Chapter 81: Three Days

It did not take long.

By the time the afternoon light had shifted across the formal gardens on the second day, the old Alpha already knew. Flora’s fury had not stayed contained in Kai’s rooms. A single sharp conversation with a senior aide, a demand that the head of the house be informed at once, and the truth moved faster than any formal announcement ever could.

The Alpha was livid. He did not shout when the first report reached him. He went quiet in the particular way that made the entire household walk softer. Then he sent for his eldest son.

Kai arrived to find his father standing behind the black-stone desk, not sitting.

"You fell for an omega’s schemes," the Alpha said without preamble. "You marked him. And now the northern alliance sits under this roof while the evidence of your lack of discipline walks the corridors with three bites on his throat. Explain to me how the first heir of this territory allowed a Hill payment to rewrite the future of two packs."

Kai had no clean answer. The berating continued until the Alpha’s voice finally cut off with a single order.

"Bring the others. And the omega."

***

The formal study felt smaller with all five of them inside it.

Aaron stood to Kai’s right, jaw locked, the residual rage from the morning still banked behind his eyes. Dexter occupied the space to the left, silver hair neat, expression unreadable except for the faint satisfaction that never fully left since the Merrick incident. Levi remained near the door until the Alpha pointed at a place in the center of the room. He moved there and stopped. The three marks on his throat felt suddenly heavier under the older man’s gaze.

The Alpha looked at each of them in turn.

"I do not understand how this omega played my three sons," he said. "I do not understand how a blood debt became a set of completed claims that now threaten everything this house has spent years building. But it’s fine. There is no point dwelling on the past, the damage is done."

He rested both hands on the desk.

"The wedding is three days away. We will not risk this spoiling the alliance. Luckily the news has not spread beyond a closed circle. I learned of it only because Flora came to me in a state that left no room for polite omissions. Until the ceremony is finished, every one of you will keep your mouths shut. Levi will avoid public appearances. The three claims will not be spotted by northern eyes if he remains out of sight."

Levi didn’t oppose it, it was probably for the best anyway. He was in no mood for unnecessary drama.

The Alpha continued.

"I have spoken with Flora. She is furious, and she has every right to be. But she is also practical. As long as the omega disappears from your lives after the marriage, she is willing to proceed with the ceremony and keep this matter sealed. In view of that, the path forward is simple."

His gaze locked on Levi.

"You will choose, either Aaron or Dexter. One of them. Once the wedding is done, the pair of you will move to a secondary mansion I have already purchased. It is far enough from this castle that you will not interfere with Kai and Flora’s life. You will not appear at council, you will not walk these halls. You will exist elsewhere, and the northern alliance will remain intact."

The three brothers turned toward Levi as one, and Levi felt his heart skip hard enough that he felt it in his throat.

The obvious answer should have been Aaron. He very obviously favoured the second son above his other brothers, and Aaron had been the nicest to him since he arrived here. But the Merrick situation remained unresolved. What would happen with Merrick? Would he play second mate to the servant? Choosing Aaron meant inheriting that mess along with the man. Choosing Dexter was something Levi could not stomach. The third prince’s smile, the wedding-night threat, the cold obsession—none of it was a future he wanted.

He opened his mouth, but Dexter spoke first.

"Aaron has something he would like to tell the family."

Aaron went rigid, and cold sweat broke along his forehead instantly. He already knew what Dexter was trying to do, and he didn’t like it one bit.

"Shut it." He reprimanded the younger Alpha, but the damage was already done. Their father was already too interested.

"I am tired of the three of you keeping secrets from this house. Speak."

Dexter did not look at his brother, he simply turned to face their father with a cynical smile playing on his lips.

"Aaron marked another omega. A servant in this household named Merrick."

The room went silent.

Aaron’s mouth opened on the truth—the wine, the scent trick, the setup—but the Alpha did not give him the space.

The older man’s control finally cracked into open contempt.

"You," he said, the word landing like a blow, "have always been a disappointment. Always up to one thing or another. Always the son who creates problems the rest of us are forced to manage. I will not cover your crimes this time. If you have marked another omega, you will remain with that omega. Dexter claimed the Hill payment first. He will take him."

Dexter’s mouth curved in a thin, satisfied smile, and Levi felt his stomach drop.

The decision was being made over his head again, but he wasn’t going to stand still and let it happen. He spoke before the silence could harden into finality.

"I would like to be the one who chooses for myself."

The Alpha’s eyes cut to him. The dominance in the room pressed down hard enough that Levi’s knees wanted to bend. He kept his feet.

"If I can have the grace of the wedding night to make the decision," Levi continued, voice steady despite the pulse hammering in his throat, "I will give you an answer then. Not under pressure in this room. On the night of the ceremony, that is all I ask."

The Alpha studied him for a long moment. The same cold assessment that had once measured him as property now measured him as a variable that still needed to be controlled. At last the older man inclined his head a fraction.

"Three days," he said. "On the night of the wedding you will name your choice. Until then you remain out of sight, and every person in this room keeps their silence. Am I understood?"

Levi inclined his head. "Yes. Thank you."

"Dismissed."

They left in a silence that felt heavier than the one they had entered with.

In the corridor outside the study, the three brothers and the omega stood for a moment without speaking. Aaron’s face was white with a rage that had nowhere left to go. Kai looked like a man who had just watched the last of his carefully built structure collapse and was still trying to decide which piece to pick up first. And Dexter just remained still with a smile on his face.

Levi did not look at any of them for long. He turned toward his room and walked away before any of them could speak. He was about to make a decision that would change his life forever, and he didn’t need any of them distracting him from making the right choice.