Alpha Parker Wright—Ricky's father—stormed into the Blood Sigma Alpha office, the door slamming so hard the walls rattled. Ricky barely had time to stand before his father's furious scent filled the room like smoke before a wildfire.
"What was that?" Parker snarled, eyes burning. "What foolishness did you commit tonight?"
Ricky stiffened. "I rejected my mate. She wasn't—"
"Don't you dare say it." Parker cut him off with a roar. His alpha aura slammed into Ricky so hard that even he, the Blood Sigma Alpha, staggered.
Parker stood inches away, rage trembling in every line of his face.
"You rejected Hailey Black," he growled. "Of all the wolves the Moon Goddess could choose for you—she gave you the daughter of Liam Black. The daughter of the strongest Alpha alive. A bloodline more powerful than ours will ever be."
Ricky clenched his fists. "She's weak. Ordinary. She doesn't fit the image of a Luna—"
Parker grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
"We don't choose mates for image!" he snarled. "We choose them because the Moon Goddess gives us what we need. And you, you idiot son, threw away a blessing that would've strengthened our pack beyond measure!"
Ricky gritted his teeth. "She wasn't strong."
Parker laughed—cold, furious, disbelieving.
"You blind fool. Did you not see her wolf? That silver coat? The power rolling off her?"
Ricky hesitated, remembering the glow, the size, the raw strength of Hailey's first shift. Something uneasy twisted inside him.
Parker didn't miss it.
"Hailey Black is no ordinary wolf," he said lowly. "She's rare. She's gifted. She's a wolf the Moon Goddess crafts once in a generation."
He stepped back, disgusted.
"And you humiliated her. Publicly. In front of Liam Black."
Ricky swallowed. The memory burned him now—her broken eyes, her trembling voice.
Parker slammed his fist on the desk, splintering the wood.
"You didn't just reject a mate—you declared war on the strongest pack in the land!"
Ricky's jaw tightened. "It doesn't matter. Blood Sigma will survive—"
Parker cut him off, voice deadly calm.
"Blood Sigma won't survive you if you keep making decisions like this."
The room fell silent.
"You had a chance to elevate our bloodline, our power, our legacy," Parker said. "Hailey could've become the strongest Luna this world has seen."
He shook his head slowly.
"And now she'll rise somewhere else… stronger than ever… and you will regret every second of what you did."
Ricky's chest tightened with something like dread.
Parker pointed toward the door.
"Fix this if you can, or prepare to watch the world shift without you. Because Hailey Black is destined for greatness—and you're the fool who threw her away."