C4

Mars Reed POV

"Are you seriously only capable of thinking about raw knotting when I am standing right next to your bed?" I ask, my breath hitching as I stare down at the massive alpha lounging across the sheets like a shameless rogue.

Grant chuckles, a low, vibration roaring from his chest as his golden eyes flare with heat. "With your scent filling my den, Mars, my wolf literally refuses to think about anything else."

Before I can snap back at his filthy mouth, a heavy, commanding knock rattles the thick oak door of the Walker Ridge Infirmary.

I pull the latch open, freezing as Silas Walker steps into the room, his face set in a hard, emotionless line as his gaze cuts from me straight to his son. "How is the Alpha's recovery progressing?"

"Dr. Quincy says the silver infection is finally clearing up," I say, keeping my voice cold and tight, deliberately hiding the fact that Grant just spent the last hour stretching his fresh stitches out just to keep me pinned under his heavy frame. "The tracking runes should be removed by tomorrow morning."

Silas nods once, his powerful alpha presence filling the room as he points toward the hallway. "Leave us. I need a private word with my son without an outsider listening in."

"I am already on my way out," I mutter, turning to step past him.

"Stay right where you are, Mars," Grant barks from the bed, his voice instantly dropping into his dominant alpha command, making the hairs on my neck stand up. He glares straight at his father. "There is not a single pack secret that my mate cannot hear. I am completely done with the hidden lies. Let him hear everything."

Silas’s jaw tightens, pure irritation flashing through his scent. He obviously wants his son to be a ruthless, unyielding warlord who runs the West Coast territory with an iron fist, not a lovesick beast completely brought to his knees by an independent rogue wolf.

Noticing the thick anger rolling off the old alpha, I decide I do not want to be the reason this pack tears itself apart from the inside. I force a tight smile and look at the bed. "Grant, I need to go down to the lower cabins and check on Jessa Moore anyway. She ran through the border lines with me, and I need to ensure the guards gave her a proper berth."

Before Grant can growl out an objection, Silas cuts in smoothly, "I will have the beta enforcers guide you down."

"Thank you," I say, stepping out into the stone corridor and letting the heavy door slam shut behind me.

But I do not walk away. My wolf ears twitch, pinning back against my head as I lean flat against the thick wood, my enhanced hearing picking up every single breath and whisper inside the room.

The second the latch clicked, Grant’s warm, teasing aura completely vanished, replaced by the icy, terrifying pressure of the true Apex Leader. "Why are you trying to push him out of my sight?"

"Because he does not carry the Walker pack brand!" Silas snaps back, his voice booming through the wood. "You are running a fool's errand if you think the council will ever accept a rogue like Mars Reed into the high lineage."

Grant’s voice drops into a lethal, low snarl. "What kind of dirty bargain did you force on him while I was unconscious, old man?"

"Nothing happened."

"Do not lie to my wolf," Grant growls, the sound of the mattress creaking loudly as he shifts his massive weight. "Mars would have never willingly walked back into this territory unless you threatened him. What did he give up just so you would let him through the gates to scent my fever?"

Silas lets out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Remember who birthed you, boy! The Walker pack built this entire northern territory over centuries of bloodshed. Everything you command, every piece of land from Havencrest to Silverwood, belongs to the family legacy. And you are standing there questioning your own flesh and blood over a broken bond?"

"My body might belong to the Walker line," Grant whispers, the sheer raw intensity of his voice vibrating straight through the heavy oak door and hitting my chest like a physical blow. "But my soul and my beast belong entirely to Mars."

"And what the hell are you to him?" Silas roars back, his patience completely snapping. "You have spilled more blood and ruined your own health for that boy than he has ever given back to you! He always keeps his distance, always keeps his true form hidden. If he cared about you, he would have never ripped the mate bond apart and fled the territory four years ago!"

"I am not going to argue about the past with you," Grant cuts him off, his breathing turning shallow and ragged. "Just tell me what the bargain was. I want the truth."

"I told you, there was no trade!"

"It is about the kids, isn't it?" Grant’s voice suddenly drops, sharp as a silver blade. "You found out about the Reed Walker Twins. You want to drag my pups away from him and lock them inside the main estate."

My heart stops dead in my chest. My hands press hard against the stone wall, my claws slipping out and gouging deep marks into the rock. The old alpha knows about my babies.

"It is not about stealing them," Silas argues, his voice firm with absolute conviction. "Those pups carry the purest alpha bloodline in the western hemisphere. It is my absolute responsibility to bring them into the pack house where they can be trained as apex warriors, instead of letting them live like low-grade strays in the outer woods with a rogue!"

"They are not strays, and they are perfectly safe with him," Grant growls, the sound of tearing metal echoing through the door as he pulls against his medical restraints. "Mars raised them to be strong, healthy, and incredibly loyal. He never taught them to hate our scent, even after what we did to him. I owe him their lives."

"Nonsense!" Silas scolds, though his tone quickly softens as he hears his son gasping for air. "Grant, listen to reason. If you truly want those pups to inherit this territory, they need to be raised by the high council. Who knows what kind of rogue habits Mars is filling their heads with!"

"Mars has never spoken a single word of malice against the Walkers. Your paranoia is completely useless."

"Paranoia? We didn't even know the pups existed until the border guards caught his scent!" Silas’s voice deepens with raw emotion. "Yes, your mother made a massive error, and I never expected Brooke Caldwell to go so far with the legal paperwork and the suppressants. We are stripping Brooke of his title. You will never have to see that lawyer again. But Mars Reed can never take the throne as your male omega."

"Why?" Grant roars, the sound of a massive body slamming against the floor echoing through the room.

He is trying to force himself up, his muscles ripping against the monitoring wires hooked into his chest. I hear the sharp, plastic snaps as he tears the tracking stones right off his skin.

Instantly, the magic alarms in the wall let out a high-pitched, deafening shriek.

"What the hell are you doing?" Silas shouts, his scent flaring with absolute panic. "Have you completely lost your mind? Lie back down!"

Grant ignores him entirely, his heavy footsteps thudding unsteadily against the stone. Through the crack in the door, I can smell the sudden, hot rush of fresh alpha blood spilling out as his chest wounds tear wide open.

"Give me a reason," Grant demands, his voice raw with pure, unadulterated fury. "Why can he not be my true mate in the eyes of the pack?"

"It is against the law! You are bleeding out, damn it!" Silas’s composure completely shatters. I hear him turn and sprint toward the inner chambers, his voice echoing down the corridor. "Quincy! Quincy! Get your herbs and needles down here right now, the Alpha is tearing himself apart!"

Dr. Quincy storms out of her medicine room, her robes flying behind her as she rushes toward the screaming alarms. "What did he do?"

"He ripped the tracking stones right out of his chest! There is blood everywhere!"

Quincy pushes past the old alpha, throwing the door open so hard it slams against the wall, revealing Grant standing in the center of the room, dark blood dripping down his bare torso, his golden eyes wild and dangerous.

"Alpha Walker, what the fuck do you think you are doing?" Quincy snaps, reaching for her medical bindings, but Grant snarls, swinging his arm out to keep her away.

"Get away from me. I am perfectly fine."

"You are painting my floor red, you stubborn bastard!" Quincy yells, completely unfazed by his dominant aura. She glares right into his eyes, pulling a small silver mirror out of her pouch. "Where the hell is Mars?"

Grant freezes, his jaw tightening as he glares at the mirror. "Why do you need him?"

"Because he is the only wolf in this entire mountain range who can actually make you sit your ass down!" Quincy says, tapping the glass to send a summon light. "Alpha, either you climb back onto those furs and let me stitch your chest right now, or I am bringing Mars back in here to see exactly how reckless you are being with the life he just saved!"

Grant’s massive shoulders instantly slump, the wild, lethal energy draining out of his scent as he looks at the blood pooling at his feet. His brow furrows with raw vulnerability. "Don't tell him."