MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS-Chapter 40: WHEN POWER PLAYS

AMARIS 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

We climbed onto the stage and suddenly every eye in the room was on me, hundreds of faces turned upward with smiles that felt more like bared teeth than genuine smiles.

It was sickening the amount of pretense in this room and well, I was one of them. Fake ass smiling my way when moments ago Ryker hands were gently caressing my breast and I was considering having his tongue in between my legs.

Alpha Corvin stepped forward and raised his hand, the gesture alone enough to quiet the murmuring crowd. "Thank you all for coming tonight,"

His voice carried across the hall without needing to be raised, that natural authority making everyone lean in to listen. "Your presence here means more than you know."

I scanned the crowd looking for familiar faces and found Nia near the back trying and failing to hide the disappointment written all over her face. My chest tightened with guilt.

Movement at the entrance caught my attention and Ryker strode in while his father was still talking, his hair slightly messed up and his shirt untucked and he still looked so confident like he wasn’t just committing a forbidden act right now.

He stopped next to Cole and Rowan and crossed his arms, his eyes finding mine immediately with that infuriating smirk still playing at his mouth.

Rowan turned to look at his brother, then shifted his gaze to me, and a strange look passed across his face that looked almost like concern before he shuttered it away.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Alpha Corvin continued, his hand finding mine and pulling me forward slightly. "This is my Luna to be, Amaris Storme, formerly of the Stormshadow pack, now of Gravemoon."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, the sound washing over me in waves. I took a slight bow just like Nia had instructed during our preparation, keeping my smile fixed and trying not to throw up from nerves.

"Quiet now everyone," Corvin raised his hand again and the noise died immediately. "The day is just getting started. I have a surprise gift for my Luna and wife to be."

I turned to look at him, my eyebrows raising. "I didn’t know we were giving gifts."

He squeezed my hand, his grip just tight enough to be a warning. "Don’t worry, you should just sit down."

Before I could ask what he meant he was guiding me to a chair that had been placed at the center of the stage, his hands on my shoulders pushing me down into it with gentle but firm pressure. My mind raced trying to figure out what was happening, what had I done wrong?

Was he going to punish me again for wandering off?

"Alpha Darius Storme," Corvin called out, his voice projecting across the silent hall. "Can you join me on stage?"

Everything went quiet, as the crowd began to scan the room for Darius who stood still for a moment before he started moving, giving way for him to pass through.

I watched as my brother emerged from the crowd looking just as confused and surprised as I felt. He climbed the stairs slowly, his eyes darting between me and Corvin like he was trying to figure out what was going on.

Clearly he was as clueless as I was.

"This is Alpha Darius Storme," Corvin announced, gesturing toward my brother. "The newly appointed Alpha of the Stormshadow pack and my Luna’s half brother."

Darius stood there looking uncomfortable in a way I had never seen him look before, like for the first time in his life he didn’t know what move to make.

Corvin turned to face him fully. "I want you to go to my Luna and bow to her."

The crowd gasped and my eyes widened. "Alpha Corvin that isn’t necessary," I started to stand but his hand landed on my shoulder and pushed me back down.

"I just need you to sit there," he murmured, his voice low enough that only I could hear, "and don’t say anything."

He looked back at Darius. "Go on."

Darius exhaled like his fate had been decided, he didn’t even kick against it which goes against everything I knew him to be.

Darius moved forward sluggishly like he was walking through water, like every step was a battle between what he wanted to do and what he was being forced to do. I didn’t understand why he was obeying, why he wasn’t telling Corvin to fuck off and storming out with whatever dignity he had left.

But he didn’t.

He stopped in front of me and bowed, his head dipping low. "My Luna," he muttered, the words sounding like they were being pulled from him with pliers.

"On your knees," Corvin commanded.

The room somehow got even quieter.

I glanced over at Ryker and found him watching with his arms folded, that smirk on his face growing wider like he was thoroughly enjoying the show. Rowan stood beside him staring blandly, his expression giving away nothing.

No one moved to stop this. Not the sentinels who had come with Darius, not the pack members watching, not a single person in that entire hall dared to challenge what was happening.

Darius lowered himself to his knees in front of me, his face flushed with humiliation and rage that he couldn’t act on.

Corvin moved to stand beside my chair, his hand resting on the back of it. He looked at me instead of the crowd and when he spoke his voice was calm and measured. "I want you to lick her feet."

My mouth fell open and the crowd erupted in shocked gasps and murmurs.

"Alpha Corvin," I tried again but he shot me a look that made the words die in my throat.

Darius crawled forward and I wanted to tell him to stop, wanted to jump out of this chair and run off the stage and pretend this whole nightmare wasn’t happening. But I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything except sit there while my brother lowered his head to my feet.

I looked away as his tongue touched the top of my shoe, my stomach churning and bile rising in my throat. The humiliation wasn’t just his, it was mine too, being used as a weapon in whatever power play Corvin was orchestrating.

The hall was dead silent except for the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

"Thank you for your show of allegiance," Corvin finally spoke, his hand squeezing my shoulder. "You can leave."

Darius stood up slowly, his head down and his shoulders hunched in a way I had never seen before. The confident cruel brother who used to lock me in closets and laugh while I screamed was gone, replaced by this broken shell of a man who shuffled off the stage without meeting anyone’s eyes.

The sentinels who came with him followed without a word and the crowd parted to let them through before they disappeared out the doors.

Corvin pulled me up from the chair, his hand wrapping around my waist as he drew me close against his side. He leaned down until his mouth was against my ear, his breath warm on my skin.

"This should be a show of how powerful I am," he whispered. "Amaris, don’t forget that."

My voice came out shaky when I spoke. "Why did he obey you?"

"Because I am me," he responded simply, like that explained everything.

I swallowed hard. "Alpha Corvin, what really happened to my father?"

He pulled back just enough to look at me and his eyes were cold, completely devoid of whatever humanity I thought I had glimpsed earlier tonight.

"Don’t ask questions you are not ready for the answer to." His grip on my waist tightened. "Now turn and smile."

I turned to face the crowd on autopilot, my brain struggling to process what just happened while my mouth curved into a smile I didn’t feel. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause like they hadn’t just witnessed something deeply fucked up, like public humiliation was just another form of entertainment.

Corvin raised our joined hands and the cheering got louder.

I stood there smiling and waving while my mind replayed Nia’s words from earlier, the warning I hadn’t fully understood until this exact moment.

Alpha Corvin is not a man you mess with. He will destroy you.

She was right.

I had known he was cruel, had seen him punish me and treat me like property and make it clear I meant nothing beyond my ability to give him an heir. But this was different. This was calculated cruelty designed to send a message not just to Darius but to everyone in this room.

Cross me and this is what happens.

Disrespect what’s mine and this is what I will make you do.

But the message we meant for me the most. He can make who I fear the most crawl at my feet at his mercy.

My father was dead and Darius was terrified and I was standing here in a beautiful dress playing the role of Luna while everything inside me screamed that I had made a terrible mistake coming to Gravemoon.

The cheering continued and Corvin’s hand stayed firm around my waist, holding me in place beside him like a prize he had won, and I realized with sickening clarity that this was my life now.

I belonged to a monster and he had just shown me exactly what he was capable of.