All Chapters of The Alpha Never Let His Daughter Win: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Every five years, Blackridge Pack received one place at the royal academy for combat, leadership, and wolf-control training. The opportunity could shape a young wolf’s future.Iris had trained before sunrise for a month and ranked near the top of her group. Cora wanted the place too, so Ethan brought out the bowl he used whenever both girls wanted the same thing.“We only have one nomination,” he said. “A draw is the fairest way.”Iris nodded. She had learned what Ethan called fairness. Cora had already won Iris’s bedroom, her favorite moon-rabbit doll, and the evening Ethan had promised her on her thirteenth birthday. After every loss, Ethan offered another gift or promise, and Iris kept believing him.The academy draw was scheduled for after dinner. That afternoon, I entered Ethan’s study to collect Iris’s training records and found a stack of folded slips beside the bowl.I opened them one by one. All twelve carried Cora’s name.Our mate bond carried the guilt Ethan had felt while

Chapter 2

After the fire died, Iris developed a fever. She curled beneath the blankets, her face burning while her body shook with cold. I cooled her skin with wet cloths, but her temperature continued to rise and the presence of her sleeping wolf grew weaker.I called for the pack healer through the mind-link and learned that Ethan had taken both the senior healer and the emergency medicine chest to Vivian’s rooms in the east wing.Vivian opened the door after I knocked several times. Cora sat beside a warm fire eating honey cake, still wrapped in Iris’s silver-blue cloak, while Ethan repaired a silver wolf toy at her feet.“Iris has a high fever,” I said. “I need the healer and the carriage.”Ethan did not put down the toy. “Cora’s wolf nearly lost control. She still needs to be watched.”“She can eat and speak normally. Iris is barely conscious.”Vivian offered to send the healer with me, but Ethan refused. He said Cora could relapse at any moment. When I asked only for the carriage, his expr

Chapter 3

Ethan came to collect us on the day Iris left the healing lodge. He behaved as though the night of her fever had already been settled, fastening her cloak himself before promising to take her to the moonlight portrait studio that afternoon.Iris looked up at him. “Why do you suddenly want a portrait?”“You said the family album had more pictures of Cora and me than of us,” Ethan replied. “I promised to make things right. Afterward, we can visit the northern market, and I will buy you a starglass as a recovery gift.”Iris glanced at me, and I did not interfere. She had agreed to leave him, but she was still a child who wanted to believe her father when he made a promise.At three that afternoon, Iris put on her favorite pale-blue dress, braided her hair, and waited outside Alpha House. At four, a messenger from the portrait studio came to ask whether we wished to cancel the appointment. By five, the moonstone lamps had been extinguished, and Ethan still had not returned.Iris sat outsid

Chapter 4

Ethan knew nothing about the offer from Northvale Pack. He only noticed that Alpha House had become quieter. Iris no longer waited for him after council meetings or asked when he would take her to the northern training grounds. Even when Cora took something that belonged to her, she stepped aside without protest.“What is wrong with her?” Ethan asked one morning.“She is growing up.”He looked almost pleased. “I told you she would understand when she was older. Stop reminding her of everything Cora receives. They are both children of this pack.”I did not argue. We had three days left before we were due in Northvale.That afternoon, Ethan announced that he would escort Vivian and Cora to the royal city for Cora’s academy registration and wolf assessment. Vivian had packed more than she could carry, and Ethan soon noticed the moon-leather travel chest beneath our bed.My mother had left it to me, and seven pencil marks inside the lid recorded Iris’s height from childhood.When Ethan pul

Chapter 5

EthanEthan remained in the doorway long after the gardener had gone. Iris’s broken silver quill lay across his palm, its snapped nib resting against the engraved shaft. He had given it to her when she entered the pack academy. Iris had carried it every day until Cora knocked it from her desk and broke the nib. Ethan had dismissed the damage as a childish accident.He closed his fingers around it and entered the Alpha House.The silence felt temporary. Mara had probably left to frighten him into apologizing. She would return once anger gave way to reason. Fourteen years of marriage could not be packed into two travel bags and carried beyond Blackridge’s border.Upstairs, half of the wardrobe stood empty. Mara’s healer manuals and her mother’s medicine case were gone. Iris’s academy cloak no longer hung beside the door. Only the things Ethan had chosen for them remained: ceremonial dresses, expensive ornaments, and unopened gifts.He reached through the mate bond. The connection still e

Chapter 6

Ethan stopped outside the Northvale healing lodge, waiting for Mara to invite him closer. She gave him no such invitation. Instead, she rested one hand on Iris’s shoulder and asked the gatekeeper to send word that she would be late for the evening meal.“We need to talk,” Ethan said.“Iris has been at the academy all day. I am taking her home.”He drew the silver quill from his coat. A silversmith in Blackridge had replaced the broken nib and polished away the scratches, though a thin seam still marked the place where it had snapped.“I brought this for you.”Iris looked at the quill without reaching for it. “You can leave it with the gatekeeper.”Her distant tone unsettled him more than anger would have. He crouched so they were nearly eye to eye. “I came all this way to see you. Aren’t you going to greet your father?”Iris moved closer to Mara. “Mother said I do not have to hug anyone who makes me uncomfortable.”Ethan slowly stood. He expected Mara to correct her, but she simply too

Chapter 7

Ethan returned to Blackridge without signing the petition. He locked the council copy inside his desk and told himself that the tribunal would refuse to dissolve a bond while one mate still wished to preserve it. The law required mediation before a hearing, which gave him time to prove that Mara’s decision had been made in anger.Two days later, Vivian came to the Alpha House with a request for the eastern carriage and Ethan’s fastest gray stallion. Cora had been invited to a winter gathering at a neighboring pack, and Vivian wanted her arrival to reflect her connection to Blackridge’s Alpha family.“The carriage belongs to the household,” Ethan said. “It will remain here.”Vivian stared at him. He had refused her small requests before, though usually because Mara had reminded him of another obligation. This was the first time he had denied her without anyone prompting him.“Cora has already told her friends she is taking it. Gareth would never have allowed his daughter to be embarrass

Chapter 8

Ethan ended Vivian’s unrestricted access to the Alpha accounts the morning after Nolan told him the truth. He arranged for Gareth’s pension to be transferred directly to her estate and provided one final payment for Cora’s current academy term. Any future expense would require Vivian’s own approval and money.She arrived before noon, furious that his steward had refused her order for a new carriage.“Mara has filled your head with this,” she said. “She leaves, and somehow Cora and I are punished.”“Mara does not know about the accounts. I should have reviewed them years ago.”Vivian searched his face, perhaps waiting for guilt to weaken him. When it did not, her anger cooled into calculation. She informed him that she had been corresponding with the deputy master of the royal academy for several weeks. He had offered to sponsor Cora’s education and invited Vivian to live on his estate near the capital.“He understands what Gareth’s family deserves,” she said. “We will leave before the

Chapter 9

The moon chamber had been built for decisions that could not be undone. Silver runes covered the circular floor, and three council elders sat beneath a carved image of the Moon Goddess. Mara stood on one side of the central line with her representative, while Ethan stood alone on the other.The presiding elder reviewed their shared property, Iris’s custody arrangements, and the years recorded in Mara’s petition. Ethan did not challenge the financial evidence. He admitted taking Mara’s inherited travel chest, allowing household funds to support Vivian and Cora, and repeatedly placing Cora’s needs ahead of his daughter’s.“Do you oppose the dissolution?” the elder asked.Ethan looked at Mara. The restored moon-silver bracelet circled her wrist, and her expression held the same composure she had shown since he arrived in Northvale.“I requested time to repair the harm,” he said.“That was not the question.”Before Ethan answered, the side door opened. Iris entered with a child advocate fr

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