That's cowardice. You're so afraid of change, so terrified of a prophecy, that you'd rather become the monsters we're supposed to fight against."
"Watch your tone. I'm still your father."
"And I'm still your son. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with your choices." A long pause, filled with heavy breathing. "The meeting Knox arranged? I know where and when. And I'm going to stop it."
"Trey, don't. If you interfere with that meeting, if you attack pack business..."
"What? You'll hunt me? Kill me?" Another bitter laugh. "You're already planning that anyway. Might as well give you a real reason."
"I don't want you dead. I want you back. Safe. Where you belong." I gripped the phone harder. "Come home. Reject the mate bond. We can get through this together if you just..."
"Reject her?" The words came out strangled. "You want me to reject the one thing in my life that feels right? The one person who sees me as more than just an heir or a tool?"
"I want you to do your duty. To think about the pack that raised you, the family that's protected you, the legacy you're supposed to inherit." My voice rose despite my attempts at control. "You're throwing away everything for a girl you've known for a few weeks!"
"I'm choosing to build something new instead of clinging to something broken." His voice was tired now, the fight draining out of it. "And if you can't understand that, then maybe we don't have anything more to say to each other."
"Trey, wait..."
"Stop the meeting with the hunter. Call it off, tell Knox to cancel, do whatever it takes. Because if that hunter goes after Ember, I'll stop him. And I won't care what pack laws I break in the process."
"You're threatening to protect a hunter target? Do you hear yourself?"
"I'm protecting my mate. From her own father. From your Beta. From anyone who sees her as less than what she is, a scared girl who never asked for any of this." A sharp breath, pain breaking through again. "Now leave me alone. I have a severing to survive."
"Son, please. Think about what you're doing. Think about the consequences..."
"I am thinking. For the first time in my life, I'm thinking about what I want instead of what everyone expects." His voice softened slightly. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Dad. I really am. But I can't be the Alpha heir you want. Not anymore."
"You'll always be my son."
"Then let me make my own choices. Even if you don't agree with them." He paused. "Goodbye, Dad."
"Trey, don't hang..."
The line went dead.
I sat there holding the phone, staring at the ended call screen. My son. My heir. My only child. Gone because of a prophecy and a girl and choices that spiraled beyond anyone's control.
A knock at the door made me look up. Elder Benedict stood there, despite the late hour, his expression grim.
"I heard voices. You were talking to him?"
"Trying to." I set down the phone. "He hung up."
"And?"
"And he's committed to this path. Protecting the girl. Fighting anyone who threatens her. Including us." I stood, moving to pour another drink. "We're going to war with my son, Benedict. That's where this is heading."
"Then we need to neutralize the threat before it comes to that." Elder Benedict moved into the office, closing the door. "The girl is the problem. Remove her, and Trey has nothing to protect. The mate bond breaks, and he comes back to us."
"Assuming the bond breaking doesn't kill him."
"Assuming he survives it, yes." Benedict's expression was cold, calculating. "It's a risk. But the alternative is watching him lead a rogue pack against us. Watching our future Alpha become our greatest enemy."
I drank the whiskey, letting it burn. "What are you proposing?"
"Let Knox's meeting proceed. Let the hunter do what hunters do. And when Ember Thorne is dead, we deal with the fallout." He leaned against my desk. "Trey will grieve. He'll rage. But eventually, he'll heal. And when he does, he'll come home."
"You're gambling with my son's life."
"I'm trying to save it." Benedict met my eyes. "Because if we don't end this now, that girl will destroy everything. The prophecy is clear. And Trey is too blinded by the mate bond to see it."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him there had to be another way. But looking at the photos of my son on my phone, at the legacy we'd built over generations, I knew Benedict was right.
The girl had to go. For the pack. For the future.
For Trey himself, even if he'd hate me for it.
"The meeting happens," I said finally. "Knox provides the information. We let the hunter make his own choices about what to do with it."
"And if Trey interferes?"
"Then we stop him. By any means necessary. Pack law is clear. Rogues who attack pack business are killed on sight."
"Even if the rogue is your son?"
I looked at Benedict, this elder who'd served my father and now served me. Who put pack survival above everything else.
"Especially if the rogue is my son."