Chapter 4: The Ruthless Alpha

Alpha Zane’s POV

The scream ripped through me before the pain did.

“Zane…!”

My mother’s voice shattered the silence, sharp and raw, splitting the walls of the house apart. I was dragged from sleep into darkness, the sound echoing through my skull as if it were happening again… because it was happening again.

No.

Not again.

I was small. Too small for a child in his twelfth year, barefoot and shaking.

Her hands seized mine and dragged me down the stairs, my feet barely touching the ground. She shoved me beneath the staircase, the narrow space scraping my shoulders as she forced me back.

“Son, stay here,” she whispered frantically, tears streaking down her face. “Don’t come out. No matter what you hear. Everything will be fine.”

The door slammed.

I clawed at the wood, my heart hammering, breath coming in panicked gasps. Then the whip cracked.

“You filthy trash!” I heard my father roar alongside the whip’s swish.

Twice.

My mother screamed.

I covered my ears, but the sound tore through my skull anyway. The thick, wet snap of leather against flesh. The growl in my father’s throat as he struck again.

“You dare speak of fate to me?” he snarled. “You dare tell me you’re my mate as if that chains me to your disgusting self?”

Another strike.

Her sob cut off into a choking sound.

“Please, stop!…” my mother begged in a cracked voice.

“Fated mates are a deception,” he continued coldly. “A lie meant to bind strong Alphas like me. I refuse to be owned by anyone.”

I bit my lip to hold back the tears until I tasted blood.

He dragged my mother by the hair and pulled out his favorite silver dagger that shone under the light.

“If killing you declares me free from this disgusting bond, then SO BE IT!” He roared before sinking the silver blade into my mother’s stomach.

I yelped as my palm flew to my mouth as instructed by my mother.

But too late, he heard my yelp and turned sharply towards me.

He let go of my mother’s hair as she dropped into a pool of her blood, in two strides he stood before the door to the crawlspace and opened it.

Light flooded in.

My father’s hand wrapped around my arm and yanked me out like I was nothing, my arm burned from his grip as he dragged me across the room. I screamed, kicking, begged, but he was immovable.

He threw me down.

I landed beside my mother.

My mother lay on the floor, blood pooling beneath her, her chest rising shallowly. Her eyes found mine instantly.

“Mother,” I sobbed, scrambling to her side, grabbing her hand. It was already cold. “Mother, please…”

My father loomed above us.

“Look at her,” he said calmly. “This is what fate earns you.”

Then he turned away.

Katherine, who had been watching the whole time with a smirk on her face, didn’t even flinch at the sight unfolding before her. She simply looped her hand in his and followed him out, her heels clicking against the floor, her perfume choking the air. The door closed behind them.

Silence.

I crawled closer, pressing my forehead to my mother’s hand.

“Mother,” I cried. “Please don’t leave me.”

Her lips trembled.

“I’m… Sorry… My son…” she whispered weakly. “I love you.”

Her fingers tightened once.

Then went still.

“Motherrrr!”

I screamed her name as the world shattered…

Everything suddenly turned dark.

I shot upright in bed, gasping, my body drenched in sweat, my heart pounding like it wanted to rip free of my chest. Pain clawed through me, fresh and brutal, as if twelve years hadn’t passed at all.

My hands trembled as I reached for the nightstand.

Her photo stared back at me.

I picked it up, brushing my thumb across her smiling face. She looked peaceful in the picture. Alive. Untouched.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered hoarsely. “I couldn’t save you. I couldn’t even bring myself to avenge you.”

She had held the house together while my father disgraced it. While Katherine slithered her way into our lives. While fate threatened to take everything from me.

Suddenly the door slammed open.

“Alpha!”

I looked up sharply my hand rushing to my silver dagger, but Beta Nikolas rushed in, urgency etched across his face. “We have a problem.”

“What?” I snapped.

He swallowed. “It’s about the woman carrying your pup….”

My jaw clenched as I freed the dagger from my grip.

“As you instructed Alpha, I assigned some of your men to watch her,” he continued carefully, “they sent back words.”

“What is she up to now?”

The words tore from my throat as my wolf stood ready to surge forward, fury already boiling in my veins. The room vibrated with the low growl that rumbled from my chest.

Nikolas flinched but continued. “She doesn’t seem to returning to Mystic Falls.. From the look of things she is trying to run.”

My wolf snarled viciously.

“Run with my pup?” I growled.

“It seems so Alpha,” Nikolas added

My blood went cold.

“Alpha,” he finished, voice tight, “What should we do?.”

The room blurred.

No.

I will not let that dirty piece of shit take what is mine.

If I lost this pup… I would lose everything.

I was on my feet instantly, grabbing my coat and throwing it over my bare chest, not bothering to dress properly. “Do you have her current location?!” I questioned.

“Yes, Alpha, she’s heading south of Greenwood Pack.”

“Take me to her.. NOW!!” I barked

“This way Alpha..”

We stormed out of the room, descending the stairs in long strides, the house trembling beneath my rage. But as I crossed the living room…

“Zane.”

I stopped.

Katherine stood near the fireplace, her expression calculating as always. “Thank God you’re finally down. Valkyra has been waiting for you all evening.”

Before I could respond, Valkyra glided forward, looping her arm through mine and pressing herself against my chest.

“Hey, babe,” she purred, fingers tracing my skin. “I’ve missed you.” She looked at me head to toe “Uhmm.., are you going somewhere? Can I come?” She sounded so excited that it irritated me.

I ripped her hand away.

“Don’t you ever touch me again!,” I said coldly.

I didn’t wait to see their reaction. I turned and walked out, my wolf snarling beneath my skin, my focus razor-sharp.

She thought she could run.

She thought she could steal my heir.

That pup was my only path to keeping my crown… my only defense against my father’s bastard son who is waiting to claim what belongs to me.

And I would not lose it.

Not to fate.

And certainly not to a woman who didn’t yet understand what it meant to carry something that belonged to an Alpha King.