The Alpha’s Price

Lucian's body was stiff and aching when he opened his eyes. The little light that filtered through the barred window above him did little but render the stone walls of the cell feel colder, more oppressive. His head was spinning, and the details of the past few moments rushed back in — specifically the moments before Dorian fell. He had rushed towards Dorian in an attempt to rescue him when they seized him. Dorian had been his best friend and the best beta any Alpha could ever hope for. He was so helpless, he didn’t remember when they had strapped him in chains.

He fought to sit up but felt the cold stone wall behind him and then noticed his hands were chained to it. Panic began to set in as his heart was pounding. He was captured. Just the thought of it made him wince. How had he let it get this far? He just hoped they didn’t infiltrate the pack.

A gentle shuffling of footsteps jerked him out from his line of thoughts, and the cell door slowly creaked open. Elias stood in the doorway, his face grim. His old rival, his old friend — someone Lucian never expected to see standing like this again.

“Lucian,” Elias said, calm but sharp, tension thick in the air. He leaned closer, staring at Lucian’s blood smeared face, searching for something, a weakness perhaps or an answer perhaps.

Lucian’s gaze hardened at the sight of the Alpha from Silver Ridge. Elias had always been a fighter, and their physical connection had ignited but the passion that eventually ripped them apart had been messy.

“You could’ve just given her to me, peacefully.” Elias said next, his voice a tangle of what used to be camaraderie. “Now look where we are. You’re in my cell. Your people are in danger. And you’re still hiding Serena. Tell me where she is.”

Lucian’s jaw clenched, and for the briefest of moments, he simply gazed at Elias, the old anger, the betrayal rising in his chest. Once, they had been brothers, two wolves bound by more than their packs — a dream. But something else had driven them apart. It was a battle for control of territories they could not have imagined would ever be the subject of dispute, one that had shattered their bond. When they last spoke, their words could only rage, and their hearts hate. They’d parted ways, although the pack they’d led had become fierce rivals, but the truth was he had never truly wanted to go the way it had to went.

“Where is she, Lucian?” “Say it again,” Elias said, low and dangerous tone.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed, and his mind scrambled. He was unable to give Elias what he wanted. He couldn’t. Serena’s fate was not his to decide.

“How dumb do you really think I am? Do you really think keeping me here is going to make me tell you where she is? His voice was strong, though his position was weak. Lucian finally replied.

Elias closed that final small distance between them, the fury flaring up between them as he raised a fist.

“You just don't get it done you? Elias growled. “ She is mine, my mate. The prophecy — it’s going to be fulfilled, isn’t it? That’s why she’s in danger. And if you love her, you’ll tell me where she is. If not...." He whispered to Lucian.

"If not....what?" Lucian yelled cutting off Elias. Elias laughed at his show of anger

" My warriors will find her. And it won’t be you who saves her. “You’ve already failed her, Lucian.” Elias sneered at him.

Lucian’s heart sank as he listened to Elias’s words. The prophecy. It was something one always heard about in whispers, something that both packs’ senior other members had feared the worst about for decades. But here, with Serena in the crosshairs, the reality of it all was finally playing out before them.

“I’m not the one who’s going to ruin her,” Lucian said through clenched teeth, suppressing the twist of fear that fluttered like a flame in his belly. “You really think you are the one to give her salvation? You have no idea what is going to happen.”

Elias regarded him with an expressionless look that felt to penetrate the depths of company soil. “I know more than you think. And I know what has to be done to prevent it from tearing our packs apart and us with them. The Onyx Wolf would never rise to power without a fight, not as long as far as the Council of Elders existed. If she assumes her sovereignty, we’ll both be punished. Do you understand?”

Lucian’s mind raced. Elias’s words had sunk deep into his chest. Serena had always been special, but if the prophecy was true, her bloodline married to her power was something they could not command.

Elias went on, voice dropping, as if to himself. “The prophecy says that she has to sacrifice one to save the rest of them. For her to ascend, one Alpha must fall. That’s something we’ve been trying to avoid, Lucian. But it’s too late now.”

Lucian’s heart stopped. He knew Elias couldn’t be telling the truth.

“You’re saying that you’re going to sacrifice … me?” Lucian’s voice faltered, anger threatening again to boil up inside him.

Elias looked at him then, his face giving away nothing. “It’s the only way. You knew this day would come. You knew what she could do. Except your feelings for her were clouding your judgment. You did not see the page full context.”

The realization dawned on Lucian. That the price of Serena’s power would be the death of her and Elias. In as much as he hated Elias, he still had a soft spot for him and sacrificing him, this was too much so as to save their future.

“You can’t,” Lucian said, out-shaking his voice. “You can’t do this.”

“I have to, Lucian. You don’t understand. I’ve already lost too much. My pack needs me. And so does yours. “The Onyx Wolf cannot be allowed to destroy us both. We have to end her.”

Lucian looked up at him, pain and defiance filling his eyes. Now they were worlds apart, the past a specter between them. The bond they had once shared burned away in treachery, and now they were enemies. They didn’t just battle for their packs, but for their own survival.

Elias flinched, eyes slitted. “We’ll lead you to the ritual place. That’s the only way you will get to know.”

Lucian gasped for air, his heart pounding against his chest. This was it. But it was the decision that each had been delaying for so long. The prophecy was real and the gods sure as hell were not letting him escape it.

It was already midnight the perfect hour for the ritual to take place. As they began to pull him toward the spot of the ritual, Lucian had been thinking of one thing: Serena. It was her, after all, to decide. And she was the only person who could have shut this down before it spun out of control.

And instinctively, deep inside, Lucian knew, no sacrifice would be too great, no crime unspeakable, there was nothing he wouldn't do to ensure her safety.