Chapter 71: THE ULTIMATUM

REED

The message came through while I was sitting in my room staring at nothing.

Callum: Annual gathering next week. Your father expects you there. No exceptions.

I stared at my phone, my stomach dropping.

The Shadow Born Annual Gathering. The one event I’d successfully avoided for the past two years by claiming Academy commitments. The one place I never wanted to go because it meant facing him.

Alpha Thorne. My father.

The man who’d spent my entire life telling me I was weak, that feelings made you vulnerable and that to be Alpha, you had to be stronger than everyone else.

You had to be harder, colder and derived of all emotion.

A beast, not a man.

I hated it,I hated that version of leadership and I hated the idea of ruling through fear and dominance alone but more than that, I hated that some part of me believed him, that maybe he was right, that maybe feelings were weakness and that maybe caring about someone—caring about Asher—made me unfit to lead.

I’d spent months trying to prove I didn’t care. Treating Asher like property, ysing him, discarding him and making his life hell.

All to convince myself I could be what my father wanted and what the pack needed but the truth was eating me alive.

I cared about Asher, more than I’d ever cared about anything and that terrified me because if I admitted it—if I let myself feel it fully—I’d never be the Alpha my father expected. I’d never be strong enough, hard enough and good enough and Asher would hate me anyway. After everything I’d done to him, how could he not?

Soon he’d leave, he’d realize he deserved better than an Alpha who was too weak to claim what he wanted, too afraid to admit how he felt and I’d be alone.

The thought made my chest ache in ways I couldn’t afford.

I picked up my phone and texted before I could talk myself out of it.

Me: I need you to help me do something, it’s important.

Callum: Whats that?

Me: The Pack event. I need you to put the invitation in Asher’s bag. I am inviting him.

Callum: You are inviting him to the gathering but why?

Me: Because… nothing just have it done.

Callum: Okay.

I didn’t tell him why, I didn’t tell him that the thought of facing my father alone made me feel like I was drowning. I didn’t tell him that Asher’s presence was the only thing that made me feel like I could breathe.

That even when Asher hated me, even when he looked at me with those eyes full of pain I’d caused, somehow he still made everything bearable.

I just needed him there.

The night of the gathering, I picked Asher up and tried not to stare at how good he looked in Callum’s suit.

The drive was silent. My hands were tight on the wheel. My jaw clenched. I could feel Asher’s eyes on me but I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t tell him that I was bringing him because I was terrified of facing my father alone because Asher somehow made me feel stronger even when I was falling apart.

So I just drove and tried to breathe.

The gathering was exactly as I remembered. Oppressive, suffocating and full of Alphas who measured worth by dominance and power and nothing else.

I kept my hand on Asher’s lower back the entire time. Possessive, grounding and every time an Alpha looked at him with contempt, every time someone dismissed him as just a Beta, I wanted to bare my teeth and growl. I wanted to tell them all that Asher was worth more than any of them combined.

But I couldn’t because that would reveal too much. It would show weakness my father would exploit.

So I just kept my hand on Asher’s back and tried to pretend my chest wasn’t tight with rage.

Then my father found us.

“Reed!” Alpha Thorne’s voice boomed across the room.

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

I turned to face him. The man who’d shaped me, molded me and tried to break every soft part of me until all that was left was the Alpha he wanted.

“Father,” I said carefully.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” His eyes cut to Asher and dismissed him immediately. “Who is this?”

“Asher Graham. He’s-” I hesitated for half a second, my hands clenched, befire continuing. “He’s my guest.”

“Your gyest.” My father’s eyes narrowed, “You’ve never brought a guest before.”

“I know.” The words came out in a slight quiet tone, because I was scared.

“And you choose–” his eyes left mine and dragged over Asher with disdain. “A weak Beta?”

The contempt in his voice made my hand tighten on Asher’s back. I tried to calm myself and part of me was glad he had mentioned Beta instead of an Omega that means the suppressants was partiallu working.

I knew soon that he would know what Asher truly is and create a scene about it. I was fucking scared and tried to maintain my cool but I knew Asher could tell that my hand was shaking and I was scared.

“Asher is a top student at the academy, one of tye best in our year.”

“Academics.I don’t care about academics becayse that’s fine for scholars and weakings.” My father’s voice was hard. “You’re going to be Alpha of this pack, Reed. You should surround yourself with strength, withother dominant Alphas not–” His eyes cut to Asher. “Betas who contribute nothing.”

I felt Asher tense beside me.

“Father–”

“We’ll discuss this later,” my father said. “Come find me in my study before you leave. We need to talk. Alone.”

It wasn’t a request, it was a command and I bobbed my head.

The rest of the evening dragged on. I kept Asher close, my hand never leaving his back, while pack members looked down on him and whispered about why I’d brought someone so beneath my station.

When the older Alphas started discussing how Omegas were weak, how they were beneath Alphas, how biology made them inferior—I felt something crack inside my chest because they were talking about Asher. About the person who’d challenged me from day one. Who’d stood up to me when no one else would. Who was stronger than any of these Alphas would ever be.

I couldn’t stand to think about it so I excused us and we went to the balcony because I did need the cold air to stay calm if I was to face my dad.

Asher glanced up at me. “Do you agree with them? About Omegas?”

My jaw clenched. I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him that everything I’d been taught was wrong. That he was proof of that.

But the words stuck in my throat.

Because if I admitted that, if I let myself believe it, then everything I’d done to Asher—everything I’d told myself was necessary to stay strong—would be exposed as the lie it was.

But when he called out to me, i had no choice but to tell him everything and was about confessing how i truly feel when the door opened and a young Alpha found me to say my father was waiting, I left Asher on the balcony and walked to the study like I was walking to my execution.

My father was standing by the window when I entered. His back to me.

“Close the door,” he said and I closed it. “You brought an Omega to my gathering.”

My blood ran cold, he knew, of course he did, he was a ruthless Alpha after all and ge could sense it even through the suppressants Asher as taken.

“What?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Reed.” My father turned. His eyes were hard and furious. “Did you think I wouldn’t smell it on you? That I wouldn’t recognize the bond?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“You claimed an Omega.” My father’s voice was deadly quiet. “You formed a mate bond with one and d then you brought him here. To Shadow Born and paraded him in front of the pack like you’re proud of it.”

“Father—”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” My father crossed the room in two strides and grabbed my collar. “Alphas don’t mate with Omegas. Not in this pack. Not in any pack worth leading. It’s weakness. It’s—”

“He’s not weak,” I said. The words came out before I could stop them. “Asher is stronger than—”

My father’s fist connected with my face.

I stumbled back, tasting blood. My lip was split. Probably my cheek too.

“Don’t you dare,” my father snarled. “Don’t you dare defend that thing to me. You’ve already disgraced yourself by claiming him. By bonding with him but bringing him here? Letting everyone see you with an Omega?”

“No one knows what he is—”

“I know!” My father’s voice rose. “And soon everyone will know. Unless you end this. Now.”

I wiped blood from my mouth with shaking hands. “End what?”

“The arrangement, the bond, whatever sick attachment you’ve formed.” My father’s eyes were cold and merciless. “You have until the end of the semester. Two months. Break the bond. Get rid of him. Or you will never be Alpha of this pack.”

The words hit like another punch.

“You can’t—”

“I can and I will.” My father moved closer. “And if you don’t do it willingly, I’ll make sure everyone at that Academy knows exactly what your little Beta really is. I’ll expose him, ruin him and destroy any chance he has at a future.”

“You wouldn’t—”

“Try me.” My father’s smile was cruel. “Two months, Reed. End it. Or lose everything. The pack. Your title. Your future. And I’ll make sure that Omega suffers for corrupting you.”

My hands were shaking and my chest was tight.

“Get out of my sight,” my father said. “And take that thing with you before I change my mind and expose him tonight.”

And I left, my vision blur and with blood dripping from my split lip.

Two months.

I had two months to choose between Asher and everything I’d ever worked for.

And if I chose wrong, my father would destroy Asher anyway.

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