Chapter 178
I was done waiting.
The morning sun pierced through the windows of the Summit Hall, but its light didn’t bring warmth—not to me. Not anymore. I had waited long enough, pined too long, hoped too much. Jeremiah had made his choice, and I was no longer going to be the girl sitting in shadows while the world spun without her.
I tied my hair into a high ponytail, met my reflection in the mirror, and for the first time in weeks, I saw strength staring back. I was a daughter of a powerful Alpha line, and whether Jeremiah accepted me or not, I was going to rule my future—on my own terms.
The corridors buzzed with activity as the ambassador candidates prepared for another day of briefings, debates, and strategy workshops. I met Anna outside the training hall, her signature smirk firmly in place.
“About time you stopped moping,” she said, handing me a protein bar.
“I wasn’t moping,” I replied, biting into it. “I was… recalibrating.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s your fancy word for sulking.”
We laughed, and it felt genuine.
Later that morning, we entered the Grand Council Room where the mock summit was taking place. Dozens of us were divided into factions, each representing a different werewolf region with different problems to solve—border disputes, rogue uprisings, internal corruption.
Alex was already seated at our table. He nodded at me, a ghost of a smile on his lips. His presence was calm, analytical, and endlessly composed. His suit was sharp, but it wasn’t just the clothing—it was the way he carried himself. Confident. Dangerous. Intriguing.
“Let’s see how you handle the East Border issue, Astrid,” he said, sliding a dossier toward me.
“Oh, you’re testing me now?” I raised a brow.
His smirk was sly. “Just curious how your mind works under pressure.”
“Better than most,” I shot back, flipping open the file. “Let’s begin.”
Two hours in, and our strategy team was holding its ground against the others. I had proposed a neutral zone monitored by a joint task force, suggested by combining two feuding Alpha guards to foster mutual trust. When one of the older, snarkier candidates tried to undermine my plan, I politely shredded his argument with a smile.
Anna gave me a discreet thumbs-up under the table.
Alex leaned in, voice low, “You’re dangerous when you’re in your element.”
I met his eyes, steady. “I’m just getting started.”
And I was.
By lunch, the tension between me and Jeremiah was unignorable. He hadn’t looked at me all day—not once. But I saw the way his jaw clenched when I spoke in strategy meetings. I saw his hands twitch slightly when Alex leaned too close to whisper something in my ear. His control was precise, but the mate bond didn’t lie.
Still, I didn’t let him affect me.
I laughed louder at Anna’s jokes. I stood taller when I walked into rooms. I didn’t chase him with my eyes or let my gaze linger.
If he wanted to distance himself, I’d let him drown in it.
Afternoon came and we had a debate training session, and I was paired against one of the top candidates from the Northern clans. She was sharp-tongued and eloquent, but I’d spent years reading politics under my father's shadow. When she tried to twist my words, I calmly steered the argument back on track with logic, clarity, and confidence.
By the end, even the moderator looked impressed.
“Very well articulated, Astrid,” he said. “You might have the strongest grasp of coalition-building in this entire program.”
I nodded, thanking him, as the room buzzed.
Afterward, Anna and I found ourselves walking through the west garden with a few others. The sun had softened, and the stone paths wound between glowing lanterns and evening flowers.
“I’m starting to think you were born for this,” Anna said, nudging me.
“I wasn’t,” I replied. “But maybe I was forged for it.”
Just as we rounded a corner, I caught sight of Jeremiah leaning against a stone column alone, arms crossed, eyes burning as he looked at me.
I looked back.
For a moment, the world silenced.
He straightened, clearly about to say something, but I turned my back deliberately and walked on, laughing at something Anna said—louder than necessary.
That night, I sat by the firepit behind the dorms. It was one of those rare quiet moments where the sky stretched wide and infinite above me. Anna had gone to bed, but I needed the air, the solitude. My hands hovered over the flames, not too close, just close enough to feel their heat and think about how much I’d changed.
“I see the fire suits you.”
I turned. Alex approached, his expression unreadable, a single hand buried in his coat pocket.
“You have a habit of appearing during my late-night brooding,” I said lightly.
“Only when you’re winning all the debates. Makes you hard to ignore.”
I laughed, shifting so he could sit beside me.
“You never talk about your family,” I said after a pause. “But I keep seeing glimpses. Power. Reputation. The way you analyze people like you’ve grown up watching politics unfold.”
He didn’t answer for a moment, then said, “My father is a High Council Beta. Old money. Old blood. Expectation weighs heavier than most armor.”
“Is that why you’re so guarded?”
He gave me a look. “You’re one to talk.”
Fair.
“But you’re different from the others,” he said after a while. “They talk like they’re parroting what they’ve heard their fathers say. You think. You challenge. You… lead.”
“Because I’ve had no other choice,” I replied. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove I wasn’t just a name. And now I’m done proving. I’m claiming.”
Our eyes met, and something simmered between us. Something hot, undeniable. But it wasn’t his name I felt burning against my skin—it was someone else’s mark that still lingered.
And like a curse, I felt Jeremiah’s presence before I saw him.
He stepped from the shadows, eyes blazing, expression thunderous.
I stood. “Jeremiah.”
Alex stood too, but Jeremiah’s eyes were locked on me.
“You should get some rest, Astrid,” he said, his tone tight, formal. “We’ve got early drills tomorrow.”
I narrowed my gaze. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“I’m your superior in this program,” he replied, voice clipped. “Don’t forget that.”
Alex tensed beside me, but I held up a hand. “I didn’t forget. I just stopped caring.”
Jeremiah’s jaw clenched. “We’ll speak privately. Now.”
I hesitated. Then nodded stiffly and followed him into the woods behind the courtyard.
Once we were far enough from prying ears, I turned on him. “You don’t get to do this. You can’t avoid me for days, then come storming in when another man breathes near me.”
His hands balled into fists. “You need to stop getting too comfortable with that boy,his not good for you..”
“No,” I said firmly. “You don’t get to tell me what to do me while pushing me away.”
He stepped closer, eyes wild. “You think I want to do this? You think this is easy?”
“Then stop!” I snapped. “Stop running from something you already feel!”
He exhaled hard, stepping back like my words had struck him.
“I can’t,” he said, voice breaking. “I can’t look at you and not see him. Your father—he destroyed my family, tore apart my pack. I spent my childhood covered in blood because of what he did.”
My throat tightened.
“I know,” I whispered. “But i keep telling you I’m not him.”
“I know that too,” he said. “But how do I erase a lifetime of pain just because fate decided we should be tied?”
We stared at each other in silence, our bond screaming in the space between us.
Finally, he said, “I won’t make you choose between me and your family. So I’ll keep choosing for you. I’ll step back, even if it breaks me.”
He turned, walking away into the dark.
And I let him go.
Not because I didn’t love him—but because I finally loved myself more.
Tomorrow, I would rise again. Stronger. Sharper. Unapologetic.
The future didn’t belong to who claimed me.
It belonged to who I chose to become.
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