The Alpha's Silent Bride: Seventh Time's The Charm

Chapter 91: 091: Lovesick fool

~ ETHAN ~

There’s nothing more infuriating than competing with Ronan. It’s like winning is woven into the bastard’s blood.

And I fucking hate him for it. He’s so damn good at everything he touches that it makes me feel smaller just standing next to him.

The worst part is that my entire life has never really been about what I wanted. It has always been about becoming good enough to stand beside Ronan, challenge Ronan, and someday beat Ronan.

But how the fuck do you compete with someone who’s always one step ahead?

Ronan has the brains, the charm, and the looks. He’s a natural-born leader, a gifted strategist, and one of the deadliest fighters our generation has ever seen.

No matter how hard I train or how many battles I win, someone always finds a way to compare me to him. Every achievement I earn somehow becomes another reminder that Ronan did it better.

I’ve spent my entire life chasing a finish line that keeps moving because Ronan is always standing beyond it.

People don’t see Ethan. They see Ronan’s cousin brother.

I’ve never been the first choice. I’ve always been the second contender, the spare, the one living in his cousin’s shadow.

It’s like the bastard walks into every room and steals all the air from it. No matter where I go or what I accomplish, his presence follows me, making me feel like I’m fighting a battle I was destined to lose before it even began.

I had every intention of returning to the pack and challenging Ronan for the Alpha position fair and square. For once, I actually had an advantage over him.

The curse hanging over his head.

As long as he remained cursed, he was vulnerable, and vulnerability was something Ronan had never been able to afford. It was the one weakness I could exploit, the only leverage I had against the perfect golden son. I hated myself for thinking that way.

But when you’ve spent your entire life standing in someone else’s shadow, you stop caring about playing fair. You start caring about winning.

I already had everything planned out the moment I heard Ronan had taken another Luna. The rumors said he cared about this one differently, and that alone caught my attention.

They said he’d fallen in love. Bloody hell... Ronan, of all people, had actually fallen in love.

I didn’t believe it at first because Ronan had never been the sentimental type. I thought it was nothing more than another exaggerated rumor.

Then I came back to the pack and saw it with my own eyes.

The way he looks at her says everything. He watches her like she’s the center of his world, and he’d kill anyone who so much as thinks about hurting her.

That kind of devotion is dangerous because love always creates a weakness.

My plan was simple. I was going to let him fall so deeply for her that she’d become the perfect leverage against him when the time came.

But, fuck...

You’ve got to cut a man some slack because she’s gorgeous. She’s fiery, stubborn, and nothing like the six women Ronan married before her.

Those other women were easy. They chased power, status, and the title of Luna, and it didn’t take much to charm them into my bed.

Ronan hates me for it. I know he does.

He probably thinks I seduced them just to get under his skin. Maybe I did. Maybe I just wanted to prove that even the women chosen for him could still choose me instead. Either way, I don’t give two fucks.

Then the Moon Goddess decided to play the cruelest joke imaginable by making Roselle my mate.

She is my blood mate. The moment I got close enough to her, Azrael felt the bond between us before I did, and he hasn’t stopped reminding me ever since.

It’s driving me fucking insane because it ruins everything.

She was never supposed to be mine. She was supposed to be Ronan’s weakness, not mine.

She was supposed to be the one thing I could use against him when the time came.

Instead, she’s the one woman my wolf refuses to let go of.

Every time I look at her, Azrael pushes me to claim her, protect her, and rip her away from my cousin.

Every time Ronan touches her, my wolf claws at my mind like a rabid beast, reminding me that she’s ours.

I hate it because this bond is nothing but a complication.

I spent years planning how I would bring Ronan to his knees, and now the Moon Goddess has tied my greatest weapon to my own heart. That wasn’t part of the plan.

Now I’m caught between creating a rift between them and claiming her as my own. Either choice could cost me everything I’ve spent years working toward.

I’m torn between chasing the power I’ve always wanted and the woman fate has decided belongs to me. It’s no wonder Ronan is so hopelessly in love with her.

Those hazel eyes could trap any man foolish enough to look into them for too long. She has this infuriating way of drawing you in until the rest of the world simply fades away.

Before you know it, you’re no longer thinking about revenge, ambition, or victory. You’re only thinking about her. And that’s exactly what terrifies me.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glance at the screen, an unknown number. I answer it anyway, lowering my voice.

"What?"

A familiar, gravelly voice comes through the line. "How’s the coup attack coming along? Is your plan still on track?"

I lean back against the wall, a slow smirk spreading across my face. "It’s progressing. Ronan’s distracted with his little mate and that new Lycan problem. The timing couldn’t be better. He’s got too many fires to put out at once. When the moment comes, he won’t see it until it’s too late."

The voice on the other end chuckles darkly. "Good. Keep it that way. We can’t afford any slip-ups. The pack needs a real leader, not some cursed lovesick fool chasing a girl."