Filed to story: Diana Nightshade and Alpha Talon Ravenwood Book PDF Free
That was what made it worse.
“He stood beside me when I rejected Diana,” Asher continued, his voice lower now. “He told me it was the right decision. That the pack came first.”
Tyler did not respond.
“And now I find out she had a wolf all along,” Asher said bitterly. “Not just any wolf.”
A Silver Wolf.
A leader.
And perhaps the center of something far larger than any of them realized.
“If the Rogue King truly retaliated for what happened to Diana’s parents…” Tyler began slowly, “Then this runs deeper than betrayal.”
“Yes,” Asher said grimly. “And that means our enemies are not just internal.”
He walked back toward his desk. “Tonight, we announce your promotion. Tomorrow, we increase patrols. Quietly.”
Tyler nodded. “And Rafe?”
Asher closed his eyes briefly. “I will speak with him. Alone.”
Tyler studied his Alpha. “Are you going to forgive him?”
Asher opened his eyes again. “I do not know.”
That was the most honest answer he had, because beneath the anger and betrayal, there was still a part of him that remembered two boys running through the forest, dreaming of leading together. But that world was gone.
“Tyler,” Asher said firmly now, shifting back into command, “we move forward. The pack must see strength. Stability.”
Tyler straightened fully. “Yes, Alpha.”
As he turned to leave, Asher added quietly, “And Tyler… do not call me Alpha like that.”
Tyler paused.
“We are rebuilding trust,” Asher said. “Not creating distance.”
Tyler gave a faint nod. “Understood… Asher”
The door closed behind him.
Asher stood alone again.
Outside, the pack moved uncertainly, but moving nonetheless.
He had chosen once before, and that choice had cost him his fated mate.
Now he would choose again.
This time, for the survival of his pack.
The dungeon beneath the Crimson Fartg pack house was cold, damp, and dimly lit by flickering lights along the stone walls. The air carried the scent of iron and stale moisture, and every sound echoed heavily through the narrow corridors.
Alpha Asher walked slowly down the store steps, the weight of everything that had happened pressing down on his shoulders.
He had avoided this place for days.
Avoided him.
But some questions could no longer remain unanswered.
Two guards stood outside the last iron cell. They straightened immediately when they saw him.
“Alpha.”
Asher nodded once. “Leave us.”
The guards hesitated for only a moment before obeying. Their footsteps faded as they moved up the stairs, leaving only the dripping water and distant echoes behind.
Asher stepped forward and looked inside the cell.
And for a moment, he could not believe what he was seeing.
Rafe sat against the far wall, chains binding his wrists loosely to iron rings. His head hung low, hair long and tangled, greasy from days without proper care. His clothes were torn and stained. His face looked thinner, the sharpness of his jaw more pronounced
It looked as if he had been imprisoned for months. Not days.
Asher’s chest tightened painfully. “Rafe.”
Rafe slowly lifted his head. His eyes were dark and empty.
Full of hatred.
“What do you want, Alpha?” Rafe asked, his voice hoarse but dripping with venom.
The word Alpha sounded like an insult.
“Do not use that tone with me, Rafe.” Asher’s expression hardened, and he said sharply. “Not after what you have done. Not after you betrayed me. Not just as your Alpha, but as your best friend.”
His voice cracked slightly despite his attempt to keep it steady. “How could you betray me like this?”
“Betrayal?” Rafe let out a bitter laugh, and he spat. “You want to talk about betrayal?”
His eyes burned as he looked at Asher. “How could you let that bitch kill my mate?”
The words echoed off the stone walls.
Asher stiffened.
“After you found out Hazel and I were mates,” Rafe continued angrily, “you could have simply banished us. We would have left.”
His chains rattled slightly as he shifted forward. “We planned to you to tell you the truth. We were going to leave the pack. Start somewhere else. But before we could-“
His jaw clenched. “That Alpha King showed up and ruined everything.”
“Listen to yourself, Rafe,” Asher stared at him in disbelief. “Hazel leaving the pack? Hazel choosing to be a rogue rather than remain Luna of Crimson Fang?”
He shook his head. “Are we even talking about the same selfish woman?”
Rafe’s eyes flared with rage. “Do not speak about my mate like that!”
“Yes, she has faults?” Asher’s patience snapped, and he repeated incredulously. “Faults?”
Rafe’s voice dropped. “She had no choice.”
Asher’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“She had already agreed to be your Luna before we discovered we were mates,” Rafe said quietly. “When we realized the truth… I planned to reject her.”
Asher froze.
“I talked to her about it before you completed the mating bond with her,” Rafe continued. “But she begged me not to.”
He swallowed painfully. “I was her second chance, you see.”
Asher felt something cold settle in his stomach.
“Her first mate rejected her too. She begged me not to do it to her too.” Rafe’s voice cracked slightly. “And I still failed her.”
Silence filled the dungeon.
Finally, Asher spoke. “What are you talking about, Rafe?”
Rafe looked confused.
“Hazel told me she found her mate before you met,” he said. “A warrior from her previous pack. She said he rejected her.”
Asher stared at him, then slowly shook his head. “No.”
Rafe blinked.
“That cannot be. Hazel rejected her mate,” Asher said firmly. “Not the other way around.”
The words struck like a hammer.
Tasked her myself before we completed our mating bond,” Asher continued. “I told her I would not accept a tona who might abandon the pack if her fated mate appeared.”
His voice grew colder. “So tasked if she had already met him.”
Rafe’s breathing grew uneven.
“She said she found her mate once,” Asker finished. “A warrior from her pack. And she rejected him.”
Rafe shook his head slowly. “No… no, that is not possible.”
His voice sounded lost. “Hazel would not lie to me.”
Asher’s laugh was hollow. “The same way she was not supposed to lie to me?”
He stepped closer to the bars. “She was my Luna.”
For several years, Asher and Hazel had lived more like strangers sharing a throne than true mates. But still, she had been his.
He had trusted her.
“I am your Alpha,” Asher continued quietly. “Just like I was your best friend.”
“So tell me, Rafe. How did you betray me like this?” His voice grew rough. “How could you be with Hazel while knowing she was mated to me? How did you survive the betrayal bond when we completed the mating? How did you allow Hazel to manipulate you into this?”
Rafe’s head snapped up. “She did not manipulate me!”
His chains rattled as he surged forward. “You did!”
The words hung heavy.
Asher stared. “What?”
“When you rejected Diana,” Rafe said harshly, “I saw what it did to her.”
His voice softened slightly. “I saw how broken she was. How devastated.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “And I promised myself something that day.”
Asher felt dread creeping into his chest.
“I promised myself that if I ever found my mate, I would never do that to her.” Rafe said quietly, “I would never look into my mate’s eyes and tell her she was not enough. I would never choose something else over her.”
“You knew why I had to reject Diana,” Asher’s jaw tightened. “I chose the pack over my mate. I chose my duty as Alpha over my heart. I chose our pack’s stability and strength before my mate-“
“And I chose my mate before my Alpha.” Rafe cut him off sharply, and his eyes were fierce now. “I chose my mate before my friend.”
His voice lowered. “I chose my mate before being your Beta.”
He held Asher’s gaze without flinching, “I chose my mate before everything else.”
Silence swallowed the dungeon.
Two friends.
Two leaders.
Two wolves who had once stood side by side.
Now standing on opposite sides of betrayal.
And neither of them truly knew anymore who had been right?
“When it comes to our mates,” Rafe said after a long, tense silence, his voice lower now but still burning with anger, “we will never see eye to eye.”
He lifted his head fully, staring straight at Asher through the iron bars. “We will never agree on how a wolf should treat his mate.”
The chains at his wrists clinked softly as he shifted. “I would never let you feel the pain of losing a mate, Asher. Never.”
His voice cracked slightly before hardening again. “Because you were my best friend.”
The words hung painfully between them.
“If I had known then what I know now about how painful it is to lose a mate,” Rafe continued, his breathing uneven, “I would never have let you reject Diana.”
Asher stiffened.
Rafe’s eyes burned. “I saw what it did to you.”
Asher looked away.
“I saw how much you longed for the mate you rejected,” Rafe said quietly. “How you watched her when you thought no one was looking.”
His voice softened briefly, almost sorrowful. “You looked at her like a wolf praying for a second chance.”
The truth cut deep, but then the softness vanished.
“And now,” Rafe continued harshly, “you stand here telling me I should have rejected Hazel when I found her? Just because she was already your chosen mate? Even when she pleaded to me, begged me not to?”
His eyes filled with fury. “And yet, you didn’t just tell me that. You let that bitch kill her in front of me.”
The words echoed violently through the dungeon.
“What kind of friend are you?” Rafe shouted. His chains rattled as he surged forward.
“Do not ever call me your friend again, Alpha!” His voice cracked with raw grief. “You are not my friend.”
His gaze turned murderous. “You are the wolf who let my mate die.”
The dungeon fell silent except for Rafe’s ragged breathing.
