The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 09

The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 09: The Descent

The spotlight pinned me against the darkness.

Below, the silence was absolute. Hundreds of upturned faces stared at the balcony, frozen in the blinding white glare.

Kael extended his forearm. “Let them feel you.”

I slipped my free hand into the crook of his elbow. My right hand tightened around the iron scepter. “Will they break?”

“Only the fragile ones,” he murmured.

We stepped forward. My shoe struck the first crystal stair. The sharp sound echoed through the massive hall, a gavel slamming down on the assembly.

I released the hold on my wolf.

I didn’t roar. I didn’t shift. I simply let the iron gate in my mind swing open. The pureblood energy surged outward, a tidal wave of invisible gravity crashing down onto the floor below.

A collective gasp ripped through the crowd.

“Look at the front row,” Kael whispered, guiding me down the second step.

Lord Vane, the arrogant Alpha who had dismissed Caleb minutes ago, folded instantly. His chin dropped to his chest. His knees buckled slightly, locking just before he hit the floor. Beside him, three other pack leaders bowed their heads, their spines curving under the weight of my aura.

“They submit,” I noted.

“They have no choice. The blood commands it.”

We took another step. The crystal beneath my soles felt entirely solid, grounding the wild, electric storm raging in my veins. My gaze swept over the sea of bent necks.

“Keep your eyes forward,” Kael instructed. “Find your target.”

I scanned the edge of the grand staircase.

Caleb stood exactly where I had seen him from the balcony. He wasn’t bowing.

His jaw clamped shut. The tendons in his neck strained against his collar. He stared up at me, his eyes wide, fighting the overwhelming pressure forcing his shoulders down.

“He resists,” I said, my voice flat.

“Arrogance is a hard habit to break. Push harder.”

I squeezed the scepter. The metal warmed against my palm. I pushed another wave of dominance down the staircase, aiming it directly at the bottom steps.

A man to Caleb’s left dropped to one knee. A woman behind him covered her face, turning her gaze to the marble floor.

Caleb’s face flushed a deep, ugly red. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Sienna clutched his sleeve. Her knuckles were stark white. “Caleb,” she whimpered, her voice trembling. “I can’t breathe.”

“Stand up straight,” Caleb hissed through gritted teeth. “Show respect, but do not kneel.”

“It hurts!” she cried.

“Quiet!”

I descended another stair. The ruby mesh covering my face swayed slightly, casting red shadows over my vision. Through the crimson veil, Caleb looked like a man drowning in shallow water.

“He wants to see your face,” Kael observed softly.

“Let him try.”

I reached the final three steps. The physical distance between us vanished. I could smell his cheap cologne, sour with panic and exertion.

Caleb tilted his chin up. His eyes darted over the ruby veil, searching for features, looking for a weakness he could exploit.

“Your Highness,” Caleb forced out. The words sounded like they were scraping his throat raw. “The Hale pack honors you.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t stop.

I stepped off the last crystal stair. The hard marble floor met my shoes. The cold stone steadied me, and the authority in my blood rose to meet it.

I stopped exactly two feet in front of him.

The proximity hit him like a physical blow. Caleb staggered back half an inch. His chest heaved. He was using every ounce of his Alpha strength just to remain standing.

“Kneel,” Kael commanded, his voice slicing through the tense silence.

“I am an Alpha,” Caleb ground out, his face now a dangerous shade of crimson. “I bow to the King. I do not yield to a princess I have not met.”

I let out a short, sharp laugh.

The sound was entirely devoid of warmth. It hung in the air, sharp as a blade.

Caleb flinched.

Sienna let out a choked sob. The pressure was too much for her fake pregnancy, too much for her fragile frame.

Her knees gave out.

She collapsed onto the hard marble with a heavy thud. Her hands scrambled against the polished stone, her head bowed completely. She gasped for air, her shoulders shaking violently.

“Sienna, get up!” Caleb snapped, grabbing her arm.

She didn’t move. She couldn’t. The dominance I radiated pinned her to the floor like a trapped insect.

“Leave her,” I said.

My voice was altered by the scepter’s magic—deeper, resonant, stripped of the soft human cadence I had used for five years.

Caleb’s head snapped back to me. His hand released Sienna’s arm.

I tilted my head, looking down at him. My breathing was slow, even, carrying a crushing weight. I let the corners of my mouth curve upward beneath the veil. A cold, merciless smile.

I wanted him to feel the exact degree of his insignificance.

“You speak of honor, Alpha Hale,” I said, letting the title drip with mockery. “Yet your territory turns to dust.”

His eyes widened. “How do you—”

“You beg for royal coin. You parade a pregnant mate to gain sympathy. And yet, you cannot even withstand the presence of the crown.”

“My pack is suffering a temporary blight,” Caleb argued, his voice shaking. “I came to seek an audience.”

“You came to beg.”

“I am an Alpha!”

“You are a failure.”

The words struck him. His chest stopped heaving for a fraction of a second.

I stepped closer. One single inch.

The golden energy of my wolf flared, wrapping around his throat.

Caleb choked. His hands flew to his collar, clawing at the invisible grip. His knees finally buckled. He didn’t hit the floor entirely, but he sank into a deep, humiliating crouch, his eyes forced upward to meet mine.

I stared directly into his pupils. I let the golden light of my true Lycan form bleed into my irises, piercing the red mesh of the veil.

He stopped clawing at his neck.

His hands dropped to his sides. The defiance in his expression shattered, replaced by a sudden, terrifying recognition.

He knew those eyes.

He had seen them staring at him across a dinner table for five years. He had seen them dull and suppressed. Now, they were burning with the fury of a dying star.

Caleb’s jaw went slack. The red flush drained from his face, leaving him a sickening, ashen gray.

He stared into my eyes, his voice trembling as he forced out a single word.

“Aria…?”