Chapter 32: Work On Yourself, Ethan.
The marching rhythm of the Gammas was loud enough to shake the tents to their foundations or even shift the landscape itself, which was precisely why Kane had moved their training grounds to the edge of the forest.
Yet even from the apex of this towering rock, he could still clearly hear their roaring chants and heavy steps echoing from the wide field below.
He watched them calmly as the wind whipped past. The cold season was fast approaching, and soon the climate would change. Kane adjusted the thick tiger fur draped over his shoulders and waited patiently.
"Father," Ethan’s voice called out from a few steps behind him.
The moment carried a striking familiarity. Years ago, when Ethan was just ten years old, he had climbed to this very spot for the first time. Because the sheer drop was well over fifty feet to the ground below, the little boy had become utterly paralyzed with fear and cried out for help.
Kane remembered walking over, taking his small hand and gently guiding him right to the edge of the cliff to face his terror.
"The breeze from up here always feels different, Father," Ethan said, finally stepping up to his side. His gaze drifted down to the dizzying distance separating them from the training field.
Even though this was far from the first time he had stood on this precipice, the overwhelming atmosphere of the height never changed. Instinctively, he shifted half a step behind his father.
"You are still afraid, my son," Kane noted, turning his head to look at him.
"Not really, Father."
"I understand your fear."
"You don’t look at me and see a weakling?"
"Far from it. A single fear does not define who you are and I have always told you this, Ethan," Kane said, keeping his gaze fixed on him. "A day will come when you will have to stand here alone and watch over the tribe, especially the training of the Gammas. From up here, we can see their flaws and strengths much better."
"You can just continue watching over them yourself," Ethan joked lightly, taking a deliberate step back from the ledge.
His father let out a soft chuckle, his eyes drifting back to the horizon. "A day will come, Ethan. I won’t be here forever, and you will become the Alpha King. I cannot rule for eternity, nor will I live forever."
"You told me my grandfather ruled the tribe for two hundred years," Ethan reminded him, as if hoping his father had forgotten their kind’s exceptionally long lifespan. "You could live much longer than you think, and it is my prayer that you do."
Kane simply nodded, offering no verbal reply. With his hands clasped tightly behind his back, he took a slow step forward, a movement so sudden it nearly made his son’s heart jump right out of his throat.
Any further forward would mean plunging off the edge. Ethan knew that even if his father did fall, the Alpha King would simply land on his feet on the rocks below without a single scratch to show for it. But the sheer proximity to the edge was suffocating.
"My wife was attacked in her tent, in our own territory, last night," Kane began coldly, causing Ethan’s pulse to quicken. "It is a grotesque insult to my name. I failed to protect what is mine... and that makes me look weak, Ethan. What do you think?"
"The complete opposite, Father. You are not a weak man, and this is absolutely not your fault," Ethan answered quickly, trying to maintain his composure. "Someone else caused this chaos."
"You are thinking like a child, Ethan," Kane countered, pivoting on his heel to face him. He instantly noticed the wide distance his son was keeping between them. "Come closer."
"As you wish, Father," Ethan said. He forced himself to take a few steps forward until he was standing directly in front of the King.
"What happened to Arianna was despicable and trust me, I would react with the exact same fury if it were any other woman in this tribe," Kane said, his voice dropping to a dangerous baritone. "We are built to protect our women, not to harm them. They should never be made to feel terrified to live, breathe, or sleep soundly in their own tents."
Ethan nodded. He wasn’t at all surprised by his father’s righteous stance; Kane had always taken matters of honor and protection deeply to heart. "I understand, Father."
"If you are to become King someday, you must never neglect the safety of our women or allow them to be treated like prey. It is disgusting," Kane added, his features twisting in raw revulsion as he spoke. "We must do better."
"Yes, Father."
"Which is precisely why we must find whoever did this before sunset," Kane concluded, his eyes locking onto Ethan’s with terrifying intensity. "And we will make a brutal example out of them."
"Hopefully we will," Ethan murmured. "Uncle Cassius is already working on the case."
"Yes. And he also told me that you sneaked into the Queen’s tent, when I had clearly issued strict instructions that no one was permitted inside," Kane said, hitting the nail right on the head. That was the real reason he had summoned him up to this cliff; everything else before this had just been a prelude.
Ethan’s skin went deathly pale. He realized with a jolt of terror the kind of trap his father had set for him—and in this precarious place, of all places. He couldn’t help but curse his father’s sharp intellect, because no matter how he tried to spin it, he was going to be absolutely terrified by the time this conversation ended.
"Why did you flagrantly disobey me?" his father demanded, the inner edges of his brows pinching together in a harsh, dark line.
"F-forgive me, Father. I shouldn’t have done it, but curiosity got the better of me," Ethan stammered, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. There was no point in trying to deny it; his uncle had completely betrayed him. Cassius had acted like he was letting him off the hook back in the tent, but look at this now.
"You have been testing my patience lately. Do not think for a second that I haven’t received the reports of your behavior in the West," Kane told him coldly.
Ethan’s eyes widened in sheer shock.
"The one thing you fail to understand, Ethan, is that you cannot hide anything from me," Kane continued, his voice steady and absolute. "Your secrets might keep for a little while, but I will always find out the truth."
Ethan stared down at his boots, viciously cursing himself for his own carelessness. He should have intercepted those Western reports before they ever made it back to the home territory.
"Trust me, no matter how long it takes, the truth always finds its way to me," Kane warned, stepping closer. "Which is why I am telling you this now: work on yourself and change your ways immediately. Otherwise, I will be forced to make a permanent decision regarding your future."
Ethan needed no one to interpret that threat for him. With the secret of his true lineage fresh in his mind, he knew exactly what his father meant.
"I am incredibly sorry, Father," Ethan whispered, his throat dry. "I will work on myself. I promise."
Ethan needed no one to interpret that threat for him. He knew exactly what his father meant. "I am so sorry, Father. I will work on myself."
"Your choice," Kane shrugged casually, turning his attention back to the Gammas, who were now fully engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat training below. "One more thing, Ethan..." He paused intentionally, making sure his son was paying absolute attention.
"Yes, Father," Ethan answered calmly. He silently prayed it wouldn’t be another warning, but the Moon Goddess failed him.
"Look at me," Kane commanded, pivoting back toward him.
This time, the King’s eyes flared a brilliant, menacing red, radiating the suffocating commanding aura of a true Alpha. Ethan’s body instantly responded to the dominant sire-bond, his own eyes shifting to a glowing golden hue.
"If, in the course of this investigation, I find out that you were involved in any way with what happened to my wife," Kane warned, his voice vibrating with absolute authority, "I swear by the ancestors I will kill you myself. I did not raise you to treat women or anyone else with such utter cowardice."
A violent shiver ran straight down Ethan’s spine. He knew his father well enough to realize the King meant every single word of that vow. Terrified by the raw lethal edge in his father’s voice, Ethan staggered a few steps backward.
He wasn’t just terrified of the immediate investigation anymore.
He was utterly paralyzed by the thought of what else his father would inevitably uncover if he kept digging...specifically, the truth of everything that had already transpired between himself and Arianna.
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