Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 40

Alpha Baron’s POV

I studied him under the silver-blue wash of moon glow. The anger, the defiance—it was still there, lurking just beneath the surface. But there was something else now too. Focus. Awareness.

“Your mother used to say you had fire,” I muttered. “Always doubted if you’d ever learn to control the burn.”

“She also said I got that fire from you,” he replied.

I didn’t answer. The silence said enough.

We resumed walking, slower this time. My chest was strangely lighter, my mind sharper. Bryan wasn’t ready for leadership—not yet. But perhaps he wasn’t the complete disaster I thought he was.

“You’ll be at the council meeting tomorrow,” I said, not giving him a choice.

He nodded without complaint.

“And I want you to work with Knox. I don’t care if he’s annoying. Learn something. One of us has to.”

“Noted,” he muttered.

“And Bryan,” I added, pausing before the doors to the eastern wing. “About your marriage to Irene…”

He flinched slightly. “What about it?”

“I know you don’t like it. But I expect you to follow through.”

He didn’t answer right away. “Can I ask why her? Why them?”

“Because their family offers stability, weapons, allies, and most importantly—fear. And if you're going to be Alpha one day, you'll need all of that.”

His shoulders tensed, but he didn’t argue. Progress.

I left him there at the corridor, my mind still reeling from the fact that tonight, for the first time in a long time, I felt a flicker of pride.

Maybe the fire in him wasn’t such a curse after all.

The night air was heavy with silence, but my thoughts were louder than a battlefield drum.

By the time I returned to the pack house from the courtyard stroll with Bryan, I already knew what I had to do next. No hesitation. No second-guessing. It was time to start realigning the internal structure of this pack before the cracks beneath the surface swallowed everything we’d built.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors of the main hall, the low echo of my boots against the marble floors accompanying me like a shadow. The guards stationed by the entrance straightened as I passed, but I gave them no glance. My mind was too preoccupied.

"Fetch Beta Henry," I said to one of the maids, my voice clipped and authoritative. "Tell him I want him in my study in five."

She bowed immediately and scurried off like a startled deer. I didn’t wait. I took the left corridor that led straight to my private study, unlocked the door with the crest-engraved key I never left my side, and stepped inside the quiet sanctuary of discipline and strategy.

The study smelled like aged wood, tobacco, and powder. Just the way I liked it. My desk sat like a throne in the middle of the room—polished, wide, and intimidating. Behind it, a tall window looked out over the eastern woods, where the first wisps of fog were beginning to curl through the trees.

I sat down, adjusted the papers already neatly aligned on my desk, and waited.

Henry arrived three minutes later. Not bad. As usual, he was dressed in his uniform—a dark grey jacket bearing the sigil of our house and black trousers tucked into polished boots. Always sharp, always ready.

"You called for me, Alpha?" he asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

I motioned toward the chair opposite mine. "Sit."

He obeyed, ever dutiful.

“We’ve got leaks, Henry,” I said, my fingers drumming once against the desk. “And I’m not talking about in the damn roof.”

His face didn’t shift. “You believe the rogues had inside help?”

“I know they did,” I said flatly. “Their timing. Their knowledge of the watch rotations. How they bypassed traps laid weeks in advance. No outsider should know the layout of this estate that intimately unless someone from within told them.”

Henry nodded. “You want me to begin internal surveillance?”

“Already ahead of you,” I replied. “But we’ll need more than watchful eyes. We need bait.”

His brows lifted slightly. “False information?”

I leaned back in my chair. “Several pieces. Fed to a select few, each a different version. Whoever takes the bite will reveal themselves.”

Henry allowed himself a small smile. “Smart.”

“It’s what keeps us alive.” I paused, then added, “And I want Bryan at the next council meeting.”

Henry blinked. “Your son?”

“Yes, my son,” I snapped. “Is that surprising?”

“No,” he said quickly. “Just… unexpected.”

“He’s not ready,” I admitted. “But I need him to start seeing things as they are. Not through the eyes of a spoiled boy desperate for approval, but as a leader. Even a weak one can grow sharper under the right fire.”

Henry nodded again, more slowly this time. “Should I prepare his seat?”

“Yes. His father’s right hand isn’t just a title; it’s a mantle he has to wear, whether he wants it or not.”

There was a silence that stretched between us. Henry, ever cautious with words, chose his next question carefully.

“Do you believe he’s capable of stepping into your shoes someday?”

I stared at the window, the moonlight slashing in through the glass like silver blades.

“I believe he’s no longer the complete fool I thought he was,” I said. “That’s a start.”

Henry didn’t respond, but I caught the faintest flicker of surprise on his face.

“The wedding with Irene is still on,” I continued. “Make sure everything is ready by the weekend. Her family needs to see strength. Organization. Not Bryan stumbling around like a drunk mutt.”

“I’ll speak to the event coordinator,” Henry confirmed.

“And send a message to Alpha Rowan,” I added. “Tell him we’ll be honoring the alliance publicly soon.”

“Understood.”

I stood slowly, walking over to the small table by the fireplace and pouring myself a glass of dark liquor. The kind that burned all the way down and made men speak truths they usually buried deep.

“I need this pack strong, Henry,” I said, swirling the drink. “Not just physically. Strategically. We’ve become too comfortable. Too dependent on peace.”

“I agree,” he said. “Peace makes us sloppy.”

“Exactly.” I downed the drink in one gulp and set the glass down with a thud. “We’ve got enemies, even if they smile when they shake our hands.”

Henry rose, recognizing the dismissal. “I’ll begin preparations.”

I nodded, then added as he reached for the door, “And one more thing.”

He turned.

“If anything looks off with any of the council members—shadows, disappearances, strange messages—I want to know. Personally.”

“You will, Alpha.”

With that, he was gone.

I returned to my desk, this time leaning forward and spreading out the files across the dark wood surface. Names. Assignments. Patterns. I began marking circles around certain patrol captains, noted which shifts had been changed last-minute before the attack, and noted how certain rogue groups seemed to bypass more than they should’ve.

The traitor was in here. Somewhere.

And I would find them, even if I had to burn down the entire council chamber to smoke them out.

The door creaked again after nearly half an hour. This time it was one of the housemaids, young, quiet, and shaking like a leaf.

“Y-You asked for tea, Alpha…”

“I didn’t.”

She froze. “I… I’m sorry. I was told—”

“Leave it.”

She placed the tray on the table, bowed awkwardly, and scurried off.

I stared at the tea set for a moment, unmoving. Then I stood and poured it out. Every drop. You don’t last long in my seat without a healthy dose of paranoia.

When the teacup clinked back into the tray, I returned to my papers, my focus narrowing again. The walls of this pack had too many ears. Too many whispers in the dark.

But one thing was certain now.

With Bryan stepping closer to his role and the wedding bringing new attention, my enemies would either retreat into silence or come charging forward.

And I would be waiting.