The Boy has Become a Man

Chapter Nine

Taydyn

I barely make it three steps into the pack house before the day goes straight to hell.

Terrance is mid-sentence beside me, probably about to make another terrible joke, when I feel her.

Too close.

Too familiar.

Too—

“—There he is.”

I stop.

Karissa.

Daughter of Alpha Gavin of Crescent Creek.

Tall. Leggy. Blonde. Built like most female wolves — strong, sleek, confident in a way that used to be… entertaining.

Now?

My stomach turns.

Unfairly, my brain flashes an image of my mother standing in almost the exact same poised stance and—

Ew.

Zey makes a deeply offended noise in my head.

“Do not compare mate’s rival to Mother. She will never measure up to even that of a Luna.”

I wasn’t trying to, I shoot back.

For the last two years — ever since I turned eighteen — Karissa has made her intentions painfully clear. Flirting. Circling. Practically gift-wrapping herself and sliding across the table.

I’d tolerated it.

Entertained it, even.

But I always knew.

She wasn’t it.

And Zey?

Zey has never liked her.

Not once.

Not even a little.

Still… Crescent Creek is our closest neighboring pack. Small — dangerously small — but they produce warriors that fight like demons. We need them.

Which is exactly why this moment could not possibly be worse.

Karissa slides up beside me like a snake finding warm stone, her manicured hand settling lightly on my arm.

“There you are,” she purrs. “I was beginning to think you might not show.”

The second she touches me—

Fire.

Not warmth.

Not interest.

Pain.

My entire arm feels like someone poured acid straight onto my skin.

I jerk back violently.

Karissa’s perfectly painted brows jump in surprise — genuine offense flickering across her face before she smooths it away for the room.

But I saw it.

What the hell was that?

Across the room, my mother — Carolyn — absolutely notices.

Her eyes narrow.

Great.

Just great.

———————

The conference room fills quickly.

Alphas.

Betas.

Guards lining the walls.

The air is thick with tension and old power.

I force myself into my seat beside Terrance, jaw tight, Zey still pacing like a caged animal in my skull.

“Not mate,” he growls, still furious about Karissa’s touch. “She has no right.”

I am aware, I mutter internally.

The meeting begins.

Rogues.

Border tensions.

Supply routes.

Then the real problem surfaces.

The war with the Daywalkers in the east.

My father — Alpha Chadwick — finally turns his steady, terrifying attention toward Crescent Creek.

“You’re behind on quota for warriors to go to the front.”

He doesn’t raise his voice.

He never does.

He doesn’t have to.

The quiet in him is what makes grown wolves sweat.

Alpha Gavin shifts in his seat, something strained flickering behind his eyes.

“We have no new wolves, Chadwick. None have shifted. The ones currently in training are children. They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The room stills.

My father’s gaze sharpens.

“Is the wolfless population increasing in your pack?”

Gavin nods slowly.

“…Almost only every fourth child now has a wolf.”

Silence falls like a death sentence.

Their pack is dying.

Everyone in this room knows it.

Their bloodlines are too tangled.

Too mingled.

Too—

Weak.

Alpha Derek of Edgeland leans forward, voice cutting.

“Maybe if you focused more on finding the source of the curse rather than believing in some prophecy, you’d be able to heal your bloodlines.”

The air turns volatile instantly.

Gavin’s chair scrapes.

“She will come,” he insists, voice shaking with restrained fury. “I don’t think you realize how much I’ve done to try to figure out what the problem is.”

Alpha energy begins to press outward, thick and dangerous.

Terrance shifts beside me.

Zey lifts his head.

Tension.

Pressure.

Then—

“Enough.”

My father’s voice slices through the room.

Instant silence.

“You still must send some to aid in the war. That was the agreement of the peace treaty. It is unfair to Edgeland pack that they carry the heaviest burden.”

Gavin exhales slowly.

Defeated.

“…My Beta, my guard, and I will be there within the week.”

That gets attention.

It’s not unheard of for an Alpha to go to the front.

But Gavin?

He’s the last strong thread in a fraying bloodline.

And Karissa—

—Karissa sees her moment.

Of course she does.

She leans sideways in her chair…

…and half crawls into my lap.

“Taydyn,” she breathes softly, fingers sliding onto my chest, “my father is all Crescent Creek has. If something happens to him—”

Pain.

White-hot.

Every place she touches feels like it’s being eaten alive.

Zey explodes.

“GET OFF.”

The words rip out of me — half mine, half his.

I surge to my feet so fast my chair crashes backward.

Karissa yelps as she loses balance and hits the floor.

My heart is pounding.

Too fast.

Too loud.

Zey is pushing forward hard now, claws scraping behind my ribs.

I step back from her like she burned me.

Because she did.

“Taydyn River!” my mother snaps sharply, already moving to help Karissa up.

Chairs scrape.

Alphas rise.

The room shifts.

“Son…”

My father’s voice drops into full Alpha command.

“Calm down.”

Zey snarls.

Out loud.

The room gasps.

Oh.

Shit.

I’m losing control.

I have to get out of here.

Now.

I move for the door—

—and my father’s hand plants firmly against my chest.

It happens before I can stop it.

The growl tears out of me.

And for the first time in my life—

I use my Alpha voice on my own father.

“MOVE. NOW.”

The room freezes.

My father blinks once.

Then — slowly — deliberately —

He steps aside.

Shock ripples through the room.

I don’t wait.

I bolt.

Out of the pack house.

Across the yard.

Into the tree line—

Bones snap.

Skin splits.

Clothes shred behind me as Zey finally surges free.

The forest explodes into scent and sound and motion as I run.

Run.

Run.

Even at this distance, my mother’s voice carries faintly on the wind—

“What in the world just happened—”

Alpha Derek’s answer follows, calm and certain, drifting through the trees as I disappear deeper into the woods.

“Well… there’s only one answer to that question.”

A pause.

“The boy has become a man.”

My paws hit the forest floor hard.

Fast.

Free.

“…He found his mate.”