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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

TITAN

"Y ou need to calm down," Kane said without emotion.

Titan growled in response. "I should take her tonight. Force her into submission. Being soft didn't work. Now it's time for a new tactic. Do what I should have done from the beginning. Take her."

"You let her rattle you," Kane said. "Don't. Focus on what we need to do to complete our goal. Forget her and focus on our original plan."

His original plan. His mother's original plan. "So you think I should let her go?"

"What's the alternative? Lock her up for the rest of your life? You think that will make her love you?"

Titan's harsh breathing heightened the tension between them before he spat out angrily, "At this point, I don't care if she loves me. All I want is her submission. And the moment that happens, I'll take her and get her to give me a child. Then I'll have everything I need to secure my legacy."

Kane blew out a breath.

"What?" Titan demanded.

Kane shook his head. "I dealt with you wanting her. I dealt with you, building our empire for her. I dealt with you going in and kidnapping her. But forcing yourself on her… That I can't be ok with."

Titan's roar echoed through the room as he whirled to face Kane. "You dare question me? After everything we've been through, everything we've built together?"

Kane stood his ground, his face grim. "I'm not questioning you, Titan. I'm trying to protect you from yourself. This obsession with River is clouding your judgment. Making you reckless."

Kill him. Force him to submit.

Shut it.

"Reckless?" Titan snarled, advancing on Kane. "I've never been more focused in my life. Everything we've done, every move we've made, has led to this moment. And now you want to back out?"

Kane shook his head slowly. "I'm not backing out. But forcing yourself on her... that's a line I can't let you cross. It goes against everything we stand for."

Titan's laugh came out harsh and bitter. "Everything we stand for? We're rogues, Kane. Outcasts. We make our own rules."

"There are some rules that shouldn't be broken," Kane said. "Some lines that, once crossed, you can never come back from. Just ask that tortured girl upstairs who we promised to protect. We promised not to let the same thing happen to another female under our watch. Was that a lie?"

For a moment, Titan became conflicted. He had promised her, but this was different. River was his mate. His.

Mine. Take. Mark.

Titan's wolf spurred him on. He grabbed Kane by his shirt, yanking on him. "You're either with me or against me. There is no middle ground."

Kane's face remained impassive. "I've always been with you, brother. But this... this isn't you. The Titan I know wouldn't even consider-"

"The Titan you knew is exactly who I am. I've been weak for far too long. Now I understand, though. I understand why my mother did what she did. She did it for me. For us. All of us. And it's time I repay her for it."

"Then you'll have to do it without me."

Titan's grip tightened, and his wolf roared to be let out. To rip out Kane's throat. "You'd betray me? After everything?"

"It's not betrayal to try and save someone you care about from themselves. If you go through with this, if you force yourself on River... then you're no better than the monsters we've been against all these years."

Titan's fangs burst into his mouth, and his claws lengthened, tearing through Kane's shirt.

Do it. Kill. Make him submit. We are Alpha. We are King.

Titan shoved Kane away. "Get out," he growled. "Get out before I do something we'll both regret."

Kane straightened his shirt, his eyes locked on Titan's face. "Think about what you're doing, brother. There's still time to stop."

Titan turned away and gripped his desk. "Go."

As Kane's footsteps faded down the hallway, Titan stood alone in the room, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

Part of him knew Kane was right. Forcing himself on River would destroy any chance of ever restoring what little connection endured between them.

And yet, the thought of giving her up, of allowing Ares and Apollo to win, sent fury surging through him.

His wolf roared. Take. Claim. Make ours.

Titan raked a hand through his hair and stormed toward the window, staring out at the dark expanse of his lands. The Northern Lights still flickered in the sky, their colors eerie and unnatural against the pitch-black night.

Go. Hunt. Run.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"What?" he barked.

The door creaked open, revealing Vanessa. She slipped inside, her usual confidence tempered by something else, hesitation.

"I heard your… conversation with Kane."

Titan scoffed, turning away from her. "Is that what you've stooped to? Listening at doors now?"

"When you're losing allies left and right, you can't afford to ignore those who are still loyal."

"Don't lecture me about loyalty when you can't even spell the word."

"Then maybe you need something else." Her voice dropped to a seductive purr as she closed the distance between them, her fingers trailing along his arm. "You're wound too tight. You're overthinking when you should be acting."

He clenched his fists, trying to keep from shoving her away.

"Your problem-" She circled him like a predator scenting weakness, "is that you're obsessed with making her come to you willingly." She stopped in front of him, placing a hand on his torso. "But she's never going to."

Titan growled. "Careful, bitch."

Vanessa only smiled wider. "You think I don't know what you're planning? You want an heir. A child with royal blood to solidify your claim to the throne."Her lips brushed his ear. "I can give that to you."

His wolf snarled.

Titan wrenched her wrist and shoved her away before she touched him again.

"You're not her," he snapped.

Vanessa's eyes narrowed briefly before she let out an amused hum. "No," she admitted. "But I'm willing. Are you going to waste your time chasing after a female who will never love you? Or do you want to secure the throne?"

Titan exhaled sharply through his nose and turned away from her again.

"Think about it." Vanessa sauntered toward the door. "River will never accept you." She paused in the doorway, looking over her shoulder. "But I will. I'll give you the child you want. You don't even have to mate me for it."

She slipped out before he could respond.

Damn it all.

His wolf demanded they find River and force her compliance if necessary, but something held him back.

Kane's words echoed in his mind: Some lines, once crossed, you can never come back from.

For the first time in years, doubt crept into Titan's heart.

Titan stood frozen for several long moments, his mind racing. Vanessa's offer tempted the darkest parts of him. The parts that craved power and dominance above all else. If Vanessa had his child, but he could make everyone believe the child was River's…His wolf recoiled at the thought.

He stalked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey, downing it in one burning gulp.

River's face flashed in his mind. Her silver hair gleaming in the moonlight, eyes flashing with defiance. Even in her anger and fear, she was breathtaking. The thought of replacing her with Vanessa or anyone else made his gut churn.

But Vanessa's words nagged at him. River had made it abundantly clear that she would never accept him willingly. But Vanessa...

Titan poured another drink, his hand shaking. He had come so far, sacrificed so much. To give up now seemed unthinkable. But forcing River, breaking her spirit... that felt equally as impossible.

With a roar of frustration, Titan hurled his glass against the wall, where it shattered into a thousand glittering pieces. The crash echoed through the room, matching the chaos in his mind.

He had to clear his head.

Titan strode from the room, made his way through the winding corridors of the mansion, ignoring the nervous glances from the pack members he passed.

He burst out into the cool night air, inhaling deeply. Without conscious thought, his feet carried him towards the dense woods surrounding the property. As he reached the tree line, he stripped off his clothes, piling them on the forest floor.

The shift came easily, his human form melting away as his wolf surged forward. In moments, his black wolf stood where Titan had been.

With a low growl, Titan took off into the forest, his powerful legs eating up the ground beneath him.

He ran without direction or purpose, reveling in the primal freedom of his wolf form.

The scents of the forest filled his nose.

Evergreens, earth, and a myriad of small creatures that scurried out of his path.

As he ran, memories flooded his mind. The first time he'd smelled River.

Biting her only to be rejected by her. The years he had spent building his empire, always with her in mind.

Watching her from afar but never touching, never tasting.

Only to then have her claimed by the two men he hated most in the world.

Titan recognized a scent and turned instinctively toward it. In minutes, he'd taken down the doe and tackled her to the ground. As he ripped out her throat, he reveled in the feel of her warm blood in his mouth.

This was who he was, who he was meant to be. The monster that everyone feared. King of the Lycans. King of everything.