The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

“Which one is your priority?” Sophia asks, unfolding her arms and tucking her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “The pups or overthrowing Karina?”

I give her a startled look. “They’re one and the same thing.”

“I don’t think so.” She studies me. “One sounds like a revenge plan, and the other sounds like a necessity.”

I frown at her. “What’s the difference?”

She meets my gaze steadily. “When you take revenge, countless lives may be lost. If you plan to cause bloodshed, do you think your precious Silver Wolf will be happy to go along with it, when she hasn’t suffered the same loss as you have? Are you going to stain her hands with blood, using her as a means to an end, just another tool?”

My voice gets stuck in my throat. I never considered that. All this time, I have been so focused on vengeance and breaking my pack free of Karina’s control that I never thought of the Silver Wolf as another living being. I never considered what I would be putting her through to get my revenge. But…

“What am I supposed to do, then?” I demand. “Let my pack be oppressed?”

“I don’t have an answer to that question. But I do know that putting another person through that sort of emotional turmoil just to get what you want will always weigh heavily on your conscience.” Sophia stares at me for a few seconds before continuing. “This is the real reason you rejected me, isn’t it? It wasn’t to protect me. It was because you wanted to find the Silver Wolf and tie her to you in such a way that she will be forced to do what you want, no matter the consequences to her.”

My mouth is dry as I meet her gaze.

It’s true.

While I don’t want to put Sophia in Karina’s crosshairs, the reason why I want to be the one to mate the Silver Wolf and why I am reluctant to hand that duty over to one of my men is because I know that once the mating bond is established, emotions become involved. No male will want to force his woman to cause bloodshed against her will. There’s a good chance my men would back out in an attempt to protect their mate. I, however, am driven to settle the score. I will not let anyone or any emotion get in the way of that.

Deep in my heart, I always knew this. When forced to face my own ruthlessness in front of Sophia, I wince. Because the truth is that the kind of revenge I want would rattle anybody’s soul. And unless somebody is used to that kind of carnage, they may go insane. That is a risk I was willing to take with the Silver Wolf. Even if it was against her will, I wanted to use her to destroy Karina and her pack.

Sophia gives me a small, humorless smile. “I guess you’re not all that different from Karina then, are you? Destroying another person to get what you want.” She glances at my plate. “Your food’s getting cold.”

I watch her leave, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.

The silence is heavy and suffocating once I’m alone.

I’m not anything like Karina. I just want to protect my people.

However, even as I think that, Sophia’s words keep ringing in my head.

Admittedly, my plan for the Silver Wolf is not the kindest. But it’s not as if I will mistreat her. It’s just that without her power, we can’t fight Karina, who has the support of all the witch covens in the North Alliance. How are we supposed to overcome that?

The Silver Wolf is said to have massive magical powers. I don’t know if that means she has the ability to cast spells like witches or if it’s something else. But I cannot doubt the prophecy, not if Karina believes in it. Her sources are reliable. I know this with certainty because once, when I was younger, a year after my parents’ murder, she unwittingly revealed in a drunken moment that it had been a prophecy that had guided her on when to strike and what outcomes to expect.

That was when I realized that she’d had the help of witches who had foretold a prophecy, and that she had followed it to the letter, becoming the leader of the North Alliance as a result. But to put me in the same category as Karina, who has harmed the most vulnerable of children, is unfair.

“One sounds like a revenge plan, and the other sounds like a necessity.”

I lower my head into my hands. It’s true that I want revenge. Yes, I want the heads of every person who was involved in my pack’s destruction. I want them to feel the same pain of losing their loved ones. But now, as I think about the detailed strategy I have devised for my revenge, the brutality of it hits me and makes me wonder if I truly am no better than the monster who bathed in the blood of my pack.

The easiest thing would be to kill Karina and end it at that. Perhaps get rid of the people who were directly involved. But after all the years, after all the humiliation I constantly faced, I want them to suffer the same way we did. I want them to watch as I cut off the heads of the people they loved. I want to see their faces as they hear the screams of the women, of the people they cherish. The same things I watched. The same things my friends heard.

This pain is beating like a drum inside me, and I dig my nails into my thighs, furious. Who does this woman think she is? How dare she make me doubt myself?

I want to storm out of this room and shake some sense into her! I want to remind her that she hasn’t suffered the way I have! Controlling the Silver Wolf is the only way I can appease the hurt and anger simmering inside the hearts of my pack mates. Even if the Silver Wolf suffers, I will be able to finally give relief to all those who have placed their trust and hope in me.

My methods may be dubious and harsh, but my intentions are solid. Sophia will never understand that. She’s always lived a sheltered life. Sure, she’s been rejected by her pack, according to her. But she hasn’t lived through the hellish experiences I have. She doesn’t get to judge me for what I am planning to do.

I finish my cold steak and set the plate on the bedside table. As I slowly lower myself down on the bed, I grind my teeth, swallowing my grunts of pain. I’ll be damned if I call her for help. If only I had a healer here; they would be able to repair some of the internal damage. My arm is still not in the best shape, either, but in a few days, it should be fine.

As I begin to drift off, I recall that day at the cage fighting arena when I became aroused by the Wily Vixen. Why did my body react to her like that? It doesn’t make sense to me. Have already met my fated mate, I should not be attracted to another female. So what was it about her that had my wolf so worked up?

I close my eyes, my thoughts dim and confused. Exhaustion is creeping up on me.

Sophia is wrong. I’m not a monster.