Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: The Scumbag Won’t Let Go, Begs Desperately for a Second Chance at Her Door

The words hung in the quiet of the bedroom, soft and breathless, yet loud enough to drown out the distant, bloodthirsty howls echoing through the mountains outside. Elaine's hand rested over her lower belly, her fingers trembling slightly, tears of shock, joy, and quiet terror glistening in her silver-blue eyes. She stared up at Alphard, watching the storm of emotions cross his face—disbelief, awe, a blinding, reverent joy, and beneath it all, a sharp, gut-wrenching fear that made his scarlet eyes darken to the color of dried blood. For a long, frozen heartbeat, he did not move. Did not speak. He just stared at her, as if the words she'd spoken had rewritten the very fabric of the world he'd known for 300 years. Then, slowly, so slowly it was like he was afraid she would shatter if he moved too fast, he dropped to his knees in front of her. His large, calloused hands lifted, hovering over her stomach for a breath, before he pressed his palm gently against the soft fabric of his oversized sweater she wore, his fingers splayed wide, as if he could already feel the faint, brilliant spark of life growing inside her. The child his mother's journal had written of. The child that could break Valerius's curse, destroy the Shadow Moon Coven, and end the 300-year cycle of death and betrayal. The child that Valerius had sworn to kill before it could draw its first breath. "Elaine," he whispered, his voice broken, thick with unshed tears, his forehead pressing to her stomach, his breath warm through the fabric. "My love. My goddess. Our child." He lifted his head, his scarlet eyes locking onto hers, and she saw it then—the weight of 300 years of loneliness, of grief, of waiting, melting away into a bright, burning love that made her chest ache. He stood, his hands cupping her face, his thumbs brushing away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks, and kissed her. It was not the hungry, desperate kiss of two people clinging to each other in the face of darkness. It was soft. Reverent. A promise. His lips moved slowly against hers, his body pressing gently to hers, careful not to jostle her, not even a little. One hand stayed tangled in her hair, holding her close, while the other slid back down to rest over her stomach, protective, unyielding, a silent vow that nothing in this world would ever hurt her or their child. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers, his breath ragged, his voice thick with emotion. "I will burn the entire world down before I let anyone hurt you. Either of you. I don't care if it's Valerius, his coven, every rogue pack in the continent. They will not touch you. They will not touch our baby. I swear it to you. On my life. On my soul. On the 300 years I've loved you." Elaine's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, her face buried in the crook of his shoulder, breathing in his familiar pine and smoke scent, the scent that had felt like home even in her final moments on the Howling Peaks. For a moment, the distant howls, the threat of Valerius's army, the weight of the curse on his neck—all of it faded away. There was only them. Only the quiet, perfect promise of the life growing inside her. The moment shattered with a deafening, urgent knock on the bedroom door. "Alpha King! My Luna!" The voice of the head of the estate guard cut through the quiet, tight with barely contained panic. "We have a situation at the front gates. The perimeter wards are holding, but the rogue packs are massing in the woods on all sides. Valerius's horn call rallied every feral pack within 50 miles. They're outnumbering us 10 to 1." Alphard's jaw tightened, his arm tightening around Elaine's waist, pulling her behind him slightly, his scarlet eyes hardening into the cold, unyielding gaze of the Alpha King. The soft, reverent lover was gone in an instant, replaced by the warrior who'd ruled the Black Moon Pack for three centuries, who'd torn apart armies single-handedly. "Double the patrols on all sides," he barked, his voice carrying through the door, sharp and commanding. "Have the mages reinforce the wards with the Luna's bloodline magic—tie every rune to her power. No one gets in. No one gets out. Send a raven to the palace, have the royal army march here at once. Understood?" "Yes, Alpha King!" The guard's footsteps faded down the hallway, but before the silence could settle again, he was back, his voice even more frantic this time. "Alpha—there's more. A man is at the front gate. He's screaming for the Luna. Says his name is Brian Hale. He's demanding to see her. Says he'll stay there all night if he has to." Elaine's blood ran cold. Brian. The man who'd manipulated her, lied to her, plotted to drain her bloodline dry and throw her off a cliff to her death. The man she'd sentenced to the Northern Ice Mines, to a life of backbreaking labor and isolation for his crimes. He was here. At her gate. Begging to see her. Alphard's entire body went rigid. A low, feral growl rumbled in his chest, so deep it vibrated through the floorboards, his claws extending with a sharp snick, tearing through the sleeves of his dress shirt. The cursed rune on his neck flared faintly, black smoke seeping from its edges, not from the curse's control, but from the unbridled rage coursing through him. The man who'd dared to hurt his mate, who'd dared to even look at her the wrong way, was at his gates. And now, he was threatening the mother of his child. "I'll tear his throat out with my bare hands," Alphard snarled, already moving towards the door, his body coiled like a spring ready to strike. "He doesn't get to breathe the same air as you. He doesn't get to speak your name." Elaine's hand wrapped around his forearm, stopping him in his tracks. He turned to her, his rage softening just a fraction when his eyes met hers, but the fire in them still burned bright. "Wait," she said, her voice steady, unshakable. She lifted her chin, her silver-blue eyes cold and sharp, the same gaze that had made Valerius flee the bedroom only an hour before. "I want to see him." Alphard's brow furrowed, his grip tightening on her hand. "Little wolf, he's dangerous. He's working with Valerius—there's no other way he could have escaped the Ice Mines. He's here to hurt you. To trick you." "I know," she said, stepping closer, her hand sliding up to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing over his sharp jawline. "That's why I want to face him. I want to look him in the eye. I want to hear every lie he spews. I want to tear apart every last bit of hope he has that he'll ever get close to me again. I want to end this. Once and for all. Right here. Right now." She leaned up, pressing a soft, quick kiss to his lips, her voice dropping to a whisper, warm against his mouth. "And I won't be alone. You'll be right beside me. I know you will. Always." For a long moment, he stared at her, his scarlet eyes searching her face, before he nodded, his jaw tightening. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his hand sliding down to rest over her stomach again, protective and firm. "Fine. But you stay behind me the entire time. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, if he raises his voice, if he even breathes too hard in your direction, I will end him. No hesitation. No mercy. Understood?" Elaine smiled, a small, sharp thing, and nodded. "Understood." --- Ten minutes later, they stood at the front gates of the Voss Estate, the massive iron doors barred shut, the top lined with sharp silver spikes. The night air was cold and crisp, the moon hanging bright and full overhead, casting silver light over the grounds. Behind the gates, a dozen of Alphard's elite warriors stood at attention, their silver swords drawn, their eyes sharp and alert, scanning the tree line for any sign of the rogue packs massing in the dark. And on the other side of the gate, alone, stood Brian Hale. He looked nothing like the charming, polished Beta who'd waltzed through the palace ballroom on her 18th birthday. His once-perfect brown hair was matted and filthy, hanging in greasy strands around his gaunt, hollowed face. His clothes were torn and stained with mud and blood, his hands raw and bleeding, his boots caked in ice and dirt from the Northern Mountains. He looked like he'd walked for days, through blizzards and wolf-infested woods, driven by nothing but a desperate, feral obsession. The second he saw Elaine, his entire body lit up. He threw himself at the gate, his hands wrapping around the iron bars, shaking them so hard the metal rattled, his voice raw and ragged, broken from screaming. "Elaine! Elaine, baby, please! Look at me! Please, just talk to me!" He dropped to his knees in the mud, his forehead pressed to the cold iron, tears streaming down his dirty face, his voice cracking with desperation. "I know I messed up. I know I was wrong. I was stupid. I was greedy. I was brainwashed by Lena! By Valerius! They made me do it! They threatened me! I never wanted to hurt you, baby! Never!" Elaine stood perfectly still, her back straight, her chin held high, her face completely impassive. She felt nothing as she looked at him. No anger. No sadness. No grief. Just cold, empty contempt. This was the man she'd once loved with every fiber of her being. The man she'd thought was her forever. The man who'd killed her. And now, he was on his knees in the mud, begging for a second chance. Alphard stood beside her, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, his body pressed to her side, a solid, unyielding wall between her and the man on the other side of the gate. His scarlet eyes were locked on Brian, cold and ruthless, a silent promise of death if he so much as stepped out of line. The air around him crackled with Alpha power, so thick it made the warriors beside them shift uneasily, so strong it seeped through the iron bars, making Brian flinch, his body trembling. But Brian didn't look at Alphard. His eyes were fixed solely on Elaine, wild and desperate, like she was the only thing keeping him breathing. "Please, Elaine," he begged, his voice breaking, his hands scraping against the iron until his knuckles split and bled. "I know I don't deserve it. I know I don't deserve a second chance. But I love you. I've always loved you. From the first time I saw you, in the gardens when we were kids. I was just scared. Scared that I wasn't good enough for you. Scared that you'd leave me for someone better. For *him*." He nodded at Alphard, his voice twisting with jealousy and rage, even as he cowered from the Alpha King's glare. "He doesn't love you! He's just using you for your bloodline! For your power! He's a monster, Elaine! A cursed, cold-hearted monster! He'll hurt you! He'll break you! I'm the only one who's ever really loved you! The only one who can take care of you!" A high, sharp hum rang in Elaine's ears. Lie. Every single word was a lie. She could see the thick, roiling black smoke of the Shadow Moon Coven's magic clinging to him, winding around his wrists, his throat, his heart. Valerius's mark. He wasn't here because he loved her. He was here because Valerius had sent him. Because he'd made a deal. She stepped forward, just one step, until her boots were inches from the iron gate, her silver-blue eyes locking onto Brian's, cold and unforgiving. The hum in her ears grew louder, the silver glow of her Lunar Goddess power flaring faintly beneath her skin, making the iron bars hum in response. "Stop lying, Brian," she said, her voice clear, sharp, cutting through the night like a blade. "You never loved me. You loved what I could give you. The Lunar Goddess bloodline. The status. the power. You didn't care about me. You cared about the title you'd get when you mated me. The respect you'd gain from the pack. The power you'd steal from my veins." Brian's face twisted, his mouth falling open, scrambling to speak, to deny it, but she cut him off, her voice rising, sharp and unyielding. "You say Valerius brainwashed you? That Lena made you do it? I heard you, Brian. The night before my birthday. In the storage closet. You and Lena, laughing about how stupid I was. How easy it was to wrap me around your finger. How you'd drain my bloodline dry the second we were mated, and then throw me to the rogue wolves. You said it. Not Lena. Not Valerius. *You.*" His face drained of color, his mouth snapping shut, his eyes wide with terror. He'd thought no one had heard. He'd thought that secret had died with his old life in the palace ballroom. "You say Alphard is using me?" She laughed, a cold, bitter sound, and reached back, her hand lacing through Alphard's, her gaze never leaving Brian's. "Alphard has loved me for 300 years. He sacrificed his soul, his peace, his freedom, to keep me alive. He burned the world down to avenge me when I died. He knelt before me, in front of the entire pack, and swore to be my equal. My partner. What did you ever do for me, Brian? You lied to me. You manipulated me. You killed my parents. You pushed me off a cliff and left me to die. You have no right to speak his name. No right to speak mine." Brian was shaking now, his entire body trembling, tears streaming down his face, not from remorse, but from desperation. He'd lost. Every lie he'd prepared, every desperate plea, had been torn apart before he'd even finished speaking. But he wasn't done. He was too far gone, too obsessed, too desperate to let go. "I can change!" He screamed, slamming his fists against the gate, his voice raw and broken. "I can be better! For you! I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you! I'll kill Valerius! I'll kill Lena! I'll do anything! Just give me a second chance! Just let me see you! Just touch me! Please, Elaine! I can't live without you!" Alphard's growl cut through the night, low and deadly, making Brian freeze mid-scream, his blood running cold. The Alpha King stepped forward, his body shielding Elaine from view, his scarlet eyes locking onto Brian's, his gaze so cold, so ruthless, it made Brian's bladder give out, a dark stain spreading across the front of his filthy pants, just like it had in the palace ballroom. Scared witless, by nothing more than the Alpha King's glare. The warriors behind them snickered, quiet and mocking, as Brian crumpled to his knees in the mud, whimpering, his head hanging in shame and terror. "You will not speak her name again," Alphard snarled, his voice carrying the full weight of his Alpha power, shaking the iron gates, making Brian whimper and cower. "You will not look at her. You will not even think of her. You came here tonight because Valerius made you a deal. He told you if you lured her out of these gates, if you brought her to him, he'd give you back your Beta rank. Your power. Your pathetic little life. Isn't that right?" Brian's head shot up, his eyes wide with terror, his mouth falling open. He hadn't told anyone about the deal. No one had known. Except Valerius. And now, the Alpha King. "You think we didn't know?" Alphard continued, his voice dripping with contempt. "You think we didn't see the Coven's mark on your skin? The dark magic clinging to you? You're a pawn, Brian. A disposable tool. Valerius doesn't care about you. He never did. He sent you here to die. To test our defenses. To make a fool of yourself. And you fell for it. Like the stupid, greedy little worm you've always been." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low, menacing whisper that still carried through the gates, sharp as a blade. "If you ever come near this estate again. If you ever so much as breathe in the direction of my mate. If you even think her name. I will hunt you down. I will break every bone in your body. I will make you beg for death. And then I will leave you to rot in the Ice Mines for the rest of your miserable, pathetic life. Do I make myself clear?" Brian nodded frantically, his head bobbing up and down, tears and snot streaming down his face, too terrified to speak. He scrambled backwards, away from the gate, away from the Alpha King's glare, his legs shaking so bad he could barely stand. But before he could turn and run, he froze. His eyes locked onto Elaine's stomach, where Alphard's hand still rested, protective and firm. A slow, terrible realization dawned on his face. His eyes went wide, his mouth falling open, a strangled sound escaping his lips. "You're pregnant," he whispered, his voice barely audible, but loud enough to carry through the night air. "You're carrying his baby." The air went still. Alphard's body went rigid, his scarlet eyes blazing with unbridled fury, his hand tightening around the hilt of the sword at his waist, ready to tear the gate down and end Brian where he stood. But Brian didn't run. He didn't cower. A wild, unhinged look spread across his face, his lips twisting into a snarl, the last of his desperate mask falling away. "You think I'll let that happen?" He screamed, his voice high and feral, spitting with rage. "You think I'll let you have a happy little family with that monster? That baby is an abomination! A half-breed curse! Valerius will burn this estate to the ground! He'll kill the Alpha King! He'll take you! And that thing inside you will die before it's even born! He told me! He's already inside the walls! He's already won!" The words hung in the air, sharp and cold, and Elaine's blood ran cold. Valerius was already inside the walls. Before Alphard could react, before the guards could move, a deafening explosion ripped through the night, coming from the west wing of the estate. The ground shook beneath their feet, the iron gates rattling, the sound of screaming coming from inside the house. The Lunar Ward around the estate shattered with a high, dying whine, the silver runes flickering out, leaving the estate completely exposed. From the tree line, thousands of feral howls erupted, loud and bloodthirsty, closing in fast. Brian laughed, a wild, hysterical sound, as the guards grabbed him, dragging him away towards the dungeons, his screams echoing through the night. "He's already here! He's already won! You're all going to die!" Alphard grabbed Elaine, pulling her tight against his chest, his body shielding her from the chaos erupting around them, his scarlet eyes wide with terror. The one thing he'd sworn to protect her from, the one threat he'd never seen coming, was already inside their home. Valerius was already here. And he was not alone.