Chapter 20: The Fall

Carter's POV

I don’t remember how I got here.

Collapsing against a tree deep in the forest, my chest heaving, my throat raw.

The bottle in my hand was almost empty.

Didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.

Ruby was gone.

Taken by him.

My head spun, the alcohol doing too much and not enough all at once.

Kale was silent.

Not because he wasn’t there

But because he was too furious to speak.

Or maybe

Because he was mourning.

I took another drink, the liquid burning down my throat.

Didn’t matter.

Didn’t matter that I loved her.

Didn’t matter that I had finally told her the truth.

Because in the end

She still chose him.

I let out a hollow laugh, my vision blurring.

Of course she did.

Why the hell wouldn’t she?

I had spent years pushing her away.

Years making her believe I didn’t care.

So why the hell did I think,even for a second,that she would still be waiting for me?

That she would throw away everything just because I finally grew a spine and admitted what I should have said a long damn time ago?

I let my head drop back against the tree, my pulse hammering in my skull.

Everything hurt.

Everything.

Kale finally stirred.

You should have fought harder.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Shut up.

You should have taken her. Dragged her away. Shown her she’s ours

It wouldn’t have mattered.

My grip on the bottle tightened, my jaw clenching so hard it ached.

She had spoken the words.

She had accepted him.

And I

I had stood there like a damn fool and watched it happen.

Kale growled, his presence seething, writhing.

Then he did something he had never done before.

He retreated.

Like he couldn’t even stand to be in my head.

Like he was too ashamed of me to stay.

I let out a rough breath, my chest aching.

Good.

Let him leave.

Let him suffer with the rest of me.

I took another swig from the bottle.

Didn’t matter.

Didn’t

A sharp snap of a branch sounded behind me.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t need to.

I knew exactly who it was before he spoke.

Alpha Cyrus.

My father.

A storm of dominance rolled through the air, thick and suffocating, pressing down on my already broken body.

I heard his footsteps come closer. Slow. Measured.

Then his voice,low, cold as ice.

“Pathetic.”

I forced out a laugh. “Sounds about right.”

Silence.

Then: a sudden, sharp pain exploded across my jaw.

My head snapped to the side, the bottle tumbling from my grip as my father’s fist connected brutally.

I barely had time to react before he grabbed me by the collar and yanked me forward.

“You disgrace me.” His voice was a growl, his breath hot with fury. “You disgrace this pack.”

I barely heard him over the ringing in my skull.

“Should’ve expected this,” I muttered, my words slurring. “Came all this way just to kick your disappointment of a son while he’s already down?”

His grip tightened.

“No, Carter.” His voice was lethal, biting. “I came here to remind you what the hell you are supposed to be.”

I scoffed, shoving his hands off me. “What I’m supposed to be?”

I staggered to my feet, my world spinning.

I was drunk.

Too drunk.

But I didn’t care.

I faced him, breathing hard, anger and heartbreak swirling in my veins.

“Enlighten me, Father,” I spat. “What exactly am I supposed to be?”

His nostrils flared.

“You are supposed to be an Alpha,” he hissed. “Not some drunken i***t chasing after a girl who was never yours to begin with.”

The words hit harder than his fist.

I stiffened.

Fury ripped through my chest, mixing with the crushing pain that was already there.

“She was mine,” I snarled. “She was always mine.”

My father sneered. “Then why did she choose him?”

My breath hitched.

He was right.

I had come too late.

And Ruby…

Ruby had spoken the words.

She had accepted Jake.

Whether she meant them or not didn’t matter.

Because the result was still the same.

I had lost her.

My father let out a slow, disappointed breath.

“You think this is what makes a leader?” He gestured at me. “Getting drunk in the woods like a heartbroken pup? Letting your emotions destroy you?”

I clenched my jaw, my hands trembling.

“I lost her,” I whispered.

Marcus scoffed. “You lost her the second you hesitated.”

I flinched.

His voice turned razor-sharp.

“And now look at you. Weak. Pathetic. Just like your mother.”

A roar ripped from my throat before I could stop it.

I lunged,not thinking, not breathing,just acting.

But my father was faster.

In one swift move, he caught my arm, twisted it behind my back, and slammed me against the nearest tree.

Pain exploded down my side.

“You want to fight me, boy?” His voice was deadly calm.

I let out a harsh breath, my vision swimming.

“I should have killed that bastard in front of everyone,” I growled.

My father laughed, low and cruel.

“And what would that have done? Would that have made her love you?”

I went rigid.

My father leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“She never chose you, Carter.”

The words sliced into me like a blade.

My breath caught.

A lump formed in my throat.

And for the first time since I had left the ceremony, I felt it.

The truth.

Mia wasn’t mine.

She never had been.

And I had just let my entire world slip away.

My father shoved me back.

“Get your s**t together,” he ordered, his tone final. “You’re an Alpha, not some love-struck i***t. Act like it.”

I stayed silent.

My father let out a final scoff.

Then he turned and walked away.

But something inside me snapped.

A dark, bitter laugh tore from my throat. “Of course. Just walk away.”

He stilled.

I shook my head, the alcohol still dulling the edges of my rage.

“That’s what you do best, right? Ignore s**t until it disappears.”

Marcus turned slowly, his eyes like steel.

“What did you just say to me?”

I let out another laugh, shoving a hand through my hair. “You heard me.”

Before I could blink, his hand fisted in my shirt, yanking me forward.

“Watch your mouth, boy,” he growled. “Or I’ll remind you who the hell you’re talking to.”

I didn’t flinch.

Didn’t pull away.

I just stared at him, my body too numb, too wrecked to care anymore.

“You think you’re a man?” he sneered. “Crying over some Omega like a weak little pup?”

A sharp pain lanced through my chest.

But I swallowed it down.

“Yeah?” I muttered. “Well, this weak little pup is still your heir.”

His expression darkened.

And then, before I could react, his fist slammed into my gut.

Air rushed out of my lungs.

I stumbled, barely catching myself against a tree, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

Pain flared through my ribs, sharp and unforgiving.

But my father?

He didn’t even look winded.

“You are a disgrace,” he spat, his voice thick with disgust. “You are no Alpha. No son of mine would ever act this weak.”

I lifted my head, rage simmering just beneath the surface.

“Maybe if you were a better father,” I rasped, “I wouldn’t be such a disappointment.”

His eyes flashed.

And then he hit me again.

A brutal strike to my ribs.

Kale snarled, but I barely reacted.

Because this?

This was nothing compared to losing her.

My father exhaled slowly, shaking his head.

“I should strip you of your title,” he muttered. “Make your sister Alpha instead. She’s got more backbone than you.”

Something inside me twisted.

Not at the idea of losing my title,but at the idea of Chloe having to deal with this bastard.

I forced out a laugh, wincing slightly as the pain in my ribs flared.

“You’d never do that,” I muttered. “You don’t believe in female Alphas, remember?”

His jaw ticked.

“Don’t test me, boy,” he growled. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect this pack from your pathetic excuses.”

I stayed silent.

My father let out a final scoff.

Then he turned and walked away.

Leaving me alone.

In the dark.

With nothing but the echoes of my own mistakes.