Knotting His Rejected Breeder

"On you?" Vance stepped in close, his chest almost against Dane’s. "You drag an unranked Omega into Silvercrest’s choosing ring. You humiliate my daughter in front of twenty pack leaders. And you think saying this is on me fixes that?"

The gate shuddered before Dane could form a reply.

Marcus broke through the guards holding him back, his damn knuckles were split open with blood leaking, and his shirt was torn at the collar. Destiny’s mother came right behind him, shoving past two enforcers.

The crowd gasped. The effrontery of this level of intrusion meant death or mercifully imprisonment.

"Get your hands off her!" Marcus’s voice tore through the courtyard.

Four guards took him down into the dirt. Two more grabbed his wife by the arms and held her there.

"Dad!" Destiny lunged.

But Dane grabbed her wrist. And it was not just to hold her back. It was to keep her from running into six drawn blades and getting her damn self killed.

"Look at this!" Corvin was on his feet, slamming a fist on the armrest of the bench. "They break the sanctity of the choosing ring! They lay hands on an Alpha’s own men! Vance, clear this rabble out or Bloodmoon forfeits its standing at the summit!"

"He’s her lover." Someone in the gallery, young, sneering, pointing at Dane. "Brought his farm bitch in here to spit on Silvercrest and King Vance. Thinks his new title means he can piss on our traditions."

The courtyard came apart. Guards surged forward. Somebody screamed. Somebody else laughed.

"Stop this!" Sonia pushed to the front, both hands up. "Vance, they’re her parents. Forgive the intrusion they are only trying to protect their daughter. My son brought her into your court because rogues were tracking her, that’s the whole truth of it. He just loves to play the hero. There’s no disrespect here. Just let them walk away."

Vance didn’t look at her. He looked at Marcus, at the blood on his knuckles, at the two guards already down in the dirt.

"You struck my men." His voice went quiet, and it carried further than the shouting had. "You crossed the line knowing lower wolves are not allowed during a sealed ceremony. That’s not a father’s grief, Sonia. That’s trespass and assault on sacred ground, and I don’t need a combat charter to answer for it. I need a cell."

He nodded at the guards still holding Marcus down. "Take them both to the dungeon. I don’t care which one but ensure they never see the light of day again. We’ll deal with the rest after the choosing is settled."

Destiny stopped shaking.

Something in her went cold and hard where the fear had been. She pulled her wrist out of Dane’s grip and moved to go after them.

Dane caught her again, both arms this time, and held on.

"Let go of me!" She clawed at his forearms, straining toward the guards already hauling her parents up. "They didn’t do anything, they came for me, let go, let go—"

"Destiny." His voice was low, right against her ear. "If you go after them now, they take you too. And then there’s nobody left outside that cell to get them out of it."

She stopped fighting him, but only because her legs gave out.

"This is my fault," she whispered. "He tried to warn me. But I hate running."

Aurora stepped toward her father and opened her mouth. Vance turned his head half an inch toward her before she said a word.

"Not this one, Aurora." He didn’t raise his voice. "This one’s mine to decide."

She shut her mouth. For the first time all evening, she didn’t have an answer ready.

The guards dragged Marcus and his wife toward the archway. Destiny’s mother twisted back once, reaching for her, saying her name until the gate cut the sound off.

Vance watched the gate swallow Marcus and his wife, then turned to Dane and Destiny.

"You." A Lycan alpha didn’t usually bother speaking to an unranked Omega at all.

Destiny lifted her chin. "What do you want to hear? Sorry for crashing your party. Fine, this is on me. I apologize to the entire pack. My family and I were being targeted and Alpha Dane helped us and if he has committed an offence by bringing me and my family here we are deeply sorry. Don’t put it on him."

"How brave," Vance said, like the apology cost him nothing. "Won’t save either of you."

Ronan hung his head loosely in shame. His son had embarrassed him. He was not a match for a Lycan king, he wouldn’t have stayed silent taking insults.

"Vance, come on, we’ve been friends," Ronan said. "Don’t do this. Be reasonable. Please."

Vance continued to look at Dane for a long moment. Long enough that the silence itself became the threat.

"You wanted to be her hero." Vance’s voice didn’t rise. It just stayed levelled and thoughtful. "Your mother said as much, didn’t she — he just loves to play the hero. So let’s find out what that’s worth."

Ronan went rigid beside him sensing something dangerous about to escape Vance’s lips. "Vance—"

"Twenty packs watched you humiliate my daughter over this girl." Vance finally looked at Destiny, and his expression was filled with disgust. "You’ll fight one wolf from each of them. Not for rank. Not for sport. Every one of them will be there to kill her, and all that’ll be standing between them and her throat is whatever’s left of you. Survive and you have what it takes to be forgiven. Die, well, what do I care? It’s not like anybody can checkmate me for it."

The silence after that wasn’t shocking. Everyone was doing math at once. Twenty versus one! Dane was only minutes away from certain death. Him and his supposed lover.

"You can’t—" Ronan started.

"I can." Vance was already walking. "I just did."

Destiny’s hand found Dane’s arm, gripping hard enough to hurt. "Alpha Dane. You have killed us both."

He didn’t answer her right away. He was watching Vance’s back disappear through the archway, and for the first time all night, the tightness in his jaw wasn’t restraint.

It was anger.

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