The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 79

POV: Selene

The Grey Valley was a place devoid of life.

It was a stark, windswept landscape of grey rock and struggling, twisted trees, a scar of land that belonged to no one.

It was here, in this desolate, neutral territory, that we were to meet Ryker Laurent.

We arrived in a sleek, black helicopter, the blades whipping up a storm of dust as we landed.

Zane, Kael, and two of his most trusted warriors stepped out first, their powerful bodies forming a protective phalanx.

Zane then turned and held out his hand to me.

I took it, his strong, warm grip a comforting anchor in the tense silence.

As I stepped onto the barren ground, I could feel it.

The presence of another Alpha, equal in power to Zane, his aura a cold, sharp blade against the wind.

Ryker stood waiting for us beside a massive rock formation, flanked by his own elite guards.

He was taller than I had expected, with the same sharp, aristocratic features as his sister, but where Isabella’s power was a fiery, petulant thing, his was a cold, calculating intelligence. His eyes, a shade of pale, icy blue, were fixed on me.

“Alpha Zane,” Ryker said, his voice a smooth, cultured baritone that held no hint of warmth. He gave a slight, formal nod.

“Ryker,” Zane replied, his own voice a low, warning growl.

Ryker’s icy gaze then shifted fully to me. He did not look at me with lust or contempt. He looked at me the way a master strategist looks at the most powerful piece on a chessboard.

“And the Lady Selene of the Silvermoon,” he said, the name sending a shiver down my spine. “It is an honor.”

“You seem to know a great deal about matters that are not your concern,” Zane snarled, stepping slightly in front of me, his protective instincts on full display.

His eyes burned with a cold, ambitious fire.

“My goal, my entire life’s purpose, has been to see the council burn, and to restore the honor of my family.”

He looked from me to Zane.

“I have the political connections. You, Zane, have the raw power. And you, Selene,” he said, his gaze intense, “you have the one thing they truly fear. The blood of the Silvermoon. A power that can unite, not just conquer.”

He let his proposition hang in the air, a stunning, dangerous gambit.

“I am not here to fight you, Zane,” he said. “I am here to propose an alliance. The three of us. Let us work together to destroy our common enemy. And once the council is ash, we can divide the spoils and rule as the three most powerful Alphas on this continent.”

He was not asking for revenge for his sister. He was asking for a revolution.

And he wanted me to be his weapon.