#Chapter 96: Siena’s Ultimatum
(Siena POV)
nks stretching toward a sky bruised with approaching
The lake house sits nestled among towering pines, their ancient trunks storm clouds.
Wind sweeps across the water, sending ripples across the once–glassy surface and carrying the scent of rain and wild roses. My reflection in the window appears ghostly, fragmented by the first fat raiskops that splash against the glass. Behind me, the door opens. No knock, no hesitation–only the confident stride of an alpha who still believes everything within these territories belongs to him, including me.
Raiden’s scent hits me before I turn–pine, smoke, and that distinctive musk that once made my knees weak. Now it just makes my wolf bristle, hackles raised in defense rather than desire.
“You shouldn’t be here.” My voice sounds steadier than expected, given the hurricane of emotions swirling inside my chest. “I asked for space.”
“And I’ve given you twenty–four hours.” The floorboards creak beneath his weight as he moves further into the cabin.” Enough time to cool down and have a rational conversation.”
A bitter laugh escapes before I can stop it. “Rational? Is that what you want? Because my feelings about this situation are anything but rational, Raiden. This lake house, this pack terrirtory are mine, and you shouldn’t be here.”
Turning to face him fully, the sight still affects me despite everything–his imposing height, broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips, the strength evident in every line of his body. His dark hair is damp from the light rain, making it appear almost black in the dim cabin light.
“Then be irrational.” He spreads his hands in a gesture of apparent openness. “Yell, scream, break things if you need to. But talk to me, Siena.”
Lightning flashes outside, momentarily illuminating the room in stark white light before plunging us back into shadow. Thunder follows almost immediately, rattling the windows in their frames.
“You want me to talk?” The words taste like ashes on my tongue. “Fine. I’ll talk.”
Moving away from the window, needing distance from both the storm outside and the man before me.
“For years, I watched you chase after her.”
The dam breaks, words flooding out with the force of the rain now pounding against the roof.
“I stood in the shadows while you moved heaven and earth for Lila. I endured pack members‘ pitying glances, their whispered comments about how the great Alpha Raiden loved another.”
His jaw tightens, a muscle ticking at the corner. “That was before-”
“Let me finish!”
My voice rises, power thrumming through it–not alpha command but something equally compelling.
“You claimed me as your mate but treated me like an afterthought. Do you have any idea what that felt like? To be bound to someone who couldn’t even see you?”
The memory resurfaces with painful clarity–standing in the great hall during the winter solstice celebration, watching Raiden dance with Lila, his eyes never leaving her face while I clutched a glass of champagne so tightly it nearly shattered in my grip.
The humiliation burns fresh, as though it happened yesterday instead of years ago.
Raiden flinches, the first crack in his composed façade. “I made mistakes. I’ve acknowledged that.”
“Acknowledged?” The laugh that escapes sounds foreign, brittle.
Outside, the rain intensifies, drumming against the roof like impatient fingers. The cabin grows darker as clouds devour what remains of daylight.
Neither of us moves to turn on a lamp, perhaps preferring the concealment shadows provide.
“When Lila lied, you were devastated.” Continuing relentlessly, each word a blade I’ve kept sheathed too long. “Not because of the true injustices she represents, but because she made you look a fool. And suddenly–miraculously–I became visible to you.”
“That’s not how it happened.”
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“Isn’t it?” Moving closer, close enough to see the gold flecks in his eyes that appear when his wolf rises near the surface.” You transferred your obsession from her to re–conquering me without missing a beat.”
Lightning splits the sky again, throwing his face into harsh relief–the proud line of his jaw, the slight whitening around his
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#Chapter 96 Siena’s Ultimatum lips as he restrains himself.
“She never loved you, Raiden.”
The cruelty of the statement isn’t lost on me, but truth often wounds before it heals.
“Not the way I did. She used your devotion, took what she needed.”
His control slips, a growl rumbling from deep in his chest.
The sound vibrates through the small cabin, raising goosebumps along my arms despite the anger keeping me warm. “And you?” His voice drops dangerously low. “Are you any different? Standing here, tearing open old wounds, aligning yourself with my best friend behind my back!”
“Zion sees me as a person, not a possession.” The words emerge softer than intended, but no less cutting. “He values my independence rather than trying to clip my wings.”
“Is that what you think?” He darts, closing the distance between us. His scent envelops me–familiar yet somehow foreign now that distrust colors our bond. “You think Zion supports you?”
The cabin creaks around us, old timber protesting against the storm’s fury. Rain lashes the windows like tiny fists demanding entry. The air between us feels charged, electric with accusations and wounded pride.
The truth of it resonates through my bones. “You never learned the difference because Lila wouldn’t let you possess her, and it drove you mad.”
Something shifts in his expression, a coldness seeping into his eyes like frost creeping across glass. His scent changes subtly, withdrawing, closing off. The emotional shutters come down with an almost audible sound.
“Perhaps I was wrong.” Each word emerges precise, controlled. “About many things.”
The sudden shift in his demeanor sends a chill through me despite the humid air. This is Raiden at his most dangerous- not when he’s raging, but when he retreats behind the icy walls of detachment.
“Wrong about what?” The question emerges softer than intended, betraying vulnerability I’d promised myself not to show.
“About you.” His gaze sweeps over me, assessing rather than appreciating. “About us. About driving Lila away.”
The words land like physical blows, stealing breath and stability. My wolf whines, confused by the abrupt severing of emotional connection from our mate. The bond between us–already strained–stretches dangerously thin.
“What are you saying?” Fighting to keep my voice steady, to ignore the sudden hollow feeling expanding beneath my ribs. “I’m saying that perhaps my instincts were right the first time.” He steps back, creating physical distance to match the emotional chasm widening between us. “Perhaps I was blinded by the mate bond, by physical attraction, by the convenient timing of your availability after Lila’s betrayal.”
Outside, a branch cracks and falls, striking the roof with a sound like a gunshot. We both flinch, but neither breaks the terrible tension stretching between us.
“You don’t mean that.” The words emerge as a whisper, nearly lost beneath the storm’s fury.
“Don’t I?” His expression hardens further, becoming the impenetrable mask he wears for pack enemies. “I wonder now if you’re not more manipulative than Lila ever was. More selfish. More willing to use others to get what you want.”
“That’s not fair.” Heat burns behind my eyes, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of tears. “I have never manipulated you!” “Haven’t you?” His laugh lacks any warmth. “What would you call this performance? This calculated attack designed to wound me where I’m most vulnerable? The timing of your friendship with Zion?”
My wolf rises closer to the surface, responding to the threat his words represent.
Claws prick at my fingertips, a physical manifestation of the pain tearing through me.
“This isn’t a performance.” Fighting to maintain control, to not shift under the pressure of his unfair accusations. “This is me finally standing up for myself after years of being treated like an nauseating afterthought.”
“Is it?” He moves toward the door, his decision to leave evident in every line of his body. “Or is it you manipulating the situation to gain power within the pack? To turn Zion against me? To rewrite our history in a way that casts you as victim rather than participant?”
The rain has softened to a gentle patter against the windows, the worst of the storm passing as suddenly as it arrived. The timing feels mocking–nature finding resolution while we remain locked in conflict.
“So this is your response?” The words taste bitter. “When faced with the truth of your behavior, you turn it around and attack me instead?”
“This is my response to discovering that perhaps I’ve made yet another mistake in judgment.” His voice carries no emotion now, stripped of both anger and affection. “That I’ve allowed myself to be blinded by physical desire and the convenience of a mate who was already integrated into my pack.”
#Chapter 96 Siena’s
amatum
The bond between us throbs like an open wound, raw and exposed to the elements
He says nothing else, and neither do 1
Through the window, I watch his figure disappear into the misty forest, tall and proud even in retreat
Alone in the suddenly too–large cabin, the victory I thought I wanted tastes like ash.
The empowerment of finally speaking my truth collides with the hollow realization that truth doesn’t always heal- sometimes it simply confirms that what you thought was solid ground was actually quicksand all along
Beautiful, fragile, and utterly ephemeral–just like the bond I may have shattered beyond repair
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