Defying the Rogue Alpha
Chapter 190: Surprise

Chapter 190: Surprise

Ava shot him a side-eye. "Did you just admit you’re wrong in public?"

"Not officially," Lucas whispered back, clearing his throat like he hadn’t just been owned by his mate.

"What’s your name?" Lucas asked more formally.

"Rothe," the man replied, standing up straighter.

"Councilman Rothe," Lucas said with a slight nod. "This..." he gestured toward Zoe, Dennis, and the awkward stillness between them "...isn’t something I can decree. This is a decision for the council. You lot decide when she’s worthy enough to be Queen."

Dennis turned to Lucas with surprise. "You’re giving them the power to decide?"

Lucas shrugged. "Zoe’s right. If this is gonna work, it needs to be the people’s call."

The crowd stirred again.

"So, after the coronation of Alpha Dennis," Lucas continued, "gather the rest of the council members...

"They are dead," Rothe said simply. There were no cries, no gasps, just the heavy realization of what Herod had done to the very institution meant to keep him in check.

"O...okay," Lucas replied, thrown for only a fraction of a second before his usual pragmatism kicked in. "Replace them. Do what needs to be done. The council is the mouthpiece of the people." He waved a dismissive hand. "Find the worthy. Make it public. People need to see that the power doesn’t sit in one chair anymore."

Rothe nodded solemnly and bowed, his white hair fluttering a bit in the breeze. Zoe gave him a small, respectful nod, grateful to see that at least someone was willing to step up.

Lucas then turned to Dennis. "Take a seat."

Dennis didn’t move. Instead, his eyes flared. He looked at Lucas like his brother had just asked him to betray his own heart.

"She is still your wife, Dennis," Lucas said gently, reading the emotion burning in Dennis’s eyes. "Respect her decision. This is something she has to do to come back from what she’s done."

Dennis looked at Zoe standing there. Her eyes were on him. "You know what it means, right?" he asked. "To be a wife, but not the Luna. Not the Queen."

"I know," Lucas replied, stepping closer, "but she chose this. She is not being subjected to it. That’s the difference. You and I have taken thrones out of obligation. She’s stepping away out of love, for them." He motioned toward the crowd. "The people need a ruler who’s earned their trust. So do this. Do it for her."

Dennis’s heart warred inside his chest, caught between honor and heartbreak. He turned to Zoe once more. Her lips trembled slightly, but she nodded at him, as if urging him to go ahead, to let her fight the quieter battles from beside him instead of above him.

Then slowly, almost reluctantly, Dennis walked to the throne. Each step felt heavier than the last, and when he finally sat down, it was with quiet sorrow.

Lucas stepped in front of him, holding the gold circlet that once belonged to Herod but had been reforged. "I hereby announce you, Alpha Dennis Raventhorn, Alpha King of the North." His voice rang clear and loud, commanding the respect of the entire square.

He placed the crown gently on Dennis’s head, and in a rare moment of united reverence, the entire crowd bowed even Lucas.

"Enjoy this while it lasts," he muttered just loud enough for Dennis to hear, a smirk playing at his lips. "It’s not going to happen again."

Dennis would have laughed. He would have rolled his eyes, maybe made a sarcastic jab about Lucas finally bowing. That was their thing. Banter sharp enough to draw blood but full of brotherhood. But now, the words lodged in his throat. His eyes were fixed on the woman he called his wife.

Wife. Not Luna. Not Queen.

The weight of those differences was suddenly crushing.

In their world, those titles mattered. Being Queen or Luna meant unity. It meant living together, fighting side by side, sharing not just a home, but a spirit. A bond. Without it, Dennis might as well have been ruling from a tower while Zoe lived in the stables. It meant separate quarters, separate roles, separate lives. It meant that when the moon was full, and the world outside grew quiet and dangerous, he’d reach for her in bed and find only cold sheets. It meant lonely dinners, empty rooms.

And she had subjected him to that.

Without blinking.

Without talking to him about it first.

*****

The next morning, Ava and Lucas arrived in the East. As they looked out of the sleek black convoy, Ava took a deep breath of the cool mountain air. It was good to be home. But damn it, she was going to miss the chaos of the North.

Lucas stretched dramatically like a cat who’d been cooped up for too long. "Ah."

Ava chuckled.

Her heart tugged in her chest. She missed Dennis already, with his sarcasm and childish glee. And Zoe? She had never been prouder of her friend.

She had hugged her tightly the night before, whispering, "You did good, Zoe. You did brave."

Ava believed in her. And she believed in Dennis too. If anyone could help Zoe redeem herself in the eyes of the people and herself, it was him.

But Ava knew Dennis was hurting. He hadn’t said much after the coronation, just stood there, crown tilted slightly askew. He hadn’t performed the mating ritual. That mattered. Marking Zoe was more than ceremony, it was the physical, spiritual seal of their bond. Without it, their connection hung suspended.

Ava had seen the way he looked at Zoe that night. Like she had taken a knife, carved herself out of his rib, and walked away whistling. He didn’t fight her decision, he respected it but that didn’t mean it hadn’t shattered something inside him.

"It’s going to be a long road for them," Ava thought. "But they’ll make it. I know they will."

Dennis and Zoe had forged their love in fire and blood. If anyone could love someone back to life, it was them. Even if it meant being apart for now.

And when Zoe was ready, when the people saw the warrior not as a weapon, but as a protector, Ava knew Dennis would be waiting.

Lucas held Ava’s hands as the great iron gates of the fortress groaned open. The guards standing to attention made way for the returning pair.

Lucas’s grip tightened just slightly around Ava’s fingers, his thumb brushing along the back of her hand in slow, thoughtful strokes. He looked like he wanted to speak, but couldn’t quite find the words yet. Ava, sensing the shift in his energy turned her head.

"I haven’t had the chance to tell you something," he said at last. "Or rather... I wasn’t sure if you knew."

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