The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 177: Fin Kissed Her. Dex Lost His Goddamn Mind.

No Alpha in that room was happy. The collective testosterone could have curdled milk.

Aeron, on the other hand, was flat out smiling, trying and failing to school his face into something more dignified. Next to him, Maelor was scowling but the corners of his lips were turned up, so it looked like he was confused. Two master mages trying not to smile at a blood ritual. Professionalism at its finest.

In everyone’s hand, a small dagger pulsed with Fae magic.

"And now she fabricates," Hyran said under his breath.

He said it the way someone comments on the weather. Mild inconvenience. Slight annoyance. Total disregard for the fact that she was actively possessed.

Serena’s possessed head turned to him.

He was unfazed and unimpressed. "Oh please. That look is ridiculous. I’ve seen you possessed more times than I’ve seen you unconscious." He rolled his eyes. "And don’t even think about it."

’It’ being don’t fabricate a gold orb around him, because this was the most exciting day of his life. Hyran would rather be possessed himself than miss the data.

Serena’s possessed eyes narrowed. Hyran raised an eyebrow. It was a standoff between an ancient power and a mage with an attitude.

She looked away. It would have been funny.

Actually, it was. Elara snorted, unable to help herself.

Hale shot her a look.

She scoffed. "What? That man isn’t wrong. You try keeping her out of trouble and see how easy it is."

She gestured at Serena like a zookeeper presenting a particularly unpredictable exhibit.

To everyone’s surprise, Nightspire started to laugh at that. It was a genuine, warm laugh. His face went nostalgic, soft for half a second. Elara met his eyes, a moment of understanding passing between them.

Aeron cut his palm first, letting his blood fall into the fire. It flared gold in response. Everyone followed, one by one, the flame roaring different colors after each person.

Serena went last, the fire flaring pink and gold, as soon as her gold blood made contact.

Her eyes then flickered back to green. The pink she’d been pushing to everyone with a Hidden Flame mark stopped.

She glanced down at her hands, brows furrowed. Then she became aware everyone was watching her.

She had the distinct feeling she’d done something significant and the even more distinct feeling that no one was going to explain it to her gently. She was correct on both counts.

Fin was there first, hooking her around the waist, pulling her into him.

"I was so goddamn worried about you." He cradled her head, kissing her forehead, then her lips.

Dex’s pupils contracted to pinpoints, and his pulse doubled.

There was a very specific silence in the room. The kind that precedes either applause or violence.

Dex closed the distance in two strides, yanking Serena, who was still dazed, out of Fin’s grasp.

"Don’t. Touch. Her." He snarled, voice no longer singular. "She’s mine."

Both of his arms were around her, so protective it bordered on violence. He held her the way people hold things they’re afraid someone will take. Which, given the last three seconds, was entirely justified.

Serena blinked a few times, completely disoriented. She had been conscious for approximately eleven seconds and had already been kissed by one alpha and claimed by another. She was still trying to figure out why her hands were bleeding. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Gavriel inhaled slowly through his nose. "And there it is."

Fin Shadowclaw lunged, ripping Serena away from Dex, passing her to Elara without looking, then drove his shoulder into Dex’s chest.

Elara pulled Serena backward, expression shifting from surprise to resigned exhaustion. "And we were having such a nice ritual."

They hit the island ground hard. The sound echoed through the chamber like a dinner bell for chaos.

Fin’s fist connected with Dex’s jaw before they’d stopped sliding. They fought like two men who respected each other enormously and were going to beat each other unconscious anyway.

Every punch Fin threw carried weeks of restraint, every held tongue, every time he felt her guilt over a man who failed her and said nothing. It wasn’t about winning. It was about finally letting the pressure out before it cracked him from the inside.

Dex slammed his elbow into Fin’s ribs with enough force to echo off the chamber walls. Fin barely registered it.

He rammed Dex into the basin’s stone edge, everyone scrambling out of the way in the process.

Dex’s spine hit the rim and he grinned, blood on his teeth, before launching off it and tackling Fin into the shallow water at the lake’s edge. He grinned the way some men grin in fights. Not because it was funny. Because he’d been wanting to do this for weeks and finally had the excuse.

The mutual desire to beat each other senseless was the healthiest thing they had in common.

They went under. Came up swinging.

The lake was sacred. Older than the kingdom. And two alphas were using it as a wrestling ring. Maelor looked physically pained. Aeron looked delighted.

Fin caught Dex’s wrist mid-strike and twisted. Dex headbutted him. Fin’s nose split. Neither of them slowed down.

This wasn’t a fight. This was a conversation they’d been having silently for over two months, finally translated into fists.

Hale took one step forward, looked at the size of both alphas, and took one step back.

Aeron hadn’t moved. "Fascinating," he murmured to Hyran. "Two alphas in simultaneous territorial aggression over a shared mate."

Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose.

Serena’s hand flew over her mouth. She looked at Elara, completely unsure what to do. She could feel their pain echoing with every hit.

Eyes reddening, a rash bloomed on her neck. It climbed her throat like a vine, hot to the touch, her skin betraying every emotion she was trying to crush into silence.

Both alphas looked up at her in the same instant, feeling her distress through the matebond.

It stopped them mid-swing, her pain overriding their rage like a circuit breaker tripping.

"Serena ..." they both said in unison, then looked at one another with dislike.

The synchronization was almost impressive. Serena would have appreciated it if she weren’t on the verge of a breakdown.

They continued glaring at one another. Neither breaking eye contact. Their dislike was mutual and deeply personal. But they agreed on exactly one thing, and she was standing in front of them with tears in her eyes.

No one moved. No one said anything.

The silence was not peace. It was the silence of a held breath, an entire room frozen in the half-second before glass hits the floor. Everyone had seen that volcano simmering from a mile away. But now was when it all finally came to fruition.

The question was which one would Serena go to right now.

At that moment, the flame in the crystal basin changed to white, and exploded to the ceiling.

None of them were knocked back.

"So this is what it’s like," Gav muttered. "Usually I’m on the ground by now."