THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

**Ronan's POV**
My phone buzzes while I'm sitting in my room, staring at the cracked binding stone around my neck. The spider web of silver lines has been growing all week, and tonight they pulse with an angry light that makes my chest ache.
Tyler's name flashes on the screen. I almost don't answer. I'm not in the mood for whatever party nonsense he wants to share.
But something makes me pick up.
"You need to see this," Tyler says without greeting. His voice sounds strange. Shaky.
"See what?"
"I'm sending you a video. Just... just watch it."
The call ends, and a notification pops up. Video message from Tyler. I tap it without thinking.
The first thing I see is Celeste on a platform, wearing a white dress and a crown like she's playing dress-up. Students crowd around her, holding drinks and laughing. Some kind of party.
Then I see her.
Evangeline.
She's standing on the platform next to Celeste, looking small and nervous in a black dress. But she's there. At a party. Looking almost... happy?
My wolf stirs uneasily in my chest. Something's wrong with this picture.
"Did you really think I would actually want to be friends with you?" Celeste's voice cuts through the party noise, clear as a knife.
Evangeline's face changes. The hope dies in her eyes like someone blew out a candle.
"Did you think that a pathetic little Omega could ever be worthy of respect from people like us?"
No. No, she wouldn't. Even Celeste wouldn't be this cruel.
But then I see Madison and Sarah lifting a bucket. A bucket full of something dark and thick.
My blood turns to ice.
The bucket tips. Red liquid cascades over Evangeline like a waterfall of horror. She falls backward off the platform, hitting the ground hard, and the crowd erupts in laughter.
I stare at the screen, trying to process what I just watched. But something else pulls at me. Not just the humiliation, but... the look in her eyes before she walked away. It wasn't just pain. It was power. And for a moment, I swear, her wolf looked back at me through the camera.
The phone slips from my hands, clattering to the floor.
My wolf doesn't just stir this time. He explodes.
Rage floods through my veins like molten metal. The binding stone around my neck grows so hot it burns my skin, but I barely notice. All I can see is Evangeline covered in blood while people laugh. While my fiancé orchestrates her humiliation like it's entertainment.
I'm moving before I realize it. Down the stairs, through the front door, into my car. The engine roars to life, and I'm speeding through the night toward Celeste's house with my wolf clawing at my ribs, demanding blood.
*Mate,* he snarls in my head. *Protect mate. Kill them. Kill them all.*
The rational part of my brain tries to argue. Tries to remind me that I rejected Evangeline. That I chose Celeste. That I have no right to be angry about this.
But the rational part is drowning under a wave of fury so pure it makes my vision blur.
By the time I reach Celeste's house, my hands are shaking on the steering wheel. The party is still going strong. Music pumps from the backyard, and expensive cars line the street. Through the windows, I can see students moving around, probably still talking about what they just witnessed.
I don't bother with the front door. I go straight through the backyard gate, and the music cuts off the moment I appear.
Conversations die. Laughter stops. Everyone turns to stare at me, and I can see the fear creeping into their faces. Good. They should be afraid.
Celeste is still on her platform, still wearing that ridiculous crown. When she sees me, her face lights up like I'm here to congratulate her.
"Ronan! You missed the best part. Did Tyler send you the video? Wasn't it..."
"You went too far."
My voice cuts through her excited babbling like a blade. The smile dies on her lips.
"What?"
"You heard me." I walk closer to the platform, and students scramble to get out of my way. "You went too far, Celeste."
She laughs, but it sounds nervous now. "Too far? I just put an Omega in her place. I thought you'd be proud of me."
"Proud?" The word tastes like poison. "You think I'd be proud of you for that?"
"She challenged you," Celeste says, stepping down from the platform. "She disrespected you. Someone had to teach her a lesson."
"That wasn't your decision to make."
"Yes, it was." Her voice gets sharper, more defensive. "I'm your fiancé. I'm going to be your Luna. It's my job to handle threats to your authority."
Fiancé. Luna. The words make my wolf snarl with disgust.
"Is that what you think a Luna does?" I ask, my voice dangerously quiet. "Torture girls who can't fight back?"
"I defended your honor!"
"You humiliated someone who never did anything to you." I take another step closer, and she actually backs away. "You organized a public shaming like some medieval execution. You made her trust you just so you could destroy her more completely."
"She deserved it," Celeste snaps. "She slapped you, Ronan. She told you to stay away from her. She acted like she was your equal."
"Maybe she is."
The words slip out before I can stop them. The backyard goes dead silent. Even the wind seems to hold its breath.
Celeste stares at me like I've grown a second head. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me."
"She's an Omega," Celeste hisses. "She's nobody. She's nothing. And you're taking her side over mine?"
"I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm telling you that what you did tonight was wrong."
"Wrong?" Celeste's voice climbs higher. "I'm your fiancé! I'm the daughter of Beta Morrison! I'm going to be the Luna of this pack!"
She steps closer, her eyes flashing with fury.
"You're threatening me?" she snaps. "You're mine, Ronan. Everyone knows it. You think they'll accept you if you choose her over me?"
The possession in her voice makes my wolf snarl with disgust.
"How dare you tell me I'm wrong for defending what's mine?"
What's mine. Like I'm a possession she owns.
"A real Luna doesn't prey on the weak," I say. "A real Luna protects those who can't protect themselves. A real Luna leads with strength, not cruelty."
"Oh, please." Celeste throws her hands up in disgust. "Don't lecture me about being a Luna. You're the one who rejected your mate for me. You're the one who chose duty over whatever twisted feelings you have for her."
"This isn't about my feelings. This is about you being a monster."
The word hangs in the air between us like a challenge. Celeste's face goes white, then red, then white again.
"I'm the monster?" she shrieks. "I'm the monster? You're the one pining after some pathetic Omega while you're engaged to me! You're the one whose wolf probably gets excited every time she's around!"
She's not wrong, and that makes it worse.
"Maybe I should just destroy your precious mate bond," she continues, her voice getting more hysterical. "Maybe I should find a way to break it permanently so you can focus on your real future instead of chasing after some nobody who doesn't even want you!"
My wolf explodes.
The roar that tears from my throat isn't human. It's pure animal fury, the sound of a predator whose territory has been threatened. Students around the backyard drop to their knees instinctively, heads bowed, necks exposed in submission.
Even Celeste stumbles backward, her face going pale.
"Don't," I snarl, and my voice is deeper now, rougher. "Don't even think about it."
"Ronan, I..."
"You will never touch that bond. You will never go near her again. You will never so much as speak her name." Each word comes out like a physical blow. "Do you understand me?"
Celeste nods frantically, tears streaming down her face.
I turn to face the crowd of students still kneeling around the backyard. Most of them have their phones out, probably recording this whole confrontation.
"All of you," I say, and my Alpha voice carries easily across the silent space. "Delete the video. Now."
"But..." someone starts to protest.
"DELETE IT." The command hits them like a physical force. "Delete every video, every photo, every social media post. If I see any trace of tonight's events online, if I hear about anyone sharing what happened here, you will answer to me personally."
Phones come out immediately. I watch as dozens of students frantically delete files, their hands shaking.
"This isn't over," I continue. "What happened here tonight was a disgrace. If any of you ever participate in something like this again, if you ever target someone who can't defend themselves for your entertainment, you'll discover exactly what happens when you cross a future Alpha."
The fear in their faces is satisfying, but it doesn't ease the rage burning in my chest.
"Now get out," I order. "All of you. Go home and think about what kind of people you want to be."
They don't need to be told twice. Students scatter like startled birds, grabbing their things and rushing toward the exits. Within minutes, the backyard is empty except for me and Celeste.
She's still crying, mascara running down her cheeks, her perfect crown sitting crooked on her head.
"Ronan, please," she whispers. "I was just trying to protect us. Protect our future."
"Our future?" I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "After tonight, I'm not sure we have a future."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I look at her - really look at her. The woman I'm supposed to marry. The woman who just orchestrated the public humiliation of an innocent girl for entertainment.
"It means I need to think about who I want to spend my life with," I say quietly. "And right now, I'm not sure it's someone who enjoys causing pain."
I turn and walk away, leaving her standing alone in her ruined party, surrounded by the wreckage of her cruelty.
My phone buzzes as I reach my car. A text from Tyler.
*Is she okay? Evangeline, I mean. That was... that was really bad, man.*
I stare at the message, thinking about Evangeline walking home alone, covered in blood, humiliated in front of half the school.
*I don't know,* I text back.
Because I don't. And the not knowing eats at me like acid.
I sit in my car for a long time, hands gripping the steering wheel, trying to understand what just happened. What I just did. What it means.
I defended her. I roared for her. I threatened my own fiancé over her.
But that doesn't change anything. It can't change anything.
The elders expect me to marry Celeste in two months. My father expects it. The whole pack expects it. One moment of moral clarity doesn't erase months of planning, years of preparation.
I can't choose Evangeline. I won't choose her.
But that doesn't mean I have to let people destroy her for sport.
The binding stone around my neck cracks a little more as I drive home through the empty streets, silver light bleeding through the fractures like something trying to break free.
Every time I think of her, it splinters more. Like it's punishing me for staying away. Or warning me that time is running out.
I ignore it. Whatever's happening to the stone, whatever's happening to the bond, it doesn't matter.
I made my choice a long time ago.
Tonight was just about doing what's right. Nothing more.
But in the silence of the drive, her face flashes in my mind again, soaked in blood, but her eyes blazing. And I realize something that terrifies me more than the elders, more than my father, more than the mate bond itself.
She's not broken.
She's becoming something else.
And if I don't stop it, no one will.