Alpha's Arrogance

Torin's POV

"Let’s get a severance."

The words dropped like stones onto the marble floor. For a fraction of a second, I thought the chaos had messed with my hearing. Then my wolf clawed at the inside of my ribcage. A dark, guttural growl vibrated deep within my chest, a primal reaction to her sheer audacity.

Severance? From me?

I turned my head and stared at Kallira. She looked like a ghost standing in the middle of the corridor. Her skin was pale, her frame shaking from her injuries. The scent of dried blood mixed with agonizing grief filled the air. Yet her eyes refused to drop. They burned with a stubborn, irritating defiance.

"You heard me," she choked out, her voice raw. "I want a mate severance."

Silence slammed into the hallway. Servants froze like statues. The guards shifted their weight, staring blankly at the walls while clearly hanging onto every word.

My wolf bared his teeth. The mate bond between us had always been a thin, fragile thread—nothing like the roaring fire of fated mates—but it tied her to me all the same. Her demand dragged across that bond like jagged glass.

"You are not thinking clearly," I said. My voice projected raw Alpha command to squash her hysteria. "You just lost the child. Your wolf is unstable. Go back to your chambers."

Her jaw tightened. "My wolf knows exactly what I saw."

That accusation again. The disrespect of it. My patience snapped in half.

"Enough." My voice thundered through the corridor. The guards instantly snapped to attention. "You are embarrassing yourself. An Ironhold Luna screaming wild accusations in the middle of the pack house? Have you lost all dignity?"

Kallira’s weak wolf stirred through our faint bond. It felt bruised and pathetic, but she did not take a step back.

"Mate severance," she repeated.

Impossible. She spat the words out as if she held the power to command me. A Luna with a barely awakened wolf possessed zero authority to initiate a severance ritual. Her declaration was ridiculous. I straightened my posture, towering over her frail form, letting my dominant aura press down heavily on the space between us.

"Escort the Luna back to her chambers," I commanded the guards. My tone left no room for hesitation. "And lock her doors."

Kallira’s eyes snapped wide open. "You can’t—"

"I can."

The guards closed the distance instantly. One grabbed her arm with a firm grip. She thrashed against his hold, but her injured body failed her. The healer’s report echoed in my mind. Miscarriage. The heir I had waited for, gone before it even formed.

I looked at her bleeding form and felt nothing. No pity. No sorrow. If she had behaved like a proper, dutiful Luna instead of throwing a massive tantrum, we would not be standing here. As the guards dragged her backward down the corridor, she twisted around. Our eyes locked one last time.

For a microscopic moment, my wolf paused. A strange flicker of unease brushed against my heart.

I crushed it instantly. Weakness had no place in an Alpha.

Once the guards dragged her away, the suffocating tension in the hallway broke. Hushed whispers broke out among the servants.

Giselle stepped up to my side.

"You should not have to endure this," she murmured.

Her soft voice carried the soothing tone that always managed to settle my temper. She reached up with gentle fingers, smoothing the collar of my jacket.

"You have done everything for this pack."

Her scent washed over me—warm, inviting, and deeply familiar. It pushed away the sharp, bitter stench Kallira had left behind.

"Sit," Giselle instructed softly. "You are exhausted."

I let her guide me away from the prying eyes of the pack. We stepped into my private sitting room. I shut the heavy oak door, cutting off the gossip. Giselle moved gracefully across the room. She poured a glass of cool water and pressed it into my hand.

"Drink."

I took a long swallow, letting the icy liquid ground my roaring wolf. I watched her move around the space. She closed the heavy drapes. She straightened the cushions on the armchairs. She anticipated my needs without asking a single question. There was no friction with Giselle. With Kallira, every interaction felt strained, bogged down by rules and pride.

"She is grieving," Giselle said, taking a seat opposite me. "Loss can twist a wolf’s mind."

I leaned back into the leather sofa, my thoughts drifting. Before our mating ceremony, I held respect for Kallira. She grew up among Alphas and knew pack politics. When the Moon Goddess paired us, I assumed the bond would bring unmatched strength to Ironhold.

The elders had warned me. They saw a Luna without a wolf. They saw a fragile bloodline. Her father argued relentlessly during the council meetings, insisting her wolf would awaken in time. He begged me to choose Kallira over Giselle. I believed him. I claimed her.

Reality set in fast. The pack council grew restless. An Alpha without an heir invites rival challengers, and a wolfless bloodline cannot produce a strong Alpha heir. I will admit Kallira tried her best. She managed the territory disputes. She balanced the ledgers and organized the patrols. But none of that mattered when I walked into the Luna’s chambers at night and found them empty of children.

Then Giselle returned. My brother Kade had died, leaving her a grieving widow carrying his twins. She asked me for nothing. She demanded no grand titles. She simply stood by my side and listened. When the council pushed me to the edge about my lack of heirs, she reminded me I was the Alpha. I made the rules.

When Bram and Myla came into the world, everything shifted. Strong, healthy children. My brother’s bloodline, my bloodline. Proof that Ironhold would remain untouchable. My wolf swelled with immense pride just thinking of them.

I looked at Giselle sitting quietly across from me. Compared to Kallira’s barren womb and endless defiance, the choice had always been obvious.

A sharp knock hit the oak door.

"Alpha." My Beta’s voice bled through the wood.

"Enter."

He stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and bowed his head respectfully. "The Primal Council just announced a convention," he reported. "All major packs are required to attend."

A grand council gathering. Under normal circumstances, this would be a simple routine. Kallira handled inter-pack diplomacy better than anyone else in Ironhold. She knew the ancient laws and the rival Alphas. But the memory of her defiant glare flashed in my mind.

*Let’s get a severance.*

My wolf let out a low snarl.

"I will attend," I stated flatly.

The Beta nodded. "And the Luna?"

I did not even blink. "Giselle will accompany me."

My Beta’s head snapped up. His eyes widened in shock. "Alpha… the Primal Council expects the mated Luna to stand at your side."

"They will accept my decision," I growled, letting my aura flare just enough to remind him who was in charge.

He quickly lowered his gaze and bowed again. "Understood. There is another matter, Alpha."

I waited.

"Many pack members witnessed the confrontation in the corridor," he said cautiously. "Rumors are already spreading through the lower ranks."

Of course they were. Packs fed on drama. My wolf bristled at the thought of my authority being questioned by the omegas and warriors.

"Control the narrative," I ordered sharply. "Spread the word that the Luna is suffering from severe trauma following her injuries. Tell the pack her miscarriage has made her wolf unstable and dangerous."

"And her accusations regarding you and Giselle?" he asked.

"There were no accusations. Just the ramblings of a sick, grieving female."

He gave a stiff nod. "I understand, Alpha."

The moment the door clicked shut behind the Beta, Giselle turned to me. She kept her movements slow, her eyes wide with innocent concern.

"A council gathering?" she asked softly.

"Yes."

She bit her bottom lip. "But shouldn't Kallira attend? She is the Luna. It is her duty."

"No." The answer shot out of me instantly. "She needs time to sit in that locked room and reflect on her unacceptable behavior."

Giselle lowered her gaze to her lap, her fingers twisting together. "If my presence at the convention causes trouble for you, I can remain here at the pack house. I do not want to create more conflict between you and your mate."

I studied her face. I searched for hidden ambition or greed, but I found none. Only pure, selfless restraint.

"You are not the cause of this," I said, my voice firm. "Kallira brought this upon herself."

Giselle nodded slowly, accepting my words. "Then I will stand beside you."

A deep wave of satisfaction settled into my chest. This isolation would teach Kallira a crucial lesson. A Luna who dares to challenge her Alpha loses far more than just her pride. Once she sat in her chambers and saw how effortlessly the pack continued to function without her—once she truly realized her position was a privilege, not a right—her foolish anger would burn out.

Giselle stood and walked over to my desk, neatly organizing the scattered patrol documents. "You carry too much responsibility on those shoulders," she murmured. "You deserve peace, Torin."

Peace. Yes. That was all I wanted. Kallira had shattered it today with her screaming and her demands.

But she would calm down. She always did.

"She will come to her senses soon," I said, leaning back and crossing my arms.

Giselle paused her organizing and glanced over her shoulder. "You really think she will apologize?"

I let a small smile touch my lips. "She will."

Kallira had always adored me. She craved my approval from the day we mated. Once the initial shock of the miscarriage faded and her weak wolf stopped acting out, she would remember her place in my pack.

And when she did, she would crawl out of those chambers. She would fall to her knees and beg me to withdraw the mate severance request.

Everything would return to order.

Just as it should.