CHAPTER 3 – Before the Alpha

(Afnan’s POV)

The last time I stood in this hall, I left it broken.

Tonight, I walk through its doors again drenched, exhausted, and clutching the only two reasons I ever found the strength to survive.

The great hall of the Bloodstone Pack hasn’t changed.

Massive pillars of black marble rise like sentinels, the floor polished until it mirrors your reflection and your shame.

Dozens of wolves fill the space, their whispers scraping against my ears.

“Is that her?”

“The rejected one…”

“She came back with pups…”

I don’t see their eyes. I’ve learned that in a world ruled by predators, eye contact is an invitation to bleed.

The twins stir again in my arms, their small fingers curling around the fabric of my cloak. I lower my head and whisper, “Shh, moonlings… we’ll be fine.”

Will we?

Delph walks ahead of me tall, commanding, impossible to ignore. The crowd parts for him without a word. They always have.

The same man who once turned from me now leads me through a room full of judgment, and all I can think about is how his shoulders tense every time one of the twins whimpers.

He hasn’t said a word since the border. Not to me. Not to anyone.

But I can feel the storm swirling beneath his skin.

He stops at the dais, the seat of the Alpha, and turns to face me.

The hall falls silent.

“State your purpose,” he says, his voice calm, too calm. The kind of calm that hides rage.

I swallow the lump in my throat and straighten my spine. “I came back to live peacefully with my children.”

A few gasps ripple through the crowd. The word children isn’t lost on anyone.

Delph’s gaze darkens. “Peacefully?” he repeats, as if it’s a foreign word. “You expect peace after what you did?”

My pulse races, but I hold his stare. “After what you did, Alpha, I expect nothing. Peace isn’t a request. It's right.”

A murmur spreads through the pack soft, shocked, daring.

No one speaks to their Alpha like that.

Delph steps closer, every move calculated. The hall feels smaller with each of his steps.

His scent, smoke, pine, and danger fills my lungs.

“You left without permission,” he says quietly. “You vanished.”

“I was rejected,” I answered, equally quiet. “Rejection comes with no chains.”

He freezes, and for a second, I see the flicker of guilt beneath the steel.

Serena’s voice slices through the tension.

“Alpha,” she says sweetly, stepping out from the shadows near the Council elders. Her golden hair gleams under the torchlight, her smile perfect and venomous. “Surely, you won’t let this… traitor remain here?”

Her gaze lands on me, dripping with false pity. “She abandoned her pack, disobeyed her Alpha, and now returns with… children.” Her lips twist. “Rogues, no doubt.”

A growl tears through me before I can stop it. “Careful with your words, Luna.”

The room gasps again. Even I can’t believe I said it.

But Serena’s smile falters, and I savor that small victory.

Delph’s hand clenches at his side. His voice is low when he speaks, meant only for me. “You’re testing my patience.”

“And you’re testing my silence,” I whisper back.

For a long moment, we just stare at each other, two wolves bound by a broken bond and a truth neither of us is ready to speak.

Finally, Delph turns to the Council. “She’ll stay in the east wing under pack protection until I decide her fate.”

The words sting, but I don’t show it. I simply nod, because I’ve survived worse.

At least this time, I’m not alone.

As the guards step forward to escort me, one of the twins lifts her tiny head, eyes fluttering open.

The same steel-gray as his.

A hush falls. Even Serena stops breathing.

Delph’s gaze snaps to the child and in that instant, something unravels behind his carefully built walls.

He doesn’t say a word.

But I see the truth in his eyes.

He knows.

And no matter how hard he tries, he won’t be able to bury it again.