Claimed by the scarred Alpha

LUCIAN

I’d been on the phone trying to reach my sister for most of the night, smoking through half a pack and steadily working my way through a bottle of moonshine I usually saved for occasions worth remembering. Somewhere between the third missed call and whatever hour I finally passed out, I’d stopped noticing the time altogether.

Loud knocking dragged me awake.

My head split the second I sat up. Pain lanced behind my eyes, bright enough to make the room pitch sideways, and I sat there for a moment with both hands braced against the mattress, waiting for the floor to hold still.

Another knock rattled the door.

"Who the fuck is it?" I shouted, my voice rough from smoke and liquor.

"It’s me. Chris."

I grabbed my phone on the way to the door, some stubborn habit refusing to die even through the hangover. For half a second, I hoped I’d see Isabelle’s name on the screen.

To no surprise of mine, I was met instead with nothing.

I hadn’t really expected anything else.

The moment she’d realized I had access to everything on that device, every call, every message, every location ping she’d never thought to disable, getting rid of it had been the obvious move. Smart, in her own belated way.

Too little, too late though.

But I did notice that a handful of messages from the men I’d sent to keep eyes on Beta Kayden waited beneath the missed calls.

I left them unopened.

When I yanked the door open, Chris stood on the other side looking almost as bad as I felt. His hair was a mess, his clothes wrinkled, and dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes. His gaze slipped past me into the room before snapping back to my face.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" I muttered.

"You didn’t tell my father, did you?" He didn’t even bother with a greeting.

I leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, studying him. "I wish I had."

The lie came easily.

"I wanted to. Then that thing happened to you last night."

His throat bobbed. I watched the movement.

"Was a spell cast on you?"

"Yes." The answer came so quickly it almost sounded like relief.

I stepped aside, letting him into the room, then shut the door behind him.

"Tell me."

Chris turned toward me, his hands flexing at his sides.

"It’s insane, what it does. I want to tell you. I do." He dragged a hand through his hair. "I’ve wanted to tell someone since it happened, but every time I try..." He stopped.

His face had gone pale.

"But every time you try what?"

His eyes flicked toward the door before he spoke again. "It could kill me."

I stared at him. "You almost said something last night."

That was when his jaw tightened.

"A word. Or a name."

He said nothing.

"It started with an A."

The silence stretched.

I took a step closer.

"What the fuck is it?"

Chris backed up without seeming to realize he’d done it. "I can’t."

"You can."

"I can’t." His voice cracked on the second word.

That got my attention.

I closed the distance between us and caught him by the collar before he could retreat any farther. The fabric twisted beneath my fist.

Chris sucked in a breath.

"Why does Valcourt have a witch?"

His eyes widened.

"Those things don’t just appear out of nowhere. They’re rarer than rare, and whatever magic she’s using, it has rules."

I tightened my grip. "Magic always has rules."

Chris’s fingers closed around my wrist, but he didn’t try to pull me off. He looked terrified, not of me, but of whatever waited behind the words I was forcing out of him.

"So figure how to beat yours. I know you can do it. You were close last night."

His breathing quickened.

"I almost died," He argued like I was supposed to give a shit.

Still, I kept myself controlled. With as much power I could muster.

"Like I said, magic has rules and rules can be bent." I gave his collar another sharp tug. "And you were fucking close. You were about to tell me."

"I can’t say it." He maintained and crashing out from my end would have been a given, given all the shit storm now going on in my life, but I could not rfesort to that just yet.

"Then don’t say it." I told him.

He stared at me in surprise.

I leaned closer. "Give me something else."

His brow furrowed.

"A clue. A letter. Anything."

"I don’t know how."

"Yes, you do."

My grip loosened just enough for him to breathe properly.

"You’ve been living with this for some time. You have to have learned where the edges are."

His mouth opened, then closed.

I could see the answer fighting its way up his throat.

"What comes after A?"

His eyes squeezed shut. For one second, I thought he was going to say it.

I was wrong.

"I don’t want to fucking die." Panic climbed into his voice, tightening every word.

"Then perhaps..." I released his collar completely and stepped back, giving the silence between us room to breathe. When I spoke again, my voice had gone colder. "Your father needs to know exactly where your loyalties actually lie. With some woman instead of your own pack."

I held his gaze.

"Tell me, Chris, could you stay loyal to my nephew Bastien when he finally takes the Alpha seat? I sincerely doubt it."

Fear flickered across his face at the mention of his father.

"Its... It is... Archam—"

He cut himself off so abruptly his whole body flinched. His shoulders drew up, his eyes squeezed shut, and he braced himself for whatever punishment the spell had promised.

I braced too.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.

I waited for something to happen. For the curse he’d spent all this time fearing to finally show itself, some violent magical retribution for getting too close to the name.

But nothing happened.

Chris opened his eyes.

He blinked once. Then again, staring at me as though he couldn’t quite believe he was still standing.

And slowly, the pieces clicked into place in my aching skull.

"Archambault."

His head dipped in a stunned nod.

"The young Alpha of Valcourt," he murmured, the name settling into place. "Is Étienne. An Archambault."

A cold chill spread through my entire body, settling deep into my bones.

"What?"

"It’s true, Chris confirmed.

"You should leave, Beta Chris." I turned away from him. "I have things to attend to."

"Does that mean you won’t let this reach my father?"

I turned toward him. I truly did not have time for this. But he needed the confirmation.

"Yes."

He left without further argument.

I shut the door behind him and drove my fist straight into the wood. The impact split a crack down its center, but the pain barely registered beneath everything else roaring through my mind.

"Fuck."

I stared at the fractured door.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

It was starting to make sense. All of it.

The missing piece finally slotted into place.

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