The night was quiet, too quiet for Lily's restless heart. She sat on the ridge above the river, the journal heavy in her lap. Caleb's words still throbbed in her mind .The demons are not gone. The phrase clung to her like a shadow. Every time the wind shifted, she swore she heard whispers carried in the trees, as though the forest itself was echoing the warning.
She stared at the moon reflected in the dark current below. It rippled with every gust of wind, the silver broken, scattered ,much like her thoughts. She was Alpha now, but the title felt like a crown of thorns pressing against her brow. The pack looked at her with reverence. The land hummed with her presence. Yet alone, in the quiet, she felt like the girl Caleb had once guided , lost, uncertain, afraid.
The crunch of boots on dry leaves drew her from her thoughts. She didn't need to look to know who it was. Alec's scent — pine and earth, warm and steady ,reached her before his voice.
"You left the den in the middle of the night," he said, softly, not accusing. "You know that makes them restless."
Lily closed the journal, brushing her thumb across the worn leather. "Let them rest. I don't need eyes on me every moment."
Alec stopped beside her. The moonlight carved sharp edges into his jaw, lit the fire in his eyes. He studied her for a moment, then sat, shoulders close enough to touch. "Maybe you don't. But I still worry."
His voice carried something heavier than duty. She felt the weight of it press against her chest, harder to ignore than Caleb's warnings. For a long moment, neither spoke. The forest whispered around them — crickets, the far-off howl of a lone wolf, the murmur of water.
Finally, Alec broke the silence. "I've watched you fight for this pack since we were pups. I've seen you bleed for them. Break for them. And I've stood beside you every step, ready to follow you into whatever darkness came."
She turned to him, her throat tight. "Because you're Beta. It's your duty."
"No." His gaze burned, steady and unflinching. "Because it's you. Not the Alpha. Not the legacy. You. Lily."
The words cracked something inside her. For years, she had leaned on his presence without naming what it meant. His voice when hers faltered. His claws when hers grew tired. His laughter when grief pressed too heavy on her chest. She had never let herself ask what it was beyond loyalty — because she had been afraid of the answer.
Her fingers tightened on the journal. "Alec, I…" She faltered, the words caught between duty and desire.
He leaned closer, his voice low, almost a whisper. "You don't have to say it. Not yet. But know this — my place beside you has never been about rank. Or tradition. I would stand here even if you weren't Alpha. Even if you weren't wolf."
The honesty in his tone made her chest ache. For a moment, she let herself meet his gaze fully — not as Alpha to Beta, but as Lily to Alec. The bond between them, long unspoken, stretched taut, alive, undeniable.
She could not give in. Not yet. There were demons in the dark, Caleb's warnings still fresh. Her pack needed her steady, unshaken. But for the first time in years, she allowed herself to feel the truth she had buried: her heart did not belong to the Alpha's mantle. It belonged to him.
Alec reached for her hand, brushing it once, light as air. It was not a claim. It was a promise.
When he rose to leave, she stayed behind, the journal in her lap and her heart thundering in her chest. The forest still whispered danger. But now, it whispered something else too. Hope.