“But why him?” Efrein shot back, his voice rising again. “Why bring him here for longer than a few days? The mating ball is already enough of an ordeal. Haven’t you noticed how uneasy the pack becomes whenever he’s near? They remember what happened. They remember how he looked at us like we were beneath him. Keeping him here for weeks will only stir unrest. Don’t you care about your pack’s peace of mind?”
Michael’s hands flattened against the desk, his patience thinning. “Of course I care for my pack. That’s why I’m doing this. Crescent Moon is a warrior pack. Calling for help from anyone else would be a waste of time and resources.
We need to be ready, Father, and they are the only ones who can prepare us.”
Efrein’s eyes narrowed, a spark of bitterness flickering there. “And what about Richard and Lucille? What will they feel, seeing Alpha Darius walking our halls, commanding our warriors, while their daughter remains silent? While they ache every day for word of her? Don’t you think this is cruelty to them?”
Michael leaned back in his chair, his voice dropping into steel. “Father, I don’t care what they feel. And I don’t care if you don’t like it either. My decision is made. I am the Alpha of this pack-not you.
You no longer have the right to question my decisions.”
“You don’t care?” Efrein’s voice broke with disbelief, his hands slamming against the desk as he leaned forward. “How can you say that? Don’t you understand how Richard and Lucille have suffered since Elaine left? How they grieve every day?
Their hearts break for their daughter, and still they long to see her. And yet, you would stand here and dismiss that pain so coldly?”
Michael’s restraint snapped. He slammed his palm against the desk, the sharp sound making Calvin flinch. His aura flared, filling the room with the oppressive force of his Alpha dominance.
“And whose fault is that?” Michael roared, his voice shaking the air. “Who was Alpha when all of this began? Who ordered us to disregard Elaine’s feelings the moment we discovered she was my fated mate? Who insisted that the needs of the pack outweighed the needs of a single girl?
Who told me-again and again-that her pain was nothing compared to our future?”
His chest heaved with fury, his eyes burning as years of guilt and rage spilled out. “And through all her suffering, what did Richard and Lucille do? Did they comfort her? Did they fight for her? Did they so much as speak a word of kindness when she needed it most?
No!” His fist struck the desk again, papers scattering to the floor. “They turned their backs on her, just like the rest of us. And now they want her love, her forgiveness, as though they earned it? No, Father.
Elaine gave them nothing because that’s what this pack gave her. Nothing.”
The silence that followed was suffocating. Efrein’s face was pale, his lips pressed into a thin line, but his eyes still burned with defiance. Calvin stood stiffly in the corner, wisely keeping silent, though the tension in his stance betrayed the storm raging inside him.
Michael straightened, his voice colder now, measured but still edged with fury. “I will not debate this with you again. The decision stands. Alpha Darius and his warriors will come, and our pack will be stronger for it. That is final.”
For a long moment, father and son stared at each other-one clinging to the old ways, the other blazing with new authority. And though Efrein’s silence spoke of disapproval, there was no mistaking the truth: Michael’s word was law now.
??/p>
* Chapter 58
Efrein lost all the fight in his body and sank heavily into the chair across from Michael’s desk. His shoulders, once proud and broad from years of command, seemed to sag under the invisible weight of guilt and age. For a long moment, he said nothing, his eyes distant as if haunted by ghosts of choices past. Finally, his voice broke the silence, rough and weary.
“I did what I did for the greater good of the pack,” he muttered, almost as though repeating a prayer he had told himself countless times. “You chose Kathy as your Luna, and she was already carrying your pup. Your heir. You know how unpredictable our wolves can be. If you had accepted and marked Elaine, there was a high chance her wolf would have turned possessive, dangerous even.
She might have attacked Kathy. You know that.” His words carried the tone of justification, but beneath it was a fragile edge, as though he no longer fully believed them himself.
Michael leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing as he studied his father. “I understand why you did what you did, Father,” he admitted quietly. “But understanding does not erase what we did to Elaine. You cannot deny the pain we caused her. You may have thought you were protecting the pack, but you destroyed her in the process.
And Alpha Darius-he saw all of it. He’s protective of his pack members, yes, but he doesn’t dictate their choices. That’s why we don’t get any news of Elaine. Not because of him, but because Elaine doesn’t want us to know. And we have to respect that.”
Efrein’s lips tightened, his fists clenching on his knees. “Michael, Richard and Lucille lost more than you realize. They lost Elaine. They lost Kathy, and even Calvin here. Kathy and Calvin won’t even visit their parents anymore.
You’re the Alpha now. You should do something about that-restore that bond, force some reconciliation.” His tone carried the old authority of an Alpha, a man used to giving commands and expecting obedience.
Michael’s gaze hardened, his voice flat but resolute. “Unlike you, Father, I don’t make a habit of forcing pack members to do what they don’t want to do. Kathy is my chosen mate, and I respect her enough to know she has her own mind. If she chooses to keep her distance from her parents, that’s her decision, not mine. I won’t control her, not the way you once controlled everyone around you.”
The room was quiet for a heartbeat, until Calvin finally stepped forward, his voice steady but heavy with old hurt. “And as for me, former Alpha, I remember well the pain my sister endured while she was here. I remember her silent cries, the way her eyes dulled day after day. I couldn’t comfort her, not once, because I couldn’t defy your orders. You made sure of that.
I had no choice but to step back, to watch helplessly while she broke. And that, Alpha Efrein, is something I cannot forget or forgive.”
Efrein’s head snapped toward Calvin, guilt flashing in his eyes before his expression hardened again. Yet there was no anger, only sorrow. He looked at his son and his beta, and the weight of their judgment pressed against him like chains. “I did what I thought was good. What was necessary.
The survival of the pack depends on unity, on sacrifice. The pack needed an heir. We had to prioritize that above everything else.” His voice cracked, the words falling flat as though even he couldn’t summon the conviction to believe them anymore.
Michael slammed his palm down on the desk, making the papers scatter. “As if repeating that makes it right, Father! The decisions you made caused nothing but pain. If you had allowed us to talk to Elaine, even once, we might have prevented all of this. She might not have suffered as she did.
You keep telling yourself it was for the greater good, but the truth is, we failed her. You failed her.” His eyes burned with fury, but beneath it was sorrow. “I know my own mistakes. I don’t deny them.
But you-” he pointed sharply at his father “-you need to own yours. And Richard and Lucille need to accept the truth. They lost their right to Elaine the moment they abandoned her to follow your orders. That was their choice. And choices have consequences.”
Efrein looked at his son, his mouth opening as if to argue, but no words came. The fire that had once burned so fiercely in him sputtered, leaving only exhaustion. He had once been Alpha, once carried the unshakable belief that every decision he made was for the good of his people. But here, now, faced with the raw truth from his son and his beta, he couldn’t deny the pain his choices had left behind. His gaze fell to the floor, his voice soft and frail.
“I wanted…” His throat tightened. “I wanted to make amends. To Elaine. To you.
To Kathy. I know I caused pain. I know it. But I was Alpha-I had to think of the pack. Always the pack.”
Michael’s jaw clenched, but when he spoke, his voice carried the iron of a true Alpha. “Then you should understand why I don’t care how Richard and Lucille feel about Alpha Darius being here. My concern is the pack. Nothing else. Elaine made her choice, and whether we like it or not, we must respect her wishes not to have any connection with us.
If we truly owe her anything, it’s that-we respect her decision, and we stop trying to force ourselves back into her life.”
For the first time in years, silence fell between father and son-not the silence of dominance or rebellion, but the silence of truth, heavy and undeniable. Efrein’s eyes glistened faintly, but he quickly blinked it away, unwilling to show weakness. He had lived with the weight of his decision every day, and he would continue to carry it until his last breath.
Michael’s gaze softened just slightly, though his authority never wavered. “You once told me an Alpha must bear the consequences of his choices. Now you must bear yours. As for me, I will lead this pack in a different way.”
And for the first time, Efrein realized that his son was no longer the boy who once followed orders. He was Alpha-truly Alpha-and there would be no turning back.
“I do not understand why they cannot see what kind of pain their choices caused,” Calvin muttered, his voice low but sharp with resentment. His jaw was clenched so tightly that Michael could hear the faint grind of his teeth.
Since Elaine’s departure from the pack, Calvin’s relationship with his parents had been nothing short of shattered. There were nights when he would lie awake, staring at the ceiling of his quarters, replaying every moment that had led to her leaving. The memory that stung the most was the day he returned from his beta training-proud, eager to serve his alpha and his family-only to be summoned into the alpha’s office and informed of the mess surrounding Michael, and both of his sister, Kathy, and Elaine.
He had been furious. Furious at his parents, who had stood silently by while Elaine was abandoned. Furious at Michael, who had been his closest friend, for bedding his sister only to betray her the very next day. The betrayal cut deeper because Calvin had trusted Michael with everything-even his family.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.