Chapter 4: Revenge never made it

Alpha knew they would try again.

Men who betray a king never sleep easy. They fear footsteps behind them. They count shadows. They sharpen blades meant for someone else’s back—because they know the truth:

A True Alpha doesn’t forgive.

He remembers.

After the execution failed to erase him completely—after rumors spread of the moon dimming, of chains cracking, of blood refusing to dry—the council pretended nothing was wrong. They smiled. They spoke of balance. They watched him more closely than ever.

Alpha played his role perfectly.

Weakened.

Obedient.

Contained.

He let the seals stay visible. Let his shoulders slump. Let his voice soften. He allowed the Acting Alpha to speak over him. Allowed the Regent to believe the royal blood had thinned.

But at night, alone, he planned.

Revenge wasn’t rage to him.

It was architecture.

He mapped the pack hierarchy in his mind—who bowed out of fear, who bowed out of greed, who could be turned, and who would have to die. He noted which elders drank wine before council meetings, which guards changed shifts too early, which vampires relied on relics instead of strength.

He bled quietly, feeding the seals just enough to keep them from tightening.

He stockpiled power in silence.

Because a king does not strike until the blade is already inside the enemy’s ribs.

His plan was simple. Ruthless. Final.

First, expose the Acting Alpha—force him into a public dominance challenge under the full moon, where Alpha’s True Alpha aura would strip him of borrowed authority. No blood needed. Just humiliation.

Second, collapse the elder council—leak their lies to the outer packs, reveal the forbidden rites they used to bind him at birth. Let the packs tear them apart for him.

Third…

The Regent.

That one was personal.

Alpha intended to drag him into the old crypts beneath the territory—the ones built before vampire courts, before treaties. A place where royal blood answered only to itself.

He would take the crown back.

Not for power.

For closure.

And then—only then—he would disappear.

Because leadership was never what he wanted.

He wanted to find her.

The woman whose absence haunted the bond like a missing limb. The Moonbound anchor he felt slipping further away with every passing night. He planned to leave the territory, strip the seals entirely, and hunt the pull no one else could sense.

He never got the chance.

They struck sooner than he expected.

Not with ceremony.

Not with witnesses.

They poisoned his blood during a council feast—slow, clever, designed to mimic seal failure. When he staggered, when his vision blurred, they acted shocked. Concerned.

They chained him again.

This time deeper.

This time smarter.

This time permanent.

As they dragged him toward the execution circle for the final time, Alpha didn’t struggle.

He smiled.

Because even then—fading, weakened, betrayed again—he believed he still had time.

He didn’t know she was already gone.

He didn’t know the bond had been severed in blood beneath an oak tree that still remembered her name.

He didn’t know that what they were really killing…

…was not the king.

But the future.

When the blade fell the second time, the world didn’t scream.

It held its breath.

And somewhere beyond death, beyond chains, beyond memory itself, something ancient opened its eyes and began counting.

Not days.

Not years.

Levels.

Because Alpha never got to enact his revenge in life.

So death did it for him.

Darkness was not empty.

It was organized.

Alpha became aware slowly—not of pain, not of breath, but of absence. His body felt wrong. Too light. Too hollow. Like rooms had been torn out of him and sealed over without permission.

Then the voice came.

Not spoken.

Etched.

[REINITIALIZATION COMPLETE]

[SOUL INTEGRITY: STABLE]

[REINCARNATION TYPE: REGRESSION — PARTIAL MEMORY LOCK]

Alpha opened his eyes.

Stone ceiling. Cold air. A younger body. Smaller hands. Weaker heartbeat. His wolf was silent. His fangs dull. His blood thin and restless.

He sat up slowly.

“What was taken from me,” he said, voice calm, “and by whom.”

The system paused.

Not out of mercy.

Out of calculation.

[QUERY ACCEPTED]

[COMPILING LOSSES…]

Symbols burned behind his eyes. Not memories—records.

[LOSS 001: TRUE ALPHA DOMINION — SEALED]

Reason: Forced suppression at birth

Effect: Pack-wide obedience removed

Status: Recoverable through dominance milestones

Alpha’s jaw tightened. Expected.

“Continue.”

[LOSS 002: ROYAL VAMPIRE AUTHORITY — CONFISCATED]

Reason: Illegitimate court intervention

Effect: Bloodline commands nullified

Status: Locked behind Blood Sovereignty Trial

His fingers curled slowly into fists.

“Continue.”

The pause this time was longer.

He felt it before the words appeared—a pressure in his chest, unfamiliar and sharp.

[LOSS 003: MOONBOUND ANCHOR — TERMINATED]

The word hit harder than any blade ever had.

Alpha’s breath stuttered once.

“…Explain.”

[MOONBOUND ANCHOR DETAILS:]

Function: Emotional stabilization / power moderation

Bond Type: Fate Lock — Irreplaceable

Status: Destroyed prior to final execution

Something inside him cracked—not loudly, not violently—but cleanly, like a fault line snapping deep underground.

“Cause of termination.”

The system did not soften the answer.

[CAUSE: TARGET EXECUTED]

Silence stretched.

Alpha stared at his hands. They were shaking now, though he hadn’t told them to.

“She died,” he said.

[CONFIRMED]

He swallowed.

“And the reason my soul feels…” He searched for the word. “Lighter.”

Another pause.

[LOSS 004: BLOODLINE CONTINUITY — ERASED]

The world tilted.

Alpha stood abruptly, vision blurring. “No,” he said flatly. “Clarify.”

[ADDITIONAL DATA REQUIRED — UNLOCKING RESTRICTED MEMORY FRAGMENT]

For the first time since waking, the system forced something into him.

Not images.

Truth.

[UNBORN ENTITY DETECTED — STATUS: DECEASED]

Classification: Hybrid Offspring (True Alpha / Moonbound)

Viability: Singular

Probability of Recurrence: 0.000000%

Alpha’s knees hit the stone floor.

He did not scream.

He did not rage.

He went very still.

“…They killed my child,” he said.

[CONFIRMED]

The system continued, merciless.

[LOSS 005: FUTURE PATH — NULLIFIED]

Original Outcome: Stabilized Hybrid King

Current Outcome: Unrestricted Ascension Event

Alpha lifted his head slowly.

“Meaning.”

[MEANING:]

Without anchor, without heir, without emotional counterweight—

Your growth will no longer self-limit.

Understanding settled in like frost.

They didn’t just murder her.

They didn’t just erase his bloodline.

They removed every reason for him to stop.

“What remains,” Alpha asked quietly.

The system answered at once.

[REMAINING ASSETS:]

— Memory of betrayal

— Hybrid Core (Dormant)

— Bloodline Echo (Residual)

— Capacity for Infinite Growth

A final line appeared. Smaller. Colder.

[NOTE:]

Mercy was categorized as a learned behavior.

That data has degraded.

Alpha stood.

His eyes no longer glowed with wolf or vampire light—but with something deeper. Older. Quieter.

“Then unlock everything you can,” he said.

The system obeyed.

[REVENGE PATH INITIALIZED]

And somewhere, far beyond seals and systems and rebirth, the Moon turned its face away.

Not in shame.

But because it knew what was coming.