Chapter Twenty: The Night of Reckoning

Nicholas's POV

The day had been a long stretch of anticipation. While Emma was out preparing for the evening, I found myself engulfed in a hurricane of thoughts and emotions. I didn’t know if I was ready to face my pack yet, but it was too late to turn back now. If I did, they would see it as a weakness, and I would disappoint Emma. I could see how excited she was to finally be leaving the house.

By the time evening rolled around, I was dressed in my formal attire, a tailored suit that Lena used to adore. The irony wasn't lost on me. Emma was the one accompanying me tonight, not Lena. In many ways, it felt like the closing of one chapter and the uncertain beginning of another. My heart raced with a hint of trepidation. I had to be strong for my people, but how could I be strong when my legs failed me?

A knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie. In walked Beta James clad in a suit that mirrored the respectability of the event we were about to attend.

"Alpha Nicholas," James said,