Claimed by the scarred Alpha

ÉTIENNE

I let them sputter their denials. Their voices overlapped and competed for dominance, each elder trying to out-protest the others. I waited until the noise died down before speaking again.

"If that’s indeed the case." My voice cut through the lingering echoes. "Then you shouldn’t worry. It ends with Beaumont. My goals for the expansion will be met then."

Gérard stood. His chair scraped against the stone floor. "I’ll be frank. I don’t care about Beaumont or the vast politics of this." He gestured toward me with one weathered hand. "I’m here for my granddaughter, who is obsessed with you like some lovesick puppy. She’s your fiancée, but you’re marrying someone else?"

Gasps rippled around the table. Several elders leaned forward, suddenly more interested in this development than in territorial expansion and military strategy.

I met Gérard’s eyes through the mask. "This marriage will not favor the Beaumont. That will be clear from the moment we get on the altar."

"Words." Gérard’s hands pressed flat against the table. "Empty promises that don’t explain why you’re humiliating my granddaughter."

"I intend to marry Séverine shortly after my marriage to the Beaumont girl." The statement fell into the room like a blade. "She will be the one to have my children. I don’t intend to stop or touch the Beaumont girl until Séverine has multiple boys. Heirs. If that is what you fear."

The door opened then.

Every head turned. Séverine stood in the doorway wearing a deep blue dress that made her look like winter royalty. Her dark hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her eyes found mine across the room, and something passed between us that needed no words.

Gérard’s face went red. "Séverine. What are you doing here?"

She walked into the war room with the confidence of someone who belonged there. Her footsteps echoed on stone. She didn’t look at her grandfather. She looked at me.

"I’m sure that pleases you, grandfather." Her voice carried an edge I recognized. The same tone she used when she was done being placated or protected.

Gérard turned away. His jaw worked like he was chewing words he couldn’t spit out.

Séverine crossed the remaining distance between us. She reached up with one hand and traced the edge of my mask, her fingers gentle against carved red scales. Then she kissed me.

The kiss, although chaste, wasn’t soft or private or appropriate for an audience of scandalized elders. She kissed me like she was claiming territory, like she was putting every question to rest with her mouth and her body and her complete lack of shame.

I held on to her tightly in response. Let the elders see exactly where my loyalty lay.

When she pulled away, her lipstick had left marks on the mask’s surface. She turned to face the table with my arm around her waist.

I looked at the assembled elders over her shoulder. "I hope that explains and gives you peace. I don’t want this matter brought back again."

Silence answered me. The kind that meant I’d won this round, whether they liked it or not.

Gérard sat back down heavily. His face had gone from red to grey. He stared at his granddaughter like she’d become someone he didn’t recognize.

"Meeting adjourned." I didn’t wait for their agreement. I guided Séverine toward the door, with Laurent falling into step behind us.

The war room emptied slowly. I heard chairs scraping, voices murmuring, the shuffle of feet against stone. None of it mattered. I’d made my position clear. They could accept it or not accept it. Either way, this conversation was finished.

Séverine squeezed my hand once we were out in the corridor. "Did I time that well?"

"Perfectly." I pulled her closer. "Though you didn’t have to kiss me in front of your grandfather."

"I wanted to." She smiled up at me. "Besides, he needs to understand that I make my own choices."

Laurent cleared his throat behind us. "That went better than expected."

"Did it?" I glanced back at him.

"No one died. I’m calling it a victory."

I turned to Séverine once the corridor fell quiet around us. Her hand remained in mine, warm and certain.

"I do share some of my grandfather’s worries, you know." She looked up at me with those dark eyes that had always seen through my carefully constructed defenses. "About this arrangement."

My jaw tightened. "But I tell you everything."

"You do." She stepped closer. Her free hand came up to rest against my chest, right over my heart. "Maybe if I married you first, my heart would be settled."

The words landed between us like a challenge. I studied her face, searching for doubt or manipulation. I found neither. Just Séverine being honest about what she wanted, like always.

"You know why it has to be her first." I kept my voice gentle but firm.

"I know." Séverine’s fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt. "Revenge."

I reached up and removed my mask. The cool air hit my scarred face, and I let her see me fully. No barriers. No performance.

"Our marriage after that sham will be a thing of legend." I cupped her face with my free hand. "I promise you."

Then I kissed her. Not for an audience this time. Not to prove a point or claim territory. I kissed her because she deserved more than political calculations and strategic reassurances. Because underneath all the masks and manipulation, I loved her in whatever broken way I was capable of love.

She melted against me. Her hands slid up to tangle in my hair. The mask fell from my other hand and hit the stone floor with a clatter neither of us acknowledged.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake." Laurent’s voice cut through the moment. "I will leave you freaks be."

His footsteps echoed down the corridor, steady and deliberate and completely unbothered by what he’d just witnessed.

Séverine pulled back with a laugh. Her lipstick had smudged. "He’s going to give us hell for this later."

"He’s my Beta." I traced the line of her jaw with my thumb. "Giving me hell is in his job description."

She smiled and pressed one more quick kiss to my lips before stepping away. "I should go before my irresistible beauty causes you to see reason and change your mind."

"Probably wise."