My Alphas' Dark Desires-Chapter 122: Loser Heirs

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Chapter 122

~Dristan’s POV~

I was sixteen when I shifted for the first time.

It happened under a blood moon, during winter training in the Highlands, surrounded by cold and silence—and the pressure of legacy.

Everyone had been waiting for it. The heir to the Blackfang Alpha. Son of General Rydor. Expected to be stronger, faster, better.

And I was.

The pain of the shift had been nothing compared to the burning in my chest when it was done.

Soren had risen inside me like a tidal wave—primal, feral, hungry. His presence took over so quickly, so violently, that I lost all sense of time.

The elders called it a "perfect bond" between human and wolf.

But that night, when I returned to my room—bones aching, skin slick with sweat, voice raw from howling—I saw something that changed everything.

I saw my mother.

She was sitting in the corner of the room, half-shadowed, her face turned toward the window. Her long braid fell over one shoulder. Her hands were folded in her lap like she had been sitting there for hours.

She didn’t look up when my father entered behind me.

Alpha Alexander—Alpha of the Ironfang Pack. Cold eyes. A voice that never needed to be raised to be feared.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I wanted to be present for our son’s first shift," she said softly.

His face twisted.

"Your presence was not requested."

Her fingers tightened in her lap. "I am his mother. That should have been enough."

"It’s not."

I stood frozen. My limbs still burned from shifting, my head spinning, but I couldn’t look away. I should have spoken. Should have moved. Should have said anything.

But I didn’t.

My mother stood slowly, chin lifted with all the grace and dignity the Luna title carried. But there was a bruise blooming on her neck—dark and fresh. A gift from the last argument they’d had.

She said nothing more. Just nodded and walked out of the room without meeting my eyes.

I remember the way my father looked at me then. Prideful. Distant. Like I was a piece of armor he had finally forged into shape.

"You’ll be stronger than me one day," he said. "You’ll know how to use your mate bond when the time comes."

But all I could think about... was her bruise and the silence she left behind.

Later that night, I sat in front of the mirror, shirtless, still feeling the burn of the shift deep in my bones. My reflection looked older. Harder. My eyes shimmered with new power, but I didn’t feel powerful.

I felt broken.

Soren stirred for the first time since the shift. His voice was quiet in my mind.

"We’ll never be like him."

"I swear it," I whispered aloud.

"We’ll never mark someone unless it’s real. Unless we can protect it."

"We’ll never own what we can’t cherish."

And from that night on, I kept my vow.

I wouldn’t mark lightly. I wouldn’t let instinct decide who I took. I would never brand someone with my claim if I couldn’t offer them the safety my mother never had.

Even when I met Valerie—burned for her, ached for her—I still waited.

Because I was afraid.

Afraid of the Alpha in me.

Afraid of the man I might become if I let power control me over the mate bond like it did my father.

~Back to Present~

But now... Now I was starting to see what Soren had warned me about.

"You waited because you thought it was noble," Soren had said. "But sometimes, waiting is just another way to run."

And maybe I had because of my fears, but I wouldn’t anymore, not after tonight.

I was going to fight for Valerie, my father being a hindrance or not. I am an alpha and not his puppet.

I blinked back when Kai’s growl rumbled beside me like thunder cracking through still air at Xander’s insult.

The sound snapped me back to the present, reminding me that Xander was standing just feet away, his insult clear. "Hello, Alpha Kings’ Heirs... or should I say... Terrible Mates."

I stepped forward instinctively, the urge to silence him rising in my chest, but Xander only lifted a brow, clearly amused.

There was no fear in him. No respect, either. Just blunt disdain and the kind of confidence you didn’t fake.

He was mocking us.

"You’re bold for someone not involved," Xade muttered from behind me, voice low and dangerous.

Xander’s head tilted slightly. "Not involved?" he echoed with a quiet laugh. "You think just because I’m not bound to her, I’m not allowed to care?"

Xade scoffed. "So what, this is some kind of protective crush? You here to win her favour?"

Xander’s eyes glinted. "No. I’m here because someone should be reminding you of how badly you’re screwing up."

He took a step closer. "You’re mates—her mates. The ones fate chose. And yet you stand around sulking, fighting each other, playing power games while she walks away from all of you."

"Watch it," I growled, feeling Soren stir beneath my skin.

Xander ignored me. "She’s been pulling away for weeks, but none of you noticed. Why? Too busy arguing over who gets her first? Too proud to kneel when it mattered?"

"Enough," I said coldly, my voice steel now.

But he wasn’t done.

"You call yourselves Alphas," he went on, arms folding behind his back. "And yet none of you have done the one thing that matters to a mate—show up. You didn’t listen. You didn’t protect. You didn’t ask what she needed."

I swallowed hard, jaw tightening. Every word hit home like a blade.

"Valerie may not be mine," he continued, gaze flicking to each of us in turn, "but I value her more than to let a pack of spoiled royal brats pretend they know what love is."

The insult stung more because it was laced with truth.

Then, without another word, Xander pulled a small folded piece of paper from his pocket and flicked it toward me.

It landed at my feet.

Valerie’s number was written in bold, sharp lettering.

But I didn’t pick it up.

I couldn’t yet.

Xander turned to leave, the sound of his boots clicking against the tile echoing in the empty hallway. Then, just before the doors, he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Do you really think her phone number is the right way to solve this?"

Before I could answer, Axel stepped forward. "I doubt you’d understand, since she’s not your mate."

Xander’s smirk deepened, but this time it wasn’t mocking—it was something darker.

He glanced at us from the corner of his eye. "But compared to you four, I have a stronger bond with her."

The air shifted.

"So think again, wolf boy. I’m no Lycan prince."

And then it happened.

Scales shimmered across his arms, trailing from beneath his rolled-up black sleeves—silver and faintly iridescent.

Small horns curled up from his temple like polished blades. And in the next breath, a light burst from his back—a pair of wings unfolded.

Massive. Silver-veined. Majestic.

They flared once, and then—

"So long, loser heirs."

With a rush of wind, Xander lifted off the ground and soared upward through the open archway above us, vanishing into the sky like a phantom.