Chapter 7: First Daughter
Chapter 7: First Daughter
(Alexander’s POV)
Lucas stormed out of the Elder’s chambers, his movements frantic and wild. His wolf was
snarling beneath his skin, emitting a low, menacing growl that echoed down the hall. The air felt suffocating in his wake.
I lingered back, watching as his figure disappeared into the depths of the pack house. He didn’t bother concealing his anger.
The silence that followed him was deafening.
Eleanor sat motionless in her chair, her wolf whimpering faintly. Victoria’s wide green eyes darted nervously between the rest of us, while Scarlett sat trembling, clutching a delicate hand to her chest as though she might faint at any moment.
And then, there was Celeste.
She stood silent and steady, her gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the room. Though her face remained blank, her presence radiated a cold, unyielding strength.
The tension was unbearable, but instead of breaking it, I stepped forward.
“Shouldn’t the First Daughter choose her mate before others?” My voice rang out clear and sharp like a blade.
The room froze. All eyes snapped to me:
“What…?” Scarlett’s soft voice broke through first. She sounded small, almost fragile, her wolf keening softly beneath her trembling figure.
Victoria stiffened instantly. Her wolf bristled faintly, though her voice was measured when she spoke. “Alexander, what are you suggesting?”
I didn’t flinch, my ice–blue eyes locking onto Celeste. Her head tilted slightly, her violet gaze narrowing faintly onto mine.
“Ancient pack law is clear on this matter,” I continued evenly. My wolf, Steelclaw, stirred beneath my skin, his energy cold but forceful. “Elder Eleanor just confirmed that Celeste still holds a connection to this pack’s bloodline.”
Victoria’s lips thinned. “Celeste has renounced her rights to the Winters name already.”
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Eleanor offered no interjection, her golden gaze scrutinizing the unspoken battle unraveling
before her.
Scarlett visibly paled, her weakened wolf emitting faint, anxious whimpers. She tried to hide her trembling fingers by clasping them together neatly in her lap.
“Not on paper,” I countered bluntly, my gaze flicking briefly to Victoria before returning to Celeste. “Your Alpha declared it to the council but never filed an official dismissal in the
Sacred Archive.”
Scarlett’s wolf keened louder, the faint sound filling the room.
“It’s not relevant,” Victoria cut in quickly, stepping closer to Scarlett as though shielding her.
Her voice had shifted now, less certain.
“The mating ceremony between Scarlett and Alexander has already been planned. This-” She
faltered briefly, her expression tight. “This only complicates matters.”
“Does it?” My tone was calm, but it cut through the rising tension like ice. “If there’s a
complication, perhaps it lies in the decision to delay the ceremony. The pack’s elite families
are already whispering about it.”
Scarlett stiffened beside her mother, and I felt her emerald eyes snap onto me like daggers.
!
“They’re beginning to wonder,” I continued smoothly, “Why Scarlett–a true Winters heir–has yet to be claimed by her intended in accordance with tradition. A delay of this length implies
uncertainty, hesitation. Perhaps even rejection.”
Scarlett gasped softly, drawing all attention to her trembling form. Her timing was, as always,
impeccable.
“That’s ridiculous,” Victoria interjected, her voice louder now. She gripped Scarlett’s arm
fiercely, her green eyes sharp and defensive. “The delay was for logistical reasons alone. No
one is questioning their bond.”
“Are they not?” I challenged.
་
My direct gaze settled on Celeste again, whose lips pressed tightly into a thin, unwavering
line. She hadn’t spoken a word, but her presence still commanded the atmosphere in ways the
others couldn’t.
Scarlett half–risen from her seat then, her small frame quivering like a leaf caught in a storm.
“Alexander…” she began softly, her tone wounded. “Do you–does your wolf reject the bond?”
Her question collided into the air with remarkable precision, like stones cast into glass, and
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Chapter 7: First Daughter
yet her wolf’s soft cries betrayed her fragile composure.
I tilted my head slightly, my icy blue gaze drifting over her trembling figure.
“No,” I said softly–too softly.
The room seemed to exhale all at once, but only faintly. My wolf, Steelclaw, however, remained
silent. Unmoving.
Scarlett’s anxious keening quieted after a moment, though her wolf’s energy flickered faintly in painful intervals.
And Celeste?
Celeste turned her head ever so slightly toward Scarlett, her expression unreadable. Her violet
eyes shimmered faintly under the dim light.
I stepped back then, silent, my grip on my self–control tightening as I prepared to leave.
But Scarlett’s wide, tear–filled gaze–the calculated precision of her fear–burned brightly in my
mind longer than I cared to admit.
(Lucas’s POV)
My boots echoed loudly against the polished halls, each step reverberating like strikes of
thunder.
The pack house practically shook with the force of my rage. Bloodfang paced dangerously beneath my skin, snapping and growling at every thought cluttering my mind.
She was lying.
Celeste was lying.
She had to be.
Snarling low, I made my way past the sprawling living quarters toward the Pack’s Sacred
Archive. The air grew colder and heavier as I approached the doors, the ancient energy within
humming with an oppressive power.
The Sacred Archive was a place of unmatched significance. Names recorded in moon–blessed
ink burned through these.walls, etching the Pack’s lifelines backward into history and forward
into destiny.
I reached out and pushed open the heavy stone doors.
Waves of energy surged over my skin like icy needles. But I pushed forward. My wolf’s howls
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Chapter 7: First Daughter
echoed faintly in the back of
my mind.
+8 Point
The room was circular, almost endless in design. Shelves of complex formations spiraled upward, gleaming with the faint glow of moonlight spilling across sacred scripture.
I moved with purpose until I reached the section labeled Winters Bloodline.
Sweat crawled along the back of my neck as my fingers traced the worn pages sealed under enchanted glass. Slowly, I worked until I reached the most recent entries.
And there it was.
A jagged section–silver–scarred edges marring where Celeste’s blood name had once been
written. The empty space taunted me, devoid of life, of connection.
“Alpha magic…” The words left my lips in a bitter snarl.
With trembling hands, I slammed the glass cover closed, my breath sharp and uneven.
Bloodfang howled, a mournful, suffocating sound.
She truly had been erased.
But my grief was fleeting, burned swiftly by a wave of scalding anger that consumed me from
the inside out.
My wolf’s golden glare illuminated the sacred walls as Bloodfang pushed forward, his snarls echoing the intensity of my own inner frustrations.
“She turned her back on us!” I growled under my breath, my voice raw and heated. “After everything the pack gave her, sacrificed for her…”
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Bloodfang snapped angrily beneath me, his energy vibrating through my chest like a battle
cry.
“We gave her fourteen years of protection,” I seethed bitterly, my voice shaking despite my attempts to steady it. “Even a lone wolf shows more loyalty to those who kept it fed, sheltered,
safe.”
My hands curled into fists, the strain rubbing raw against my skin.
My wolf’s thoughts mirrored my own: Nature itself demanded loyalty from the wolves it
nurtured.
Celeste was no longer ours. She no longer belonged to the pack–yet she had dared to spit on
its generosity like a traitor..
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The anger consumed me whole, drowning out the faint echoes of regret threatening to creep past my barriers.
“Celeste needs to learn.” My wolf’s voice interwove my own now, dark and charged with
vengeance.
The more I repeated it, the clearer the answer became.
She couldn’t simply sever ties and expect no retaliation. Bonds carried weight.
And when one chose to walk away-
The price was steep.
My wolf’s fangs gleamed faintly beneath my skin, vibrating with furious energy.
“Loyalty always has a price.”
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