My Mate Chose Her Over Our Pup

Byron knocked on my door early the next morning.

"Ready?" he asked, his face a mask of tired tenderness. "I think you need to see Liam for yourself. So you can understand the position I'm in."

I nodded and followed him to the dungeons.

The Blackwood dungeons were built in the deepest part of the territory, the thick stone walls covered in ancient runes that suppressed a wolf's power.

The air was thick with the reek of silver and despair.

"He's in the deepest cell," Byron said. "For the charge of treason."

Treason.

What a joke.

We walked past rows of iron bars, past the rogues and criminals locked inside.

Their eyes followed us with fear and hatred.

Finally, we stopped at the last cell.

And I saw him.

Liam.

My brother.

He was shackled to the wall with silver-etched chains, his hands pulled high above his head.

The silver had burned deep wounds into his skin, crusted with dark, dried blood.

A werewolf's healing ability was useless against it.

"Liam?" I gripped the iron bars, my voice trembling.

He slowly lifted his head.

His eyes, once bright as stars, were now dull and lifeless, the light of his wolf gone.

"Sandra?" His voice was a barely audible rasp. "You came."

I wanted to reach for him, but the bars were in the way.

"Look at your brother now," a guard sneered from behind us. "Once a Beta, now he's less than an omega."

Before I could even turn to snap at the guard, Byron moved.

A wave of pure Alpha rage slammed into the room.

In a blur of motion, he spun, his hand clamping around the guard’s throat. He slammed him against the stone wall with a sickening thud.

"You," Byron’s voice was a low, dangerous growl, like something straight from hell. "Whose name are you dragging through the dirt with that filthy mouth?"

The guard went white, clawing desperately at Byron's hand.

"She is your Luna," Byron snarled, golden fire blazing in his eyes. The sheer weight of his Alpha aura sucked the air right out of the dungeon. "If I ever hear you disrespect her again, I will rip your tongue out myself."

He released his grip. The guard collapsed to the floor, gasping and coughing violently.

Byron straightened his collar, as if the brutal outburst had never happened.

He turned and pulled me back into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, baby. You shouldn't have to hear that filth."

He pressed my head against his chest. His voice was thick with suppressed pain. "I know you're hurting. I am too. But look... the evidence is overwhelming. The Elders have spoken. Even as Alpha, I can't just break pack law."

I stared at him, unblinking.

This "law" he spoke of... wasn't it just another cage he'd built?

This "evidence"... hadn't he forged it with his own hands?

"Sandra." Liam’s voice was weak. "Don't fight him for me. It's not worth it."

"Liam—"

"I know." He looked at me, a flicker of clarity in his dull eyes. "It's too late for words now."

"See?" Byron murmured from behind me. "Even he admits it. Sandra, we have to be rational. If you keep fighting this... more people will get hurt."

More people.

He meant my mother.

"So you're just going to let him die here?" I spun around to face Byron. "You're going to watch my only brother rot away from silver poisoning?"

Byron opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, his eyes glazed over.

It was the look of a mind-link.

His brow furrowed instantly.

Seconds later, he snapped back to reality, his face etched with undeniable exhaustion.

"I'm sorry. My Beta just linked me. There's an emergency in the pack," he said, already turning away. "I have to handle it. Now."

An emergency.

What kind of emergency was more important than this?

"Byron." I called out.

He stopped and looked back. His eyes still held a flicker of annoyance that didn't belong to me.

"What is it?"

I looked at him. The man I once believed was my fated mate.

"Nothing," I said flatly. "Go."

He gave me a long, complicated look, as if he wanted to say more. But in the end, he just turned and strode out of the dungeon.

I stood frozen, listening to his footsteps fade away.

He seemed to have forgotten something crucial.

I could feel the other end of his mind-link.

I knew exactly where he was going. He was going to see Ariana.