Alpha King Draco's Point of View
My true mate?The word burned in my mind, searing itself into my very core the moment the healer spoke it. I could still hear her voice—soft, yet cuttingly final—as if the Moon Goddess herself had whispered a cruel decree directly into my ear.
I watched Elara. Fear laced every inch of her, her shoulders trembling, her grey eyes wide and pleading... yet no words left her lips. She stood there—silent, utterly resigned—as strangers, my own people, debated her fate like livestock at market. Her scent, a forbidden blend of wild honey and untamed fear, assaulted my senses, tightening my wolf's hold on my sanity.A mate.My mate.
The one thing I'd longed for in the deepest part of my soul since I was a boy, trained from birth to lead without weakness, without need, without a heart. And now the gods had given her to me.But at what cost?The grand hall roared around me, voices clashing like blades, a deafening cacophony. Each elder, each warrior, each pack member shouted for their side—"cure the clan" or "spare the mate." The agonizing decision hung heavy in the air, a burden pressing down on my very soul.There has to be another way, I told myself, my mind racing, desperate.
There must be. But all waited for my voice, for my final, damning word."Say something, Alpha Draco!" My stepbrother Silas sneered, his voice slicing through the noise like cold steel, sharp with malicious glee. His dark eyes glittered, waiting, baiting, hungry for the moment I would stumble, the moment I would fall.Silence fell. A thick, suffocating blanket of anticipation.All eyes turned to me, demanding.What could I possibly say? To claim her as mine, to protect her, would brand me selfish—unfit to rule, placing my desire above the pack's survival. But to sacrifice her… my one destined mate… to save the many? To willingly condemn the woman my wolf craved?I ground my teeth until pain shot through my jaw, a sharp agony that barely eclipsed the torment in my heart."Lock her up," I finally said, forcing the words past my throat, each one a shard of ice. "Until I say otherwise."A murmur rippled through the crowd, a mix of relief, disappointment, and barely contained fury. I couldn't decipher it.
The warriors moved to drag her away, their hands reaching for her."Don't do that," I growled without thinking, stepping forward, my voice low and dangerous. My wolf surged, an instinctive, protective snarl. "Be gentle with her. She is not a common prisoner."They hesitated, startled by my unexpected command, then eased their grip, guiding her more carefully from the hall as the crowd broke apart, dissolving into whispered plots and quiet curses.
My gaze followed her until she was gone, her terrified scent lingering.I knew it—she was the focus of Silas's poisonous attention. Silas watched with a crooked smile, knowing this moment was his chance to sway the elders, to win the people's trust while I stood divided, seemingly weak.I needed answers. I needed a way out.I turned sharply to the healer, her face still unnervingly calm."You must find another way," I hissed, my voice low, raw with desperation. "Consult the gods. The Moon Goddess. Anyone. There has to be an alternative to this twisted prophecy."She lowered her gaze, her expression solemn. "There is no other way, Alpha.
The prophecy is clear. It has been foretold for centuries."I clenched my fists, fury battling despair.Could I be the king who sacrificed his fated mate for his people, for a cure? Could I bear the crushing weight of that sin, that decision, for the rest of my cursed life? Or would I be the Draco who, out of love, doomed his pack to madness and destruction?Neither felt like victory. Both paths led to a hell I couldn't escape, a future forever tainted by sacrifice or selfishness.I summoned the council—the elders, my family, my enemies in thin disguise—once more.We gathered in the war room, the stone walls thick with secrets, echoing with the ghosts of past betrayals.
I spoke first. "You all know why we are here. My decision… our future… and hers. Her fate hangs on my word."Silas cleared his throat, a loud, deliberate sound. I wasn't surprised. The bastard thrived on moments like this, like a vulture circling.
"I am no king," he said, his voice loud enough for the elders to hear, carefully crafted for impact. "But if the gods had made me one, I would choose what's best for the clan.
No matter the cost. No matter the personal ties." His dark gaze cut to me, a smug challenge in his eyes. "Brother—or should I say, stepbrother—you alone decide. But remember: if she goes, you win the people's respect. The curse is lifted. The clan lives."He smiled, slow and poisonous, like a viper ready to strike. Classic Silas. Baiting me to destroy her. To destroy myself in the process, leaving him to pick up the pieces.
And the elders—gods help me—some of them nodded in agreement, their faces grim but resolute.Luna Sophia, his vile mother, beamed in triumph, a chilling reflection of her son's malice. The same smile she wore the day my father tore her from the Beta's chamber to warm his bed, forever solidifying her treacherous ambition.I swallowed back the rising tide of rage.
Enemies. All of them. And I was king of their poisoned court, their captive ruler."I've heard enough," I said coldly, my voice cutting through the tension. "We will wait. The healer will consult the Moon Goddess again. Until then... she remains locked away, safe, yet contained. And this council is postponed.
"I needed time. Time to find another way, to uncover a hidden path. Time to claw my power back before it slipped through my fingers, before the curse consumed me.As I left the chamber, I could feel Silas's eyes burning into my back, a silent, hateful promise.And far away… I could feel her. The faint, undeniable pull of her presence.My mate.Locked away like a prisoner... because of me.Because I was too weak to choose. For now.