Chapter Five

ALPHA KAITH.

My breath came out ragged, my lungs tightening as if they were struggling to contain the storm inside me. The weight of what had just happened bore down on my shoulders, suffocating me. My wolf howled in frustration, clawing at my insides, mourning something I had destroyed with my own hands. Selene’s face flashed in my mind—her shattered expression, the pain I had inflicted on her. And the worst part? She had believed it. Every single word.

Sylvia’s obnoxious giggles rang from down the hall, her voice dripping with satisfaction.

“Well, you’ve seen her face!” she laughed, as if this were nothing but a cruel joke to her. As if breaking Selene had been some kind of twisted game.

Something in me snapped.

Without hesitation, I stormed out of my room, my feet carrying me toward her like a force of nature. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out everything but the rage flooding through me.

Sylvia lounged on the plush sofa, her legs crossed lazily, a glass of champagne balanced between her fingers. She barely spared me a glance as she continued speaking into her phone, smug amusement curling on her lips.

The moment her eyes met mine, she hung up.

“What?” she asked, voice cold and unimpressed. “Still feeling sorry for her?”

I didn’t answer.

A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, her arrogance suffocating the space between us. “You should be glad to have me as your mate rather than her.”

Glad.

The word made my stomach churn, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.

"Glad?" I scoffed, my voice shaking with barely restrained fury. “You all cornered me! Do you really think I consider you my mate?” My chest heaved, anger and disgust lacing every word. “I will never see you as mine. My heart will only ever belong to Selene!”

The glass in Sylvia’s hand shattered against the floor, the sharp crash punctuating the silence between us. She was on her feet in an instant, her face twisted in rage.

"Selene! Selene! Selene!" she shrieked, her voice rising with every word. "What is it with you and your obsession with her?!"

I stood there, staring at her, unmoved.

Her lips curled into a sneer. "She is nothing! A defect, just like you said. No origin, no abilities, completely useless! The only reason she’s still breathing in Royal City is that my uncle allowed it!"

A dry, hollow laugh ripped from my throat, dark and humorless.

My chest heaved, my vision clouded with nothing but red-hot fury. My breath came in ragged pants as I glared at the woman before me, the source of my rage, the chain shackled to my existence.

“That’s right,” I snarled, my voice cutting through the air like a blade. “The mighty Oblivion wolf. Alpha Bruce Whitefang!” My anger flared, spilling into every word like a storm breaking loose. “The mighty Alpha among Alphas!” My voice echoed through the walls, dripping with venom.

Sylvia’s smug expression didn’t waver, her arms crossed lazily as if she relished every ounce of my frustration.

I took a step forward, closing the space between us. “Just because she has no attribute doesn’t mean you’re more valuable than her.”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes, but I wasn’t done.

I moved closer, my voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “You wanna know why she’s better than you?” Another step. My body loomed over hers, my presence suffocating. “Because she doesn’t run crying to daddy every time she wants something handed to her.” My words hit their mark, and her nostrils flared. “She might not be powerful like you, but at least she has something you will never have—standards.”

Her spine went rigid, her nails digging into her palms as she clenched her fists. Her lips trembled, then curled into a malicious smirk.

“Well, too bad,” she sneered, her voice laced with cruel amusement. “No matter what you cook up, no matter how much you beg, to her, you’re nothing more than a bastard who rejected her in front of everyone.” She let out a low chuckle, tilting her head mockingly. “You said those words to her, not me.”

A sharp, searing pain tore through my chest.

The memory of Selene’s face, her eyes wide with hurt, flashed through my mind.

My hands clenched at my sides. My body trembled, my wolf howling in fury, demanding vengeance.

I snapped.

Before I could stop myself, my hands shot forward, wrapping around her throat.

"You made me do it!" My voice was raw, shaking with the force of my emotions. “You and your family! You—”

My grip tightened. My wolf growled, the primal instinct within me demanding I tear her apart. My claws ached to rip through her skin, to silence her venomous tongue once and for all.

But I couldn’t.

A brutal, invisible force slammed into my chest, searing through me like fire. The mate bond. The gods-damned mate bond.

Her pain was mine.

I gasped, my lungs burning as if I had been the one suffocating. My muscles locked, every fiber of my being rebelling against the attack.

With a sharp inhale, I wrenched my hands away, releasing her. My body shuddered as I stepped back, breathing heavily. My heart pounded against my ribs, the rage still simmering beneath my skin.

Sylvia coughed, stumbling slightly as she rubbed her throat. But even through her shaken breaths, she smirked. “See?” she rasped, her voice hoarse but victorious. “You can’t even hurt me.”

I gritted my teeth, my fists shaking.

And then—

BANG!

The door burst open, the force of the impact rattling the walls.

I spun around, my chest still rising and falling rapidly.

Jacob barged in, breathless, his face pale with urgency. His eyes darted between me and Sylvia, his expression dark.

I exhaled, forcing my rage to settle, if only slightly. “What’s going on, Jacob?” I asked, my voice dangerously low.

His eyes darted wildly, his breathing ragged. “Shit’s gone insane,” he replied hastily, his voice trembling with urgency.

A sharp pang of dread coiled in my gut. “What the hell are you talking about? Did you find Selene?”

Jacob didn’t answer.

He just stood there, staring at me.

That look—hollow, shaken—it made my blood run cold.

 “You promised you would find her!” I roared, shaking him. “Where the fuck is she?”

Jacob exhaled slowly, his shoulders slumping as he shook his head. “She’s gone, man,” he whispered. “I couldn’t—I fucking couldn’t! It was impossible!”

The way he said it. The way his voice broke.

Something wasn’t right.

“What are you talking about?” I snarled, my hands clenching. “Where the hell is she?”

Jacob’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. His lips parted, hesitation thick in the space between us.

“When I got there… James was already there—”

The name alone made something snap inside me.

“James!” I cut him off, shoving past him. My vision blurred with rage. “Where the fuck has he taken her? I swear I’ll crush him!” I stormed toward the door.

“He’s not the one who took her!”

The words stopped me dead in my tracks.

I turned slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“What are you saying?” My voice was eerily calm. “Who took her?”

Jacob inhaled deeply, as if he needed the air to gather what little strength he had left. His hands trembled, his entire frame unsteady.

“Like I said,” he whispered, his voice hollow. “Shit’s gone sideways.”

A heavy silence fell over the room, stretching like an open wound.

“Sorry, bro… but Selene is already claimed by another. He has marked her.”

The world tilted.

My chest caved in on itself.

“What?” The word barely left my lips, choked and strangled. “Claimed? Marked?”

Jacob’s silence sent a violent shudder through me.

No.

No.

“Who?” My voice was a broken snarl. “Who the fuck dares go after what’s mine?”

Jacob hesitated.

That hesitation only fueled the fire clawing through my veins.

“Jacob,” I growled, my eyes darkening, my canines sharpening, “tell me who the bastard is! I will fucking crush them!” My voice roared through the room like a storm breaking loose.

Jacob’s head shot up. His entire body jerked as though struck by lightning.

And then—

“You can’t!”

The way he roared it—his voice raw, desperate—sent a sick chill through me.

I could smell it. The overwhelming scent of fear. It rolled off him in waves, thick and cloying.

His eyes widened, his pupils dilated, his teeth bared in a snarl of pure, unfiltered terror.

And then—

A tear.

A single tear slipped from his right eye, trailing down his cheek like something foreign, something he didn’t even realize was there.

“I thought—I thought I had witnessed monsters.” His voice cracked, his breath ragged. “I’ve seen strong wolves, powerful Alphas, but he… he is on another level.” His hands trembled as they clutched at his own arms. His entire body shook violently, like a man who had glimpsed something beyond comprehension.

“The power coming from him—it’s impossible. It’s not real.” His voice dropped to a whisper, but the weight in it felt like a scream.

“How could a single wolf have such power?” His breathing turned erratic. “It’s just not real. It’s not possible.”

He gripped his head, his fingers digging into his scalp.

And then he screamed.

A raw, broken sound, filled with something close to madness.

He collapsed to his knees, his body folding in on itself.

“It’s impossible! Just impossible!” His voice cracked as he rocked forward, his fingers clawing at the floor, as if trying to find something to ground himself.

I just stared.

This—this wasn’t Jacob.

Jacob, my Moonbind, my omega, had never cowered before anything. Not even in front of the Oblivion wolf. Not in front of the Ice Queen. Not even in the presence of the elders.

But now—

He looked like a man who had faced death itself and barely crawled back.

My blood turned ice-cold.

Who the hell took Selene?

“He’s just a monster,” Jacob whimpered, his voice barely a breath. “A monster…”