Chapter 46

ALPHA RUNE

After the death of Sara Lockwood in that horrific accident, I lost more than just a woman I admired; I lost my very quest for life. Nothing mattered anymore. The sun rose and set, the seasons bled into one another, and the world continued to spin, but for me, life simply ceased to make sense. For years, I had been watching her secretly from the shadows—not like a predator, but like a man biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to step into her light. I understood that she had a life, a career, and a vibrant spirit that didn't need my interference, so I waited.

None of the countless women I had been with throughout my decades of conquest could even begin to compare to the profound, silent love I held for her. And trust me, I had no shortage of options. In my world, women are naturally attracted to power and fame, and as the most feared Alpha on the planet, I possessed both in spades. There was no Alpha in the world who could measure up to my standing. The ladies were practically throwing themselves at my feet, vying for a moment of my attention. I kept a few exceptionally beautiful ones to warm my bed when the nights got too cold, but the rest I discarded like pieces of trash. They were distractions; she was the destination.

I was not pleased when I first discovered she was dating Alpha Tristan of the Twilight Zone Pack. My first instinct was to tear the world apart, to step into his territory and prove to her that Tristan was a boy playing a man’s game, entirely unworthy of her grace. But Kayvon—my most trusted advisor—had advised me against it. He warned me that winning a woman’s heart while she was already in the throes of love was a fool’s errand. He told me that she and Tristan shared a history that stretched back to their teenage years, a bond forged in the fires of youth.

I hated every word of his counsel, but I knew he was right. I couldn't compete with a decade of history using only my titles and my scars. I continued to love her from afar, a silent guardian in the dark. I’m not even sure she truly knew I existed until that fateful day I found her broken, nearly dead, and rushed her to Mari’s clinic.

In hindsight, I wish I hadn't listened to Kayvon. I should have taken what was mine. But then again, given my personality, warming her heart would have been an uphill battle. I am not a man of words; I am a man of war. I am not a great conversationalist, and honestly, I wasn't sure a woman like her would ever take a man like me seriously.

Now, I have locked myself in this room, mourning the death of a woman who likely died never knowing the depth of my obsession. Was it foolishness or true love? I no longer know. The lines are blurred, the colors have faded to grey, and to make matters worse, I have zero motivation to return to my old life. The life of Alpha Rune, the Conqueror, feels like a costume I no longer wish to wear.

The heavy velvet curtains in my bedchamber hadn't been pulled back in half a year. The air inside had become a stagnant soup of dust, old sweat, and the faint, dying scent of dried bluebells—her favorite. For six months, I had existed in a twilight of my own making, clutching a scrap of silk she had once touched, waiting for a heart that I believed would never beat again.

The door groaned on its hinges. I didn't look up from the shadows.

"It’s kind of dusty in here, don't you think?" Yara, our pack’s wise healer, said as she strode into the room. She didn't wait for a greeting. She walked straight to the window, threw back the heavy fabric, and forced the glass open. "Even with the air conditioning running, the air in here is stale. You need fresh air, Rune. There’s nothing like nature’s fresh air to clear out the cobwebs in a man’s head."

"Yara," I muttered, the sound of my own voice feeling foreign and jagged. I was suddenly so tired. She was one of the only people left in this world I actually listened to, mostly because she didn't fear me. I wasn't surprised she was here; it just meant that either Kayvon or Carmen had finally reached their breaking point and sent in the big guns.

"Yeah, that’s me. It’s been six fucking months since your crush, Sara, died," she chastised, her hands on her hips. "Six fucking months of pausing your life, ignoring your duties, and locking yourself in this tomb. How much longer do you need to rot before you realize the world hasn't stopped turning?"

"Which of them put you up to this?" I asked, my voice flat. "Tell them they're wasting their time. I’m not going anywhere."

She paused, staring at me for an uncomfortably long time. "Okay. I’ll do well to pass on that information. I’m out of here. If you want to drown yourself in self-pity until you're nothing but bones and regret, be my guest." She turned abruptly and headed for the door.

I suspected Kayvon was lurking just outside, eavesdropping. My suspicions were confirmed when he stepped into the room the moment Yara signaled her departure.

"Hold on, Yara! Are you just going to give up on him like that?" Kayvon asked, his voice filled with a pleading desperation.

"I’m sorry, Kayvon, but Rune is being a big baby," Yara snapped, her voice echoing in the hallway. "It’s easier to wake someone who is truly sleeping than to wake someone who is pretending to be asleep. He wants to be miserable. Let him." Then, she was gone.

"What does that even mean?" Kayvon asked, looking confused as he watched her retreating back. He turned toward me, his face pale.

"So it was you who sent her?" I mocked him, leaning back into the shadows. "I’ve told you all to leave me alone, but you just won't listen."

"Rune, enough!" Kayvon’s voice rasped. He sounded utterly exhausted. "We can’t do this anymore. Carmen and I... we’re drowning. The Alphas under your command are unraveling. The northern territories are in open revolt because they think the Conqueror has turned into a ghost. You've been gone for six months! Do you have any idea what that does to an empire?"

"Then deal with it," I muttered.

"We can't!" Carmen snapped, her shadow falling across the floor. I hadn't even heard her enter. This was clearly a coordinated ambush. "They won't listen to us, Rune. They don't fear the 'Hand' of the Alpha; they fear the Alpha himself. The empire you built with blood and steel is turning into a slaughterhouse while you sit here rotting in the dark."

I didn't care. Let the world burn to the ground. It was already ash to me. "I can always rebuild it when I’m ready. For now, both of you need to get out."