Alpha Leo's POV
The heavy oak doors of the main hall creaked open, and in walked a man dressed in a finely tailored black coat lined with silver embroidery, the symbol of the Silver Moon Pack gleaming on his chest. His salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back, his eyes sharp like a wolf that had seen too much and trusted too little.
Alpha Steve.
He carried himself like someone used to power—head high, back straight, his every movement calculated. Two of his guards flanked him, though I could tell they wouldn't be necessary. Steve didn't fear us. He was too arrogant for that.
He scanned the room, his gaze brushing over Ava and Emma on the floor, Rex standing tall beside me, and finally stopping at me.
"Leo," he said coolly, offering a curt nod. "Still as dramatic as ever, I see."
"Steve," I replied, stepping forward, cracking my neck. "You walk into my territory without sending a message, no formal request for a meeting. That's a bold move."
He smirked. "Time is of the essence. I didn't come here to play games."
"Oh?" I crossed my arms. "Then why are you here?"
He looked toward Ava again, his expression unreadable.
"For them."
I tensed, eyes narrowing.
"What do you mean for them?"
Steve stepped forward, unafraid. "Ava and Emma. They were under my pack's temporary protection. Their parents—" He glanced at Ava. "—were rogues when they died. I took in their daughters out of duty. But I never expected them to end up in your hands."
"And now you want to take them back?" I sneered. "After all this?"
"I came to negotiate," Steve said. "They're not yours, Leo. They don't belong to the Black Knight Pack. Ava and Emma are civilians."
"She's my mate," I said through gritted teeth, stepping toward him. "Mine."
Steve tilted his head, calmly. "You can't just claim a woman because your wolf says so. She hasn't accepted the bond. And from the looks of it…" He glanced at Ava, still sitting on the ground, bruised and terrified. "She's not eager to."
Rex growled low beside me, but I raised a hand, stopping him.
"She's my mate. That bond is sacred."
"And yet you threaten her. Hurt her," Steve said with biting honesty. "That's not sacred. That's abuse."
I took a deep breath, trying to keep my rage in check. My wolf was snarling, furious at being challenged—especially in front of others.
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Steve."
"I didn't come to give one," he said. "But I came with an offer."
I scoffed. "This should be good."
"If you let them go, I'll erase their past. The name Richard will vanish. I'll swear on my Alpha title that they'll never speak of what happened here. You'll never see them again."
I looked down at Ava. She met my eyes—trembling, yes, but defiant. There was something in her gaze that made my wolf hesitate. A spark. A reminder that she was more than just a girl with a cursed name. She was mine. The moon fated her to me. But that name—Richard—kept ringing in my mind like a curse I couldn't break.
"And if I refuse?" I asked.
Steve's eyes turned cold. "Then I'll take them by force."
That made Rex laugh, dark and sharp. "You? You and your little guards against an entire fortress?"
Steve smirked. "I didn't come alone. My army is at your gates. Ready to fight. Ready to die, if they must."
A deadly silence fell.
The tension in the room was suffocating.
I turned back to Ava. She was staring at the floor now, her fingers curled tightly into fists, as if willing herself not to cry.
"Tell me," I said to her, voice low. "Do you want to leave?"
She looked up slowly, her voice hoarse. "I don't know. I want to live. That's all I know."
"Leo," Steve said behind me, voice stern. "You need to make a choice. Now."
I clenched my fists, the veins in my arms bulging.
Everything in me screamed to keep her here—to claim her, mark her, make her mine in every way. But the other part—the part that remembered the blood, the pain, the past—wanted to rip her away just as badly.
I closed my eyes, the war raging inside.
And then, I made a choice.