Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 576: Nothing Without You

Aside from the electricity cutting out across the North pack again, there had been eight separate electrocution incidents inside the packhouse alone.

Two innocent workers had been struck by stray lightning outside.

Five others were shocked senseless just by reaching for a doorknob.

And the last unfortunate soul had been standing near a power source at the wrong time and learned the hard way what "high voltage" really meant.

Thankfully, no one had died—yet. But it was safe to say everyone in the North pack was praying for the mating fever to be over soon. At this rate, it wasn’t just their nerves on the line. Their lives were at stake.

But that was the least of their problems that night. Alpha Caspian’s arrival alone, paired with the crushing tension in the air, confirmed the situation was not just serious, it was dire.

Ace had no idea what he’d been expecting when he briefed his father and recounted everything that had happened, but the grim, unreadable look on Caspian’s face left him uneasy.

He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen his father truly angry. That alone made the silent elevator ride down to the holding cells deeply unsettling, the seconds stretching out like a noose tightening around his neck.

His father didn’t say a single word the entire ride. The silence pressed heavily between them, so thick it felt suffocating. Ace kept glancing at him, wondering what was going through his mind, but Caspian’s face gave nothing away.

When the elevator finally dinged open, they stepped out into the corridor. The cold, sterile air of the underground cells wrapped around Ace, prickling his skin. They stopped at the last door with two guards standing at attention outside, tense and watchful.

The bitter irony hit Ace like a punch to the guts. Just days back, Alaric had been the one locked behind these walls. Now it was their mother.

What the hell was happening to their family? It felt as though everything was getting out of control.

"I’ll go in alone from here," Caspian announced with a clipped tone.

protest and obeyed without question. Instead, his gaze shifted to the guards, satisfied that help would

Alpha Caspian went in.

was sitting on the edge of her bed when the door snapped open.

she gasped, rushing to

her arms around him, holding onto him as though he

been waiting for you while these insolent children dared to treat me this way! You have

was as if she weren’t there at all.

It made Zara hesitate.

away from him, goosebumps breaking out across her arms.

you do it?" Caspian asked, his voice brittle, as he struggled to hold back

first, but then her expression hardened. "It was the

a Mnemosyne Crown on

did it! If that’s the

thought you both would talk it out like you used to," Caspian bit

rising. "Just his memory of that witch, Violet." She spat the name like poison. "The North stays together, Caspian! That

both of them glaring at each other like enemies rather

trembled with fury as he ground out,

perfected the Mnemosyne Crown!" Zara thundered back. "If my traitorous son, Ace, hadn’t pulled that stupid stunt, you’d be staring at the results

"You don’t even understand what you’ve done wrong, do

for this family, for this pack! All of this—" she jabbed a finger at Caspian’s chest, her voice breaking with rage "—because I took charge when you were too much of a coward

Bam!

Caspian’s head. He stared at his wife, his blue eyes so icy cold

did you say?" His