I’m becoming the Alpha, and I will not be questioned. If they challenge me, then I will fight without hesitation.
With that same deafening quiet from before, I take up the rest of that space, looking down at Lila like she’s the only one in the room. In the moment, it feels that way.
Her eyes, full of uncertainty and disbelief, search mine as I bring a hand up, slowly nudging her chin with the side of my finger. Her pulse stammers, but she doesn’t pull away.
Then, a beat from somewhere in the mill punctuates the quiet, like a fist banging against one of the crates. Little bylittle, the others join in, creating an almost eerie pounding of encouragement.
Their approval, regardless of how precarious. Regardless of its source.
The tide of opinion changes, and without hesitation, the others grow louder, celebrating the act and declaration, at the very least.
“Why are you doing this?” Lila asks, voice soft through the noise around us, meant only for me.
“Because I meant every word,” I murmur, taking in her features and barely letting my thumb ghost along her jaw. “You need protection, and if I can achieve that by claiming you, then who am I to deny it?”
Her brows furrow. “I don’t need to be claimed. And you don’t have to humiliate the pack as a result.”
“They humiliated you for years.”
Despite the otherwise unruly elation happening around us, Lila’s mood only sours, lips pulling into a frown. “And you helped.”
That fact burns, but she isn’t wrong.
“Just because I’m standing here doesn’t mean I accept any of this,” she mutters, words lashing at me despite how softly they’re spoken. “I’m letting you have your moment, and that’s it.”
Something in me, perhaps from the high of gaining the pack’s blessing, wants to call her bluff and lean into our connection. To remind her of her confession all those years ago, but I don’t.
This… thing I’m trying to forge between us is delicate, and her bruised feelings are even more so. I’m man enough to admit it’s because of me, and knowing that, I have to be mindful.
Because as hard as I tried to cut the thread between us, it’s alive and fierce with a mind of its own. It’s a truth even I can’t outrun.
It was always her, and it always will be her.\
Chapter 9 - Lila
As hard as I try to block it all out and remind myself this is only temporary, I can’t stop hearing the ring of Caleb’s words in my mind. The bellowed declaration and the way he walked through the pack with his chin up, despite how they tried to reject me and his decision. The way he wasn’t even remotely shaken by their initial animosity.
Instead, he remolded them. Reshaped their opinions just by showing he wasn’t going to back down. But even if they fell in line, I’m not naïve enough to believe they genuinely want me as their Luna.
And now, the following night, smoke from the bonfire clings to my hair as I walk side by side with Caleb, moving through the throng of pack members as they stare at us. The moon is high, casting its light through the woods and throwing shadows across his sharp features.
He looks older now, reminiscent of his younger self, yet hardened by the years. The determination in his eyes only solidifies that fact.
At one time, I dreamed of this. Longed for it. But now, my stomach is full of knots, even if my inner wolf is still preening at the idea. It’s a silent battle that only I know about, and it makes my whole body ache.
My only saving grace is that Astrid is with Mom. At least she doesn’t have to be anywhere near this humiliation ritual.
That’s how it feels to me, anyway.
Varic stands at the far end of the group beneath the hawthorn tree that many pairs have been mated under, but to get there, we have to endure the eyes of every wolf in the pack, allbearing witness to not only our bonding but to Caleb’s claiming of the Alpha title.
Despite having Caleb by my side, it feels more like I’m walking on my own, thrown back to my past. Every nerve in my body seems to coil up, bracing for judgment and mockery. Waiting for them to remind me again of how poor my status is. That if it weren’t for my dad, I never would’ve been welcomed anywhere near the pack.
Even if they don’t say it out loud, I can feel their judgment. Their questioning gazes, surely wondering how someone like me managed to land herself in this position. They might not have fought against the idea as hard as they could’ve, but I know they have no love for me.
I wait for Caleb to turn to me and join them. To throw his own insults at me and shatter my heart all over again.
Surprisingly, he’s the only constant in this. He moves with deliberate, confident strides with me, never walking in front of or behind me. Next to me, almost like we’re on the same level. But I know that’s far from the truth.
