All Chapters of His Father's Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

DAMIAN The corporate gala was supposed to be routine of another night of handshakes, deals, and reminding people why Hawke Global dominated the skyline. Crystal chandeliers glittered overhead, expensive champagne flowed, and the ballroom hummed with the low murmur of power players in tailored suits and designer gowns. But tonight felt different from the moment we arrived. Aria stood beside me in a simple black dress that hugged her figure which was both elegant and dangerously distracting among the polished executives. She was learning fast, absorbing the dual layers of this world… the human business facade and the wolf undercurrents beneath it but it still tested her in ways I could see in the slight tension of her shoulders.Victor Bennett's presence across the room set my teeth on edge. He wasn’t just another rival alpha. He was calculating, ambitious, and far too interested in what was mine. I kept a hand at the small of Aria’s back as we moved throu

DAMIAN The report on my desk felt like a knife sliding between my ribs. Elias Hudson and Victor Bennett had been meeting in private for weeks. Not just casual council discussions, but coordinated business deals that sliced straight through territories I had spent years securing. Cassian’s signature appeared on several documents, feeding them sensitive information from inside my own circle. Dates, locations, even notes on Aria’s movements and the emerging changes in her. I stared at the papers, jaw tight enough to ache, fingers pressing into the edge of the desk until the wood creaked. They were testing me. Testing how far they could push before I pushed back with everything I had. And they were using Aria as the perfect excuse—a human-hybrid in the heart of power, a threat to tradition, a weakness they could exploit. I would not let them take her. Not Cassian. Not Elias. Not Victor. Not anyone.

CASSIAN The chamber was packed tighter today. Good. I stood at the front with Lyra beside me, the USB drive heavy in my pocket like a loaded gun. The video was short but damning—clear, high-quality footage from the gala night where Aria’s eyes had flashed silver the moment Victor made his ridiculous claim. It wasn’t much on its own, but paired with my words, the right tone, and the fear already simmering in the room, it would be enough to turn the tide. Aria didn’t belong here. She never had. She was a stain on everything our world stood for—a human who had somehow wormed her way into the most powerful alpha’s bed and now threatened to unravel centuries of tradition. Today, the pack would finally see her for what she was. ARIA The next morning felt like walking back into the same nightmare. I hadn’t slept well. Images from the previous session kept flashing behind my eyelids—the murmurs, the way people had leaned forward like vultures, the weight of every eye judging me

DAMIAN The stone floor beneath my bare feet was slick with blood—mine, Cassian’s, and the faint metallic trace from Aria’s nosebleed still hanging thick in the air. Each step sent a fresh sting through the deep gashes along my ribs, but the pain was distant, secondary. My wolf lingered just beneath my skin, pacing restlessly, claws itching to finish what he’d started and tear into the broken body at my feet. I stood over my adoptive son, chest heaving, the taste of copper thick on my tongue. Cassian lay sprawled on his back, fur matted dark with blood, sides rising and falling in shallow, defeated breaths. The chamber was dead silent except for the occasional slow drip of blood hitting stone. Every eye in the room was on me. Some elders gripped the edges of their tables so tightly their knuckles had gone white, as if they expected me to snap and tear through the entire council in a single breath. Younger wol

ARIAThe council chamber still echoed with Karla’s challenge. The room felt tense and silent, as if everyone was waiting for something to happen.I was still leaning heavily against Damian, my legs shaky, the aftermath of the partial shift making every small movement feel like fire in my muscles. His arm stayed locked around my waist, solidly, keeping me upright even as my knees threatened to give out again as he helped me up. The silver fur on my arms had mostly faded, but the tingling remained, a restless buzz under my skin that refused to settle. My breathing was still ragged, each inhale pulling at sore ribs.Damian’s body was tense against mine. I could feel the heat radiating from him, the faint tremor in his arm that told me he was holding back a storm. His thumb brushed against my hip, but his golden eyes stayed fixed on Karla, dark and dangerous.Before anyone could speak again, the heavy chamber doors opened with a low creak.