Chapter 5 Chapter Five

ALEXANDER’S POV

I tapped my right foot incessantly as I listened to my subordinates drone off about matters I already knew.

I turned my gaze to nothing in particular, wanting to have some time myself but this had to be settled first. After all, military affairs on the battlefield came before my own life.

The military camp had been my home for longer than I cared to remember.

What began as a carefully orchestrated plan by my father, King Kyle, the Lycan King, to forge me into a capable leader had transformed into my entire existence.

Under an alias, I had risen through the ranks, becoming the commander of an army that respected me not for my royal lineage, but for my combat skills and strategic mind.

“Sir, the border is almost completely under our control. We’ve managed to push the forces back and regain our lost terrain. All that remains now is to push forward and claim theirs.” One of the men, Bolton, said to me, his eyes bright.

“So what are we waiting for?” I asked them, already sensing that something was off the moment they entered my tent.

Bolton frowned and turned away, not wanting to be the one to let me in on whatever bad news that they had.

Instead, Cole was the one who spoke up, his voice shaky and yet clear.

“We lost the southern pass. We were ambushed at night and since we didn’t have any reinforcements, we just…” He continued to explain but I cut him off with a slam of my fist on my desk.

I had just gotten back from protecting the western border only to hear this!

“That is fucking unacceptable. How can you lose the southern pass? That path was essential to us winning this war.” I questioned them, my voice raised and my wolf ready to rip off someone's head in an instant.

I didn’t always get angry but when it came to winning this drawn out war, a loss like this unnerved me.

“Commander, we will get it back. In fact, we have an ongoing…” Bolton spoke up but my attention refocused when my phone vibrated unexpectedly, showing that someone had sent me a text message.

I picked up my phone and upon seeing that the text was from Beta Aaron, I wasted no time in looking at it.

It might be important after all.

I raised my hands for Bolton to shut up and read the text.

‘Good day Commander Alexander. I have important news. Luna Eliza of the Silver Moon Pack is getting a divorce from the Alpha of the pack.’ The text read.

My heart raced and I paused.

After years of silent longing, of watching her marry another, fate was offering me another chance.

“Uh, commander?” One of the men called to me but I was in no mood to speak to them anymore. I turned to them, my voice stern.

“Fix your mistake. Now get out.” I commanded them.

With one last look, they walked out of my tent, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sighed, my mind still lingering on the text.

My mind drifted back to when I first arrived at this camp as a teenager.

I remembered how painfully out of place I had been.

A prince not used to communal living, struggling with shared bathrooms and the kind of food that was severely different from the spread I normally had at the castle.

It was a completely different change of pace. One that my father urged me to accept to become my best self and although I had tried to fit in, the other men at the camp didn’t see it that way.

They hadn't hesitated to mock my initial awkwardness, their jeers cutting deeper than any physical wound.

‘Who brought this runt to a war front?’

‘He’ll die within the week. Best not to give him any attention.’

‘He’s not fit to even be a servant here.’ They all said.

But Eliza had been different.

Even though it was weird for a woman to be on the field at such an age, at just fourteen, she was a force of nature.

Whenever the other soldiers' taunts became too much, she would step in. I remembered one particular incident when a senior soldier was making particularly cruel remarks about my inability to clean my own weapon properly.

‘He's learning,’ Eliza had said, her voice cutting through the camp's noise. ‘More than any of you ever will. At least he's willing to listen and improve. Stick to your own skills Brock.’ She screamed at him while shielding me with her frail body.

With those words, he backed off.

The respect she commanded, even at such a young age, was remarkable.

The soldiers might have mocked me, but they respected her.

She was the daughter of the camp's commander, a natural leader who had been training alongside soldiers since she could walk.

Not only was she respected of her own accord, she was the best among us. A fact that I didn’t know until she thoroughly defeated me in a sparring match—the first and only time someone had so completely bested me.

My ego, inflated by years of undefeated combat training, had been humbled.

From that moment, I had prayed to the Moon Goddess to make her my destined mate.

When Eliza was taken back to the Silver Moon Pack after her mother discovered her border training, I had made up my mind to propose to her the moment she came of age.

But conflict and tragedy of the ever growing war got into the way of that.

When Eliza had lost her father and brothers in battle, everything had changed and by the time I had returned from the frontlines, she was already married to the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, Derek.

Derek.

The name itself left a bitter taste.

When he arrived as reinforcements, I had observed him carefully, hoping to understand Eliza's choice but he was nothing like the man I had imagined would win her heart.

He was harsh and prideful.

Yes, he had some skills but not enough to put the other soldiers down every chance he got.

Learning of his infidelity had ignited a rage within me so intense that I had to physically restrain myself from ending his life on the spot.

The battlefield's demands had forced my hand, but my regret festered—if only I had been more assertive, more willing to use my royal power to claim what my heart desired, to claim Eliza, then she wouldn’t have been put through this shame.

And now, this text message of her divorce.

This was a second chance.

This time, I would not hesitate. This time, I would protect her.

This time, Eliza would be mine.

My wolf stirred within me, its excitement matching my own.

We had waited years for this moment, and we would not let it slip away.

No one would ever hurt her again. I would make sure of it.