Four Months Later…
"Still not awake yet?" my father asked, his voice sharp and impatient as he sat behind his oversized desk in the packhouse office.
I had just come home from the hospital to shower when he called me in.
I already knew why. He had been pressuring me for weeks, circling me like a vulture waiting for the inevitable. I'd been avoiding him, spending every waking hour at Chloe's side, hoping that the thin thread of our mate bond might pull her back to me.
"No," I said through clenched teeth.
"Then it's settled," my father said, his tone final, cold. "You will pull the cord on her and take another, or you will never be the Alpha of this pack."
"She needs more time," I snapped.
"She's had time. Four months, Cameron.
She's not waking up." His voice didn't waver, not once. "A Luna who can't produce an heir is useless. You need a mate who can give you what this pack demands. What I demand."
Rome snarled so loud inside my head that my father instinctively stiffened, sensing the alpha rage behind my wolf's growl. "Over my dead body will you let him touch her," Rome hissed.
"It's the only way, son. You need an heir, and she can't give you one."
"She will," I shot back, my nails biting into my palms. "She just needs time. She's improving—"
"She's not." His tone was iron, his gaze as cold as steel. "I called the doctor myself today. She's the same. I'm afraid that girl is lost to you. I know it will be hard, since she's your fated mate, but you have to let her go.
Alpha Wright already promised to send Odette this weekend, after the bond is broken and you are free."
"Odette?" I nearly spat the name. "I thought she found her mate?"
My father gave a humorless laugh. "She did. An omega. Wright had them reject each other and sent the boy back to his pack. Odette is ready for a chosen mate, and this will guarantee our alliance with Wright's pack.
The girl has agreed. It's a smart move, Cameron. You will do this."
"No." I growled the word like it was poison. "Chloe is still alive. She is still breathing. She could wake up tomorrow. For all we know, Odette pushed her down those stairs."
Rome growled in satisfaction that I finally said it aloud, but I wasn't convinced either way. I just knew I didn't want Odette. I would never want her.
"You're blinded by that girl," my father said coldly. "I saw the contempt she had for you, Cameron. You're letting her hatred hold you back. It's time you move on and do your duty. If you won't pull the plug, then reject her."
"She's mine," I roared. "She will wake up!"
"When?!" My father slammed his hands on the desk, the crack of it echoing in the room.
"I was meant to retire this year. It's your job to lead now, but you can't without an heir. You will either take Odette or I will name another Alpha."
"I can still have an heir!" I shouted back.
"She's in a coma, not me. I can still—"
"Can you?" He leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "You can't take another woman once the bond is sealed. You know that as well as I do. It doesn't work. I tried."
I grimaced at the reminder of my father's pathetic attempts to cheat on my mother.
Every time he tried, he failed. The Moon Goddess made sure of it—ensuring loyalty through agony. A male could get aroused, but he could never finish without his mate. And if he tried, his mate felt it—suffered for it.
"She's unconscious," I muttered. "She won't feel it if I try."
Rome's growl turned guttural. "You wouldn't dare."
"She won't feel it," I snapped back, though my chest felt tight saying it. "If I don't… if we don't… father might handle her himself. You know what that means."
Rome went silent. He hated me for even thinking it, but he knew I was right. If my father gave the order to tamper with Chloe's machines, there was nothing we could do.
"I can't," Rome whispered, raw pain dripping through his words.
"I can," I said flatly.
Because there was no love between Chloe and me. Not like the love Rome had for Cortina. And lately… something darker had been growing inside me. A monster. It wasn't Rome. It wasn't me. It was something else—something born of frustration, jealousy, and rage. That beast inside me clawed for control, and when I let it, I could hurt anyone without guilt. It was the beast who had lashed out at the doctor, the nurses. It could snuff out Rome's protests. It could do what I couldn't.
"I'll get you your heir," I told my father, feeling the beast rise to the surface like smoke from a fire.
"But if you touch my mate—if you so much as think about taking her from me—an heir will be the least of your worries."
My father's eyes widened, just slightly, before he composed himself. He could feel it too—that thing inside me that wasn't entirely mine or Rome's.
"You will try every day," he said, his voice strained, "or I will act."
The beast snarled through me, its power making my father shrink back slightly in his chair.
"Chloe is not your concern," I said in a voice that was not entirely my own. "You will leave her be. Or else."
He exhaled sharply. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I'm doing what I have to," I said, standing. I didn't wait for his dismissal before walking out.