Alpha's Regret After She Kneels novel Chapter 114

(Raiden’s POV)

Something primal snapped inside me.

I tried to suppress it, to remind myself that she wasn’t mine anymore—if she ever truly had been.

But Horace didn’t give a damn about logic or pride. It howled, clawing at my control, furious that another wolf—my Beta—had dared to pursue her.

“Traitor!” He growls. “Traitourous dog!”

The image played on an endless loop in my mind throughout the council meeting. Zion’s earnest expression. The quiet conviction in his voice.

The way Siena’s gaze softened, even if only slightly, as he spoke.

I tried to focus on the final competition standings, to listen as the council debated the unprecedented tie between Windhowl and Silverfang, but all I could think about was Zion’s hand lingering near Siena’s, his body angled protectively toward her.

Horace growled low and dangerous, pacing beneath my skin, "You sit here, frozen in your pathetic indecision, while she stands there unprotected! MOVE! What good are these fangs, these claws we possess if you refuse to use them when it matters?"

The pressure builds behind my eyes, a familiar burning sensation as the wolf paces restlessly within

"I can smell your desire to act—the adrenaline singing in your blood calls to me. Stop choking it down like a coward! Your ancestors would howl in shame to see you paralyzed by thought when instinct demands action."

A snarl rises, almost breaching the surface of my control.

"She is OURS to defend! Not his, not theirs—OURS! Every second you waste in contemplation is another moment she stands vulnerable. Do you think your careful planning will matter when she's gone? When another claims what should be protected by our teeth and claws?"

The wolf's presence surges forward, pushing against the boundaries of my consciousness.

"Let me out. Let me show them what happens to those who threaten what belongs to us. Or are you too weak even for that? Too afraid of what I might do—of what WE might do together if you finally surrendered to what you truly are?"

But what could I do?

Nothing.

I had no claim over her. No right to interfere.

The divorce was almost finalized. Three more days, and Siena would be free of me.

Free to accept Zion’s courtship.