Chapter 5

LOCHLAN’S POV.
The door closed behind us with a heavy sound.
Inside the room were the elders, Beta Hank, Violet, and me.
The air felt tight, like the room was too small for all of us and our anger.
Violet was still shaking.
Her face was red, her eyes wet, but her anger was stronger than her tears.
Beta Hank was pacing back and forth like a trapped animal.
Every step he took sounded sharp on the floor.
The elders stood near the center, trying to calm everything.
Trying to fix something that could not be fixed.
And I stood apart from all of them.
I did not want to be here.
Not with them.
Not after what I had heard outside.
As far as I was concerned, there was nothing to discuss.
A mate bond?
With her?
Nima?
My jaw tightened.
I could still hear those words in my head.
“True mate.”
“Only Nima can stabilize your wolf.”
It made no sense.
It felt like a cruel mistake.
Or a joke.
A very bad one.
I stared at the floor, but my mind was not here.
It kept going back to her.
Nima.
A servant.
Someone who was far beneath me in every way.
The same she-wolf who was responsible for the death of my father, who was still yet to be laid to rest.
How could fate even try to connect her to me?
It was disgusting.
It was wrong.
How can this be real?
How can the Goddess make such a mistake?
How can someone like her be tied to me?
My wolf growled quietly inside me, but I pushed him down.
I would not accept this.
One of the elders stepped forward carefully.
“My future Alpha,” he said in a low voice. “Please listen.”
I did not look at him.
He continued anyway.
“Rejecting the bond will not remove it.”
I let out a short breath through my nose.
“I don’t care,” I said flatly.
The elder sighed.
“You should care. Your wolf is unstable. Every rejection will weaken you more.”
Another elder joined him.
“The past full moon was only the beginning.”
I looked up slowly.
“So what?”
The room went quiet for a second.
The elder’s voice lowered.
“The next one could break your control completely.”
I clenched my fists.
“Were you listening to a word I said? I. Don’t. Care.”
He stepped closer.
“This is not about choice anymore, Lochlan.”
His voice became firm.
“It is about survival. About what is best for this pack. Night Crescent cannot have an Alpha whose wolf is unstable and craves blood every full moon.”
Beta Hank suddenly stopped pacing.
His face was red with anger.
“Survival?” he repeated sharply.
He pointed at the elders.
“You call this survival? You are destroying my daughter’s future!”
Violet stepped closer to him, still furious.
“I am his betrothed!” she said loudly.
“This is a mistake!”
She turned her angry eyes toward the elders.
“I am the one he is supposed to be with!”
Beta Hank nodded quickly.
“She has been chosen since birth!”
His voice grew louder.
“You cannot erase that with some nonsense about bonds!”
The elders looked exhausted, but they did not back down.
I finally spoke.
My voice was cold and clear.
“I don’t care what the bond is.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
I lifted my head.
“I will not accept her. Not for any reason in the world, not even to save my life. I will not mate with the she-wolf responsible for my father’s death, a she-wolf whose origin we don’t even know.”
Silence fell at my words.
Even Violet stopped breathing for a moment.
I continued.
“I will not accept any of this.”
My voice hardened.
“Whatever that was out there, I reject it. I will mate Violet. Violet will be my mate and Luna, not the servant girl.”
The room went still.
No one spoke.
The elders looked frustrated now, not surprised anymore.
They knew I was not listening.
And I did not intend to.
One of the elders tried again.
“You are making a dangerous mistake, my Alpha. The consequences will be grave.”
“Then I will face it when the time comes,” I said again, my tone final.
“I would rather deal with the consequences than accept something like this.”
I looked at them all.
Then I walked over and took a seat.
I was done talking.
My mind went back to her again.
Nima.
My jaw tightened.
How dare she exist in this position?
How dare fate even suggest this?
What kind of twisted joke is this?
I felt something cold rise in my chest.
Anger.
Disgust.
Humiliation.
The Goddess must be mocking me.
There is no other explanation.
A servant girl.
My mate?
No.
It was impossible.
She did not belong anywhere near my world.
Not my life.
Not my future.
Something inside me burned harder.
Not anger, not rage—pride.
Deep pride.
My pride felt wounded just by the idea that anyone could think I would be matched with her.
A servant.
Someone beneath me.
My wolf growled again, but I ignored him.
This was not right.
It could not be right.
I felt anger replace everything else.
Cold anger.
I made my decision right there.
Silently.
I will not accept this bond.
Not ever.
I will not accept her.
I will not acknowledge her as my mate.
I will not let this ruin me like she ruined my father.
As far as I was concerned, Nima did not exist.