012: The Alpha's Regret

Darius's POV

"Know your place, Sarah."

The words came out as a low growl, barely containing the fury that had been building in my chest since Kiera's midnight visit. Sarah stood before me in my private office, her chin raised defiantly despite the alpha command radiating from every inch of my body.

"My place?" Her laugh was bitter, sharp-edged. "I've been by your side for five years, Darius. I've raised your…"

"Don't." The word cracked like a whip, and she took an involuntary step backward. "Don't stand there and lie to both our faces. We both know Marcus isn't mine."

The silence that followed was deafening. For a moment, something almost vulnerable flickered across Sarah's features… fear, or the realization that her carefully constructed world might be crumbling.

Then her expression hardened back into the mask of righteous indignation she'd worn for years.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, but I could smell the lie on her, could see it in the way her pulse jumped at her throat.

"Five years, Sarah." I moved around my desk, letting my wolf's presence fill the room like a physical force. "Five years I've let you play this game, and pretend that boy carries my blood. But we're past pretending now."

She backed toward the door, her newly-turned instincts finally recognizing the danger she was in. "The pack accepts him…"

"The pack accepts what I tell them to accept. But that doesn't make it true." I stopped just close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off my skin, to smell the predator barely leashed beneath my human form. "I know whose child he really is. I've always known."

The confession hit her like a physical blow. Her face went white, then flushed red with anger and embarrassment.

"If you knew," she whispered, "then why…?"

"Because keeping you close serves my purposes better than casting you out." I let a cold smile curve my lips. "Did you really think you were clever enough to fool an alpha? That I wouldn't notice the scent, timing, and the way the boy carries himself?"

Sarah's hands curled into fists at her sides. "Then why turn me? Why make me pack if you knew I was lying?"

"Because lies can be useful weapons, if wielded correctly." I turned away from her, moving back to the window that overlooked the compound. "But they're also dangerous. And right now, your lies are becoming a liability."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you've forgotten your place in the hierarchy. You've started believing your own performance." I didn't turn around, but I could smell her fear sharpening in the air behind me. "Kiera is Luna. Has always been Luna. You're... something else."

"She left you!" The words exploded out of her, five years of resentment finally finding their voice. "She ran away rather than fight for what was hers! I stayed. I stood by you when she couldn't…"

"You stayed because you had nowhere else to go." I turned back to face her, letting her see the coldness in my eyes. "Because the father of your child cast you aside, and I was your only refuge. Don't mistake necessity for loyalty."

The truth of it hit home. I watched her face crumble, the realization sink in that everything she'd built here was conditional, temporary, dependent on my continued tolerance.

"Get out," I said quietly. "And Sarah? Remember who you're talking to the next time you feel the urge to challenge Kiera in front of me."

She left without another word, her transformation-clumsy gait making her retreat seem even more pathetic. When the door closed behind her, I was alone with the ghosts of five years' worth of choices I couldn't take back.

The pregnancy had been arranged by the Ironfang elders as insurance, a backup heir in case something happened to me or to any children Kiera might bear. What they hadn't counted on was Sarah's ambition, her willingness to lie about paternity to secure her own position.

What I hadn't counted on was how it would look to Kiera.

I'd never touched Sarah willingly. The very idea had been repugnant to me, even when the elders had pressured me to ensure the surrogacy was successful. But appearances mattered in pack politics, and when Sarah had announced her pregnancy, I'd been forced to play along or risk looking weak.

The betrayal ran deeper than even Kiera suspected. Members of my own pack, wolves I'd trusted, elders who were supposed to have my best interests at heart, had orchestrated the entire situation to drive a wedge between me and my chosen mate. Some out of old-fashioned prejudice against Kiera's bloodline. Others because they saw an opportunity to manipulate a more pliable Luna.

They'd succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Instead of revealing the plot and risking pack civil war, I'd chosen to be calculative. To keep Sarah close where I could control her, to let the elders think their plan had worked while I quietly removed them from positions of power. It had taken three years to purge the worst of the conspirators, another two to consolidate my authority.

But the damage to my relationship with Kiera had been irreversible.

A knock on my door interrupted my brooding. "Enter."

Thomas, one of my enforcer and one of the few wolves I trusted completely, stepped into the office. His expression was grim, which meant he was bearing news I wouldn't want to hear.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We have a problem. Multiple problems, actually." He closed the door behind him and moved to the chair across from my desk. "Rumors are spreading across the territories."

"What kind of rumors?"

"The kind that question your fitness to lead." Thomas's weathered face was carefully neutral, but I could smell his concern. "Word is getting out that you have two potential heirs. Some packs are calling it a sign of strength, that the Black Howl bloodline is secure. Others..."

"Others?"

"Others see it as instability. They're saying an alpha who can't control his own succession planning can't be trusted to control a territory." Thomas leaned forward, his voice dropping to a more confidential tone. "There's also talk about legitimacy. About whether either boy is actually yours."

The words hit like ice water in my veins. If rival packs started openly questioning my authority, it could trigger challenges I wasn't prepared for. Worse, it could put both Eli in danger as political pawn.

"There's more," Thomas continued reluctantly. "The rumors about Kiera and Eli are... unpleasant. Some wolves are saying the runaway Luna had a son out of wedlock. That she's been living among humans because no pack would accept bastard offspring."

Red rage exploded behind my eyes. My wolf surged forward, claws extending, the scent of fury filling the room so completely that Thomas instinctively leaned back.

"Who?" The word came out as a snarl. "Who dares question my son's legitimacy?"

"Darius." Thomas's voice carried the tone of someone trying to calm a dangerous predator. "Alpha. These are just whispers, rumors started by wolves who want to see you fall. But if we don't control the narrative..."

"Then what?" I forced my wolf back under control, forced my claws to retract. "What are they suggesting?"

"Some are calling for formal verification. Blood tests, scent analysis, the full traditional protocols." Thomas looked genuinely pained to be delivering this news. "It's not just about Eli anymore. They want both boys tested, both lineages confirmed."

The irony was bitter enough to choke on. Eli, my true heir, the son born of the woman I'd loved more than my own life, was being called a bastard. While Marcus, the product of lies and political manipulation, was being defended as legitimate.

"And if I refuse the testing?"

"It'll look like you have something to hide. Could trigger formal challenges to your alpha status." Thomas spread his hands helplessly. "I'm sorry, Darius. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear."

I stared out the window at the compound below, at the life I'd built in the ashes of what Kiera and I had destroyed. Every decision, compromise, and calculated move had been designed to protect what mattered most. But somehow, it had all led to this, a situation where my real son was being slandered while the lies I'd protected were threatening to tear down everything I'd worked for.

The truth was a weapon I couldn't wield without destroying myself. Because if I revealed that Marcus wasn't mine, I'd have to explain why I'd kept Sarah all these years. I'd have to admit to the political maneuvering, the elder conspiracy, the choices I'd made that had driven Kiera away, and that will put Kiera and Eli is in a big danger.

And if she learned the full truth, if she discovered that I'd known about the plot from the beginning but had chosen politics over love, she would hate me in ways that would make our current estrangement look like a minor disagreement.

"What do you recommend?" I asked Thomas.

"Honestly? Bring them home. Both of them. Let Kiera see that you're not the villain she thinks you are. Let the pack see their Luna and their true heir." Thomas's voice was earnest, and hopeful. "It's the only way to put these rumors to rest."

If only it were that simple. If only I could undo five years of pain with a few honest words and a heartfelt apology.

But some betrayals cut too deep for forgiveness, even when they were born of love rather than malice.

"Keep monitoring the situation," I told Thomas. "And make it clear to anyone spreading lies about Eli that they'll answer to me personally."

He nodded and left, leaving me alone with the weight of choices I couldn't unmake and truths I couldn't tell.

Outside my window, the moon was setting, painting the sky in shades of gray that matched my mood. Somewhere out there, Kiera was probably holding our son, whispering reassurances about his safety while the supernatural world whispered poison about his birth.

I'd wanted to protect them both. Instead, I'd created a situation where everyone I cared about was in danger, and the only way to save them might destroy us all.

The alpha's burden had never felt heavier than it did in that moment, watching the dawn break over a world where love and duty had become impossible to reconcile.