Draven.
The Carter estate was less than impressive.
As the Beta of the Moonstone Pack, Gabriel Carter had built a reputation as a refined leader, a man of calculated strategies—but standing in his poorly managed courtyard, I saw nothing but diocrity.
The stench of decay lingered in the air, and the guards at the gate were unfocused and undisciplined. The servants avoided eye contact, moving like ghosts in their own ho.
Weak. All of them.
And yet, Gabriel had the audacity to stand before now, shoulders squared, gaze unflinching, his expression barely masking his irritation.
"Alpha Draven." His voice was clipped, forced into formality. "To what do I owe this sudden visit?"
I scoffed inwardly. He was pretending he knew nothing.
"As I announced at the Lunar Ball last night," I said, my tone smooth but firm, "I've co to take redith to be my wife."
Gabriel's lips pressed into a thin line. "You must be mistaken."
A bold response. A dangerous one.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeffery Allen, my Beta, tense beside . His sharp gaze flickered between Gabriel and , his anger radiating like a slow-burning fire.
"Beta Gabriel," Jeffery said, his voice edged with irritation. "Are you not going to offer us a seat?"
Gabriel turned his cold gaze on him. "My apologies for not being a good host." He didn't an a single word. Then, looking back at , he added, "I wasn't inford of your visit."
So that was his excuse for his lack of hospitality. In other sense, he was asking us to endure his insolence.
I said nothing to that. I didn't need his approval, nor did I care for his pathetic attempt at challenging my authority.
Gabriel had not welcod and my entourage into his ho, not that I cared, but curtesy was sothing a man like him should know and extend. It was obvious he wasn't going to offer any seat either. And that was fine. I wasn't planning to stay.
If Gabriel thought a lack of welco would deter , he had gravely miscalculated.
I let my power roll off in slow, unmistakable waves. It was a warning, a reminder, a test.
At that mont, his wife and three older children hurried out of the house, their expressions taut with unease.
"Would you do the honour of bringing redith to , or should I find her myself?" My voice was calm and devoid of warmth as I offered options.
Gabriel's jaw tightened. "Alpha Draven, you have no right to co to my ho and demand my daughter," he declared, and ant it.
"And yet, here I stand," I countered, unmoved.
His gaze darkened with defiance at my comnt. "Even if you asked the proper way," he continued, voice low with warning, "I wouldn't give her to you."
Gabriel should understand that I had left my n at the gates out of courtesy and walked in with only my Beta. Therefore, the earlier he understood that I was going to leave with his daughter, redith, and no one would stop , the more ti he would save.
Gabriel's wife, Margareth Carter, stiffened beside him. Her fingers twitched, brushing the hem of his sleeve—a subtle gesture, a silent warning.
She feared . Smart woman. But her husband ignored her.
"Now that I have made my stance clear, please be on your way, Alpha," Gabriel said with finality as he gestured with his right hand. He was dismissing .
A Beta. Dismissing .
Jeffery inhaled sharply beside , ready to step forward, to put Gabriel in his place. But I lifted a hand, stopping him.
Instead, I spoke, my voice even, slow and dangerous. "Beta, heed my command."
Jeffery imdiately dropped to one knee. "Yes, Alpha."
"Gather the n. Search the estate. If you have to turn every stone to find my bride, do so. I must not leave the Carter estate and the Moonstone Pack without her."
The courtyard went still.
A sharp inhale ca from Margareth. One of Gabriel's daughters paled, hands clenching at her sides. But it was Gabriel's reaction I was waiting for.
He snapped. Finally. "Alpha Draven!" His voice bood, his body shaking with barely restrained rage.
I turned to him slowly, my golden gaze cold and unyielding. "Beta," I said, my tone clipped, "You will say my na with respect."
The entire courtyard was watching, waiting.
Gabriel's pride warred with logic. He wanted to fight, but he knew he would lose. No matter how daring he was, the consequences of defiling his future King was not worth it. He could never bear it.
Jeffery rose to his feet, already turning to carry out my command when—
"Stop!" Gabriel barked, his voice cracking under the weight of his own fury.
Jeffery halted and then turned to Gabriel, his stance loose but ready for a fight. "If you stopped , that ans you've made a decision," he said to Gabriel smoothly, mocking his hesitation as a way to get back at him for disrespecting .
A heavy silence followed.
Margareth's hands curled into fists. Gabriel's face twisted. Then, with obvious reluctance, he exhaled sharply.
"Gary," he snapped at his son, "bring redith out."
Gary's jaw tightened, but he bowed his head slightly. "Yes, Father." Then his gaze flickered toward , burning with resentnt. He had the sa temper as his father.
He was angry at for whatever reasons best known to him.
I didn't care. His emotions didn't deserve my attention.
As Gary stord off toward the back of the estate, Gabriel wasn't finished. He turned his two older daughters into errand girls next.
"Monique, Mabel," he called, turning his burning gaze to them, "gather your sister's things and bring them out here."
"Yes, Father," they muttered, quickly scurrying away.
And then, it was just us—, Jeffery, Gabriel, and his wife, Margareth, who clung to his side as the silence stretched, heavy with unspoken tension.
Margareth did not speak, but she was watching —not with open defiance or submission, but with sothing else.
Sothing unreadable. Sothing... protective.
Interesting.
From the little I had gathered about redith's family dynamics, she was hated by everyone in her family and pack, but why did it seem the situation was different with her mother?
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