Chapter 4: Power Chooses Sides

Riven Kaelthorne did not look back.

That was the part that hurt the most.

Ari stood frozen in the wreckage of the cafe long after the storm swallowed Riven’s retreating figure. Rain pooled on the floor where the door had once been, the scent of Alpha authority fading inch by inch until only the bitter tang of fear and loss remained.

He told himself it didn’t matter.

Riven was an Alpha Commander. Untouchable. Arrogant by reputation alone. Of course he would walk away. Of course he would pretend the words meant nothing.

You’re mine.

Ari clenched his jaw, refusing to let the memory tighten his chest any further.

By morning, the Council had already heard about what happened. They always did.

Ari stood stiffly in the polished marble hallway outside Riven’s office, fingers curled around the strap of his worn satchel. The building was all glass and steel cold, imposing, designed to remind everyone who held power.

The secretary barely glanced at him. “Commander Kaelthorne will see you now.” Ari swallowed and stepped inside.

Riven’s office was exactly what Ari expected minimal, sharp edged, immaculate. Floor to ceiling windows overlooked the city like it was something to be owned. Riven stood near his desk, hands clasped behind his back, dark uniform pristine as if he hadn’t dragged three rogues through a storm the night before.

He didn’t turn.

“You have five minutes,” Riven said coolly. “Make them useful.”

Ari bristled. “I didn’t ask for an audience.”

Riven arched a brow and finally faced him, golden eyes assessing, distant. “No,” he agreed. “You were summoned. There’s a difference.”

Ari’s stomach twisted. “You left me. You didn’t even.”

“I neutralized a threat,” Riven interrupted flatly. “That is my duty. Don’t confuse it with concern.”

Ari took a step forward despite himself. “You said I was yours.” Riven’s expression hardened instantly.

“I said what would end the situation efficiently,” he replied. “Rogue Alphas understand possession. Fear works faster than morality.”

“That’s all it was?” Ari demanded. “A tactic?”

“Yes.” The word was sharp enough to cut.

Ari’s voice shook. “Then why did you come at all?”

Riven’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Because allowing rogues to hunt Omegas in my territory makes me look incompetent.” That one hurt worse.

Ari laughed bitterly. “So I was just..collateral?”

Riven stepped closer, looming now, his presence pressing down like weight. “You were a variable in a problem I resolved,” he said calmly. “Nothing more.”

Ari stared up at him, eyes burning. “You’re lying.”

Riven’s jaw tightened. “Careful.”

“Why?” Ari shot back. “You’ll throw me out again? Like I don’t matter?” Something dark flickered behind Riven’s eyes irritation, not guilt.

“You matter precisely as much as you choose to,” Riven said coldly. “And right now, you’re choosing to overstep.”

Ari’s hands curled into fists. “You don’t get to decide that.”

Riven exhaled sharply, patience clearly thinning. “This conversation is finished.”

“No,” Ari said. “You don’t get to say I’m yours one moment and pretend I don’t exist the next.” Silence slammed down between them.

Riven straightened fully, every inch the Alpha Commander now. “You don’t understand how dangerous it is for an Omega like you to cling to words spoken under pressure.”

“Then stop saying them,” Ari whispered.

Riven’s gaze cut away.

That was answer enough.

He moved back behind his desk and pressed a button. “Escort Ari out and take him to the council.”

Ari stared at him, disbelief and hurt crashing together. “You’re kicking me out?”

“Yes.” Just one word. Final. Unyielding.

Ari’s chest tightened. “You’re afraid.”

Riven’s eyes snapped up, sharp as blades. “Get out. The guards appeared at the door.

Ari took a shaky breath, lifting his chin. “You can pretend I don’t matter,” he said quietly. “But you wouldn’t have come that night if I didn’t.”

Riven didn’t respond.

Didn’t look at him.

The guards gently but firmly ushered Ari toward the door. As he crossed the threshold, he glanced back one last time.

Riven stood rigid behind his desk, staring out at the city like nothing in the room had ever touched him. The door shut with a soft, final click.

Outside, Ari leaned against the wall, heart pounding not from fear, but from certainty. Riven Kaelthorne could deny destiny all he wanted.

But kicking an Omega out of his office didn’t erase what had already begun. It only proved how desperate the Alpha was to stay in control.

The Council chamber was colder than Riven’s office.

Ari felt it the moment he stepped inside the temperature, yes, but more than that, the weight of judgment pressing down on him from every direction. The high domed ceiling echoed softly with each step he took across the polished floor, making him feel smaller than he had any right to.

The Council sat in a half circle, robed figures elevated above him, faces carefully neutral. They looked at him the way one might look at a complication something inconvenient, something to be managed.

“Sit,” Elder Virel said.

Ari remained standing. “You wanted to see me.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed one of the Elders’ faces, but Virel merely inclined his head. “Very well. We’ll proceed.”

Ari folded his hands together to keep them from shaking. “I was attacked in my workplace,” he said. “By rogues. And afterward, Commander Kaelthorne.”

“We are aware of the incident,” Virel interrupted smoothly. “And of the..words exchanged.”

Ari’s breath caught. “Then you know there’s a bond.” His my mate.

A murmur rippled through the chamber quiet, controlled, not surprised.

“There is a potential,” another Elder corrected. “An incomplete resonance. Nothing more.”

Ari frowned. “It doesn’t feel incomplete.”

“That is irrelevant,” the Elder replied sharply. “You don’t even have a wolf and Feelings are not evidence.”

Virel leaned forward slightly, hands steepled. “You must understand something, Ari. Alpha Commander Riven Kaelthorne is the cornerstone of Highcrest’s stability. His authority cannot be compromised.”

Ari’s chest tightened. “By an Omega?”

“Yes, much less a worfless omega.”Virel said without hesitation.

The word landed like a verdict.

“You are being instructed,” Virel continued calmly, “to ignore any sensations, impulses, or emotional attachments you believe to be related to a bond.”

Ari stared at him. “You can’t just turn it off.”

“You will learn,” another Elder said. “Omega control programs exist for this very reason.”

Ari’s hands clenched. “So that Alphas don’t have to deal with us?”

“So that leaders are not weakened,” the Elder corrected.

Virel’s gaze sharpened. “Commander Kaelthorne has made it abundantly clear that he does not wish to bond. We will not allow an unranked Omega to affect his judgment, his reputation, or his command.”

Unranked.

Ari swallowed hard. “What about what I want?” The silence that followed was deafening.

Finally, Virel spoke. “What you want does not outweigh what the city needs.”

Ari felt something crack in his chest not loudly, not all at once, but deep and quiet.

“You’re protecting him,” Ari said softly. “Not the bond. Not balance. Him.”

“Yes,” Virel agreed. “And you will help us do so.”

Ari shook his head. “You’re asking me to erase myself.”

“No,” Virel said. “We are asking you to be sensible.”

A guard stepped forward, holding out a slim data chip. “These are resources,” Virel said. “Suppression techniques. Relocation options, if necessary.” Ari didn’t take it.

“I won’t chase him,” Ari said quietly. “But I won’t pretend nothing happened.”

Virel’s expression cooled. “Then be very careful, Omega. Pushing this matter further will not end in your favor.”

Ari turned and walked out without bowing.

The doors closed behind him with a heavy thud.

In the empty corridor, Ari finally let out a shaky breath.

They could order him to ignore the bond.

They could shield Riven with power and politics.

They could pretend destiny was a nuisance to be managed.

But bonds didn’t answer to Councils.

And neither did he anymore.Ari realized.