Disguised Before The Alpha Prince

Chp 55

Demyan’s POV

The massive iron gates of the Moon Mansion creaked open, revealing the long stone path that led to the estate. Familiar scents of pine, old stone, and hearthfire wrapped around me as the mansion came into view ominous and regal, just like I left it.

Servants rushed out the moment my boots hit the ground. Heads bowed low, voices chorusing a respectful, “Welcome back, my Lord.”

I gave them a curt nod, my eyes scanning past them for one face in particular I hoped I wouldn’t see—

But, of course, he was already waiting on the steps.

Sirek.

My father’s Gamma.

The man was built like a wall, his salt-and-pepper hair tied back in a neat knot, his sharp gray eyes assessing me with a mix of familiarity and superiority. He spread his arms in mock warmth. “Ah, young master. Or should I call you Alpha-to-be now?”

I ignored the greeting and brushed past him. “I didn’t return for pleasantries.”

He followed anyway, his voice trailing beside me like a leech. “Your father is sick, Demyan. It’s only a matter of time before the ceremony is set. You shouldn’t be wasting time chasing ghosts and shadows. Let my wolves handle the traitors in our ranks. You have more important responsibilities.”

I stopped at the top of the steps and turned to face him, my eyes cold. “With all due respect, Gamma Sirek… If your wolves were capable, the traitor would’ve been hanging at the gates by now.”

His jaw twitched.

I stepped closer, voice low and laced with warning. “This isn’t your affair. It’s mine. I will find out who’s been feeding information to the rival pack. I want their name, their blood, and their reason. Myself.”

“And what about the pack? Your father’s condition is—”

“I said it’s my business.” I interrupted him

I didn’t care if my words cut deep. I didn’t trust Sirek. There was a stiffness in his loyalty that had always unsettled me.

I brushed past him, entering the grand hall, but my thoughts didn’t linger long on the traitor.

They drifted… to her.

Pearl.

That girl had managed to undo parts of me I didn’t even know existed. Her stubbornness, her sharp tongue, her fragility when she thought no one was watching—it all haunted me. I saw her in the corridors, in my dreams, in the rain.

I clenched my jaw.

I should be focusing on the traitor. On my father's failing condition. On the Alpha seat that was being prepared for me.

But instead...

I wanted to go back.

To that academy.

To that river.

To her.

Until I had claimed her completely mind, body, and heart—I couldn’t leave her behind. Not now. Not when someone else might take her away from me. She was mine. And the Moon Mansion, the Alpha throne, the betrayal in this pack… could all wait.

The halls were quieter than usual. Too quiet.

As I walked through the long corridor toward my father’s chamber, the only sound was the echo of my own boots on marble and the occasional crackle of torches lining the walls. It unsettled me.

The guards bowed as I approached, opening the door to the Alpha’s room.

Inside, the scent of herbs, smoke, and fading strength greeted me like a slap.

He sat by the hearth, back slightly hunched, a thick blanket draped around his shoulders. His once imposing figure looked… smaller. Thinner. A man who once commanded a pack with the weight of his stare alone now looked like a flickering shadow of himself.

“Father,” I said, my voice tighter than I intended.

At the sound, he looked up. His tired eyes lit up with something soft recognition, maybe pride but when he moved to stand, a sharp cough wracked his chest, forcing him back into the chair.

I was beside him in seconds.

“Don’t move,” I muttered, grabbing the jug of water and pouring it into a glass with urgency. I handed it to him, and he took it with shaky hands.

As he sipped, I scanned the room. No servants. Not even a healer.

“Where is everyone?” I growled, turning toward the door. “Where the hell are the servants?!”

A moment later, the head servant appeared, panting slightly, his eyes wide. “Yes, my Lord?”

“Why is my father left alone in this condition?” I snapped. “Why wasn’t anyone attending him?!”

Before the servant could stammer out an excuse, my father’s hand waved weakly.

“I sent them off,” he said hoarsely.

I turned back to him. “What?”

He gave me a faint, tired smile. “I needed silence, Demyan. You forget how noisy this place gets with everyone flitting around me like I’m already dead.”

“You shouldn't be left alone,” I said, lowering my voice, but not my worry.

He set the glass down, and the light of the hearth flickered across his face, casting deep shadows into the lines carved by time and pain. “You’re here now.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. This wasn’t the man I remembered. This wasn’t the Alpha who trained me, who could silence a room with a single glance.

“I came to check in,” I said, trying to sound composed. “There are things that need sorting… traitors in our midst, loose ends from the last attack.”

“I know.” His voice dropped. “And I know you’ll handle them.”

There was something in the way he said it calm, assured, as if he was already letting go of the reins. The crown was being passed, whether I was ready or not. But I wasn’t thinking about that.

I was thinking of her.

Of Pearl.

Of what it would mean to protect this title... and still keep her. I wasn’t sure I could do both. But I would die trying.

He leaned back in his chair, the fire crackling behind him. For a long moment, there was only silence between us, thick, heavy, full of unsaid things.

Then he broke it.

“I can see it in your eyes, Demyan.” His voice was low, but clear. “You’re torn.”

I didn’t answer immediately.

“Torn between your duty to this pack… and something else.”

My jaw tightened.

“You’ve always known what was expected of you,” he went on, his gaze meeting mine. “The day you were born, you became the future Alpha. That future doesn’t allow for softness. Or secrets.”

“I know my duty,” I said sharply.

“Do you?” His tone wasn’t angry—just tired. “Because duty doesn’t walk hand in hand you need to learn a lot Demyan and staying away from home won't help”

I looked away. I didn’t want him to see the war on my face.

“I know what they say about me,” he continued after a pause. “That I was ruthless. That I chose power over love. Maybe I did.”

He coughed again, and I moved to steady him, but he waved me off.

“But I did it for this pack. For you. So you could one day stand strong and not be pulled apart by things that could destroy you.”

He gave a tired smile. “I’m not going to lecture you. Goddess knows I made enough mistakes.”

He looked at me, and in that moment, he wasn’t just an Alpha. He was my father.

And then his voice, softer than before.

“Just… don’t forget who you are, Demyan. Don’t forget what you’re meant to become.”

I clenched my fists.

“I haven’t,” I said.

He didn’t argue. He just nodded, slowly.

But I knew him too well. He hadn’t called me here just to talk about duty.

“You’re lecturing me because of Sirek, aren’t you?” I said at last, my voice edged with bitterness.

His eyes flicked to mine, not denying it.

“Sirek told you I’m distracted. That I’m not fulfilling my role.”

My father didn’t speak right away, which told me everything.

“I knew it,” I muttered, jaw tightening. “Of course he did. That leech has always wanted to control what he can’t have. Tell me, Father—did he also tell you I’ve gone soft? That I should already be preparing for the claim ceremony?”

He sighed. “Sirek may have his flaws, but he speaks out of concern—”

“No,” I cut him off, voice sharper now. “He speaks out of ambition.”

My father frowned but said nothing. I continued, pacing slightly as tension buzzed through my spine.

“I’m here. I came back because I do care. Because I haven’t forgotten who I am. But Sirek? He’s just waiting for you to collapse so he can play puppeteer to the new Alpha.”

His gaze darkened. “You will not speak of him like that. He has served this pack longer than you’ve been alive.”

“And yet he questions my every move,” I snapped. “He plants seeds in your head. Tells you I’m distracted, unreliable—”

“Are you?” my father asked quietly.

The question struck a nerve.

I turned away. “If I am, it’s none of his business.”

“Then what is it?” he asked. “You haven’t been the same since you left. There’s something different in your eyes. Something you’re not telling me.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, staring out the window.

He didn’t know. He had no idea I had fallen for her—for Pearl. That she wasn’t just a mystery I needed to solve but the one person who had managed to make my world unstable… and worth fighting for.

“I’m fine,” I lied, careful not to let my voice waver.

“Demyan…”

“I said I’m fine,” I said more firmly, cutting off the concern in his tone.

He didn’t press further, though I could feel his gaze burning into my back.

Whatever lecture he had prepared, whatever assumptions he had made based on Sirek’s lies—it didn’t matter.

He didn’t know. And I had no intention of telling him.

Not yet, not until I had Pearl by my side… not until I could protect her from the storm that was sure to come.

The silence in the room stretched thin like a drawn bowstring.

My father was still watching me, expecting answers I wasn't ready to give. But there was one thing I was certain about.

And it was time he heard it.

“When I become Alpha,” I said, turning back to him with calm, unwavering certainty, “Sirek will no longer serve as Gamma.”

His brows furrowed deeply. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Sirek’s time is over.” I stood taller, meeting his gaze head-on. “I will not inherit a broken command, manipulated from within. Karl will be my Gamma. And Killian will take his rightful place as Beta.”

My father’s jaw tightened. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying? Sirek has stood by this family for decades—”

“Yes,” I said evenly, “and in those decades, he’s twisted loyalties and fed off fear. He’s not loyal to the pack—he’s loyal to power.”

I saw the flicker of recognition in my father’s eyes. He knew. Deep down, he had always known.

“You think you see everything,” I continued, “but while you were weakened, he started making moves behind your back. He’s been whispering in ears that don't belong to him. Pushing out the young blood. And for what? To keep his hold on everything once you're gone?”

My father sat back heavily in his chair, eyes clouded with thought.

“This pack needs warriors, not snakes,” I said. “Karl has bled beside me in battle. Killian has protected our borders when no one else dared. They deserve to stand at my side—not some has-been clutching onto relevance.”

He didn’t respond right away.

Finally, he let out a long breath. “You’ve made up your mind.”

“I have.”

“And if the Elders question your decision?”

“They won’t,” I said firmly. “Not when they see what I’ve built. And if they do then they can watch as I take the crown my way.”

There was a beat of silence between us. A strange understanding passed in his eyes, reluctant, but real.

“Very well,” he said at last. “But remember, being Alpha isn’t just about loyalty, it’s about consequence.”

I nodded once. “I understand. And I’m ready.”

But as I walked out of the room, the weight of everything I hadn’t said pulled at me.

The truth was… the greatest consequence I feared wasn’t rebellion, or war.

It was her.

Pearl.

Because if I lost her, all the power in the world wouldn’t matter.