Chapter 6: The Disgrace of the Alpha

Nyla’s POV

It was eerily quiet on the battlefield. All of the wolves and pack members stood motionless, their eyes wide with surprise. The only sound disturbing the quiet was the wind rustling through the trees.

Killian was pinned to the ground beneath me. With heavy breaths, his chest rose and fell, and his powerful body lay still. I kept my sword a few inches away from his throat.

I looked at him from below. Silver Dawn’s great Alpha defeated and defenseless.

"Do it," he said in a raspy voice.

Something flickered in his eyes, and I saw it. Anguish? Feeling sorry? I didn't give a damn.

I whispered, leaning down and hardly moving my lips, "You are nothing to me."

His body tensed beneath me. I saw the moment my words hit him, the way his hands clenched into fists, his breathing sharp and uneven.

The same words he once spat at me.

Now, they belonged to him.

Slowly, I stood up. The weight of the sword in my hand felt heavier than before. The pack still watched, waiting, their looks shifting between Killian and me.

I turned, my voice ringing loud and clear.

"I don’t want this pack," I declared. "I don’t want to rule a den of traitors."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Warriors stiffened. Even the elders looked uncertain.

Killian struggled to his feet, his legs unsteady. "Nyla"

I didn’t look at him.

"You threw me away once," I continued, my voice steady. "Now, I throw you away."

With that, I turned my back on Silver Dawn and started walking.

Every step felt like cutting another chain that once held me captive.

I was victorious.

Yet, my heart ached in a way I didn’t expect.

"Kill her!"

Astrid’s voice rang out, piercing and poisonous.

Killian scarcely flinched as she stormed toward him, her eyes wild with rage.

"You let her humiliate you in front of the whole pack!" she spat. "You’re the Alpha! You should have murdered her!"

Killian’s jaw stiffened. His hands, still quivering from the battle, curled into fists.

"Astrid, stop." His voice was gruff, but there was no strength behind it.

"Stop?" She let out a sour laugh. "She made a fool of you! Of all of us!"

Killian didn’t answer. He stood there, shoulders stiff, staring at the ground where I had stood moments previously.

Anger twisted Astrid's face. "You still want her, don’t you?"

Killian winced. Only a little. Astrid, however, noticed it.

She laughed bitterly and sharply. Hersing, "Pathetic," she said. "Pathetic."

She gave him a final look before turning and storming away.

Killian remained silent.

It was the weakest the powerful Alpha had ever felt.

With a bottle of whiskey in his hand, Killian sat by himself in his room.

The candlelight flickered in the darkened chamber. Something he didn't understand made his chest tight and his head pound.

He did understand, though. He simply had no desire to.

He was defeated.

He had lost her, which was worse than that.

His jaw clenched as his fingers tightened around the glass.

He detested it. The emptiness. The suffering. The way her perfume still lingered in his imagination.

His throat rumbled with a growl.

He forced himself up, wobbling toward the mirror. His reflection stared back at him.

However, there was a problem.

His wolf.

Not only was the beast inside him restless, but it was enraged. Something wild and desperate burned in its eyes.

Killian took a deep breath.

Nyla was his wolf's desire.

Required her.

A growl rumbled from the mirror, low and threatening.

Killian experienced genuine fear for the first time in his life.