(Cole's POV)
"Tomorrow then… I'll tell her tomorrow."
The words left my mouth, but they didn't settle. They lingered in the air like a promise I wasn't entirely sure I was ready to keep..at least no yet.
Alex leaned back beside me, stretching his legs out lazily. "You better. Because if you don't, your wolf might just do the talking for you—and trust me, that conversation won't be pretty."
Ryan chuckled under his breath. "He's right. You're walking a thin line, Cole. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. And with the Blood Moon this close…" He trailed off, shaking his head.
Nathan folded his arms, his sharp gaze fixed on me. "You don't have the luxury of time anymore. Whether you like it or not, she's already part of this world the moment you imprinted on her."
"I know," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "You think I don't know that?"
The room fell into a brief silence. Then Alex clapped his hands together suddenly. "Alright! Enough heavy talk. We're here to relax, remember? Since he said he'll talk to her tomorrow, then we wait till tomorrow. Someone grab the cue stick. Ryan, you've been hogging the table all night."
Ryan smirked. "Because none of you can beat me."
"That's because you cheat," Alex shot back.
"I don't cheat. I'm just better."
"Keep telling yourself that," Alex muttered, already walking toward the table. Laughter rose again, filling The Den, easing the tension that had settled moments ago.
But mine didn't ease. Not really.
Because even as the conversation shifted and the room returned to normal, my wolf was restless and uneasy, like it sensed something coming.....Something… wrong.
I took another sip of my drink, the burn grounding me, but it didn't help at all. It didn't quiet the feeling crawling under my skin.
And then—the door slammed open. The sound echoed through the Den like a gunshot. Everything happening inside the den stopped.
The music cut off abruptly. The laughter died mid-breath. Every head turned toward the entrance. And just like that—the atmosphere changed.
It became heavy, tense and dangerous. Then I smelt his scent. The one guy among the alpha heirs that always got on my nerves.
A few of the guys near the back straightened instinctively. One of them muttered under his breath, barely audible—
"…No way."
My grip tightened around my glass. Because I already knew who it was, even before I saw him. Even before he stepped fully into the light, i knew exactly who it was. His stench was revolting.
I hated his cocky walk. How he walked in like he owned the place. His movement was slow and unhurried.
He looked confident in a way that wasn't forced—it was natural. Effortless. Like dominance wasn't something he needed to prove. I didn't blame him, all alphas were like that. Me not excluded.
It just… was absolute power. And we relished in it.
Short platinum hair caught the dim light as he moved, his green eyes scanning the room with cold precision. Not the least but curious about the place. Neither did he look impressed. I know it's his first time in here, he must have heard lots of stories about the place, people tend to exaggerate. To me he looked like he was just assessing the place with that calculating look that I've punched out of him a dozen times.
The air itself seemed to shiver when he moved. Every step was deliberate, slow, unhurried, yet commanding. Confidence radiated off him like heat from fire—dominance that required no proof, no ceremony.
And then those eyes landed on me. Our eyes were Locked on each other. Unmoving, unflinching and unyielding. Two alphas fully aware of each other's strength. None wanted to back down, it was impossible.....we were both alphas.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"...So it's true."
His words were only met with silence. No one dared to speak. No one dared to move. Not when the both of us were staring each other down.
The room had become a cage, the walls closing in with the weight of raw power radiating between us. Step by step, he closed the distance. My wolf growled low in my chest—a sound that made my pack mates tense.
The tension in the room thickened, pressing against my chest as he took another step forward. Then another. Until he was fully inside...The fucking lunatic....
Jace Pierce....
Alex shifted beside me, his earlier humor completely gone. "Well… this just got interesting, I just hope it doesn't turn into a bloodbath,like it normally does when the two of you meet." he muttered under his breath.
I didn't respond to him. Didn't take my eyes off Jace. Because the moment he walked in—My wolf reacted at the intrusion....on the challenge.
Another low, dangerous growl rumbled deep in my chest, rising without permission and my eyes burned red, matching the wild, dangerous glow in his. Jace stopped a few feet away from me, tilting his head slightly as if studying something fascinating.
"Relax Cole...for once am not here to fight." He said with that annoying ease on his face. I really just want to punch that confidence right out of his face.
"Then what the fuck are you doing here in my territory jace?" I asked him. Clearly annoyed that he'd come in here.
For peace to reign within Westvale, a rule was set. No alpha should intrude on the property of another alpha, unless the alpha in question consented to it. And this time...I didn't, so he had no right being here.
"Am only here to talk. If you noticed, I came here on my own. No one from my pack knows am here." Jace.
"I doubt it. Because even though he tried to hide it, I can smell another revolting stench that proves one of yours is right outside."
I saw the look of surprise that passed through his eyes, then irritation.
"I didn't know that one came with me. He must have followed me here, when he found out where I was headed." Jace said.
I smirked. "It seems your pack mates have trouble following your commands," I saw the look of irritation that passed through his eyes. But I relished in his misery and continued anyways.
"Though I don't blame them, no one's listens to weak alphas." My pack chuckled, a ripple of amusement directed at him.
Jace didn't seem bothered at all, he didn't flinch. Didn't break eye contact. He only exhaled, slow and deliberate, as if savoring the tension.
"Alex, go and invite the snooping dog outside inside the den. Least the other wolves find him, and it ends in that bloodbath you were so worried about." I said to my beta and he left immediately to do as I ordered.
We waited and Alex came in with Jace's beta Miles. Jace turned and looked at him and his beta knew he fucked up by disobeying direct orders from his alpha, so he kept his head down, not daring to met his eyes.
Jace's smirk didn't falter. Not once. Because he knew, just as I did, that power wasn't just in muscle or fang—it was in presence. And right now, the two strongest presences in Westvale were standing in the same room.
And neither of us would back down.