The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 178: Ancestral Roast: They’ve Been Waiting For This
Layered whispers filled the chamber.
"If we say the horizon shifts for every traveler ..."
Serena turned away from the lake and the men fighting over her, eyes widening at the question. "Then I answer that the bearing remains unchanged."
The column of white fire hitting the ceiling, shrank back to a regular size. It flared gold.
Aeron clapped once and did a jump.
Alaric snorted and shook his head. "Welcome to Drakenfell." He said it the way a tour guide says it on a bus that just hit a pothole.
Then the whispers rose again.
"Hyran Thornfell."
Hyran jolted at his own name. The most powerful mage across all continents had just flinched like a student called on in class.
Alaric and Aeron looked at one another, both trying not to laugh. Hyran shot them a glare with cat-forced-into-bath-level irritation.
Aeron mouthed the word "relax" at him. Hyran’s glare intensified to a level that suggested that was the wrong thing to say. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"Born and trained in Drakenfell. Mage-blood descendant of the First Dragon King, ancestors originate in Morbia. He chose his path wisely. He stands as the most connected and powerful mage across all continents. Advisor to Skardos’s wisest king. Mentor to the Dragon Prince and the daughter of the Moon Goddess."
Hyran wanted to be annoyed. The ancestors were making it very difficult. He tried not to react, but it was clear he didn’t hate the praise. His face said ’this is unnecessary,’ but his posture said ’continue.’
Alaric leaned towards Aeron, and gave him a knowing look that said, he’s going to be unbearable for weeks. Aeron gave him a grim nod that communicated, months actually.
The whispers resumed with something that felt, impossibly, like a throat being cleared.
"He rehearses before every ritual in the mirror at least twice. ’Blood remembers and blood binds’ for pack initiations took him a week. The ancestors watched."
Hyran gave the fire a flat look. The fire did not apologize. If anything, it burned a fraction brighter, the ancestral equivalent of a smirk.
Dexmon and Fin had silently gotten up, neither saying a word, moving towards the basin. Elara clocked it, grabbed Serena’s arm, and pulled her in between herself and Hale.
"Alaric Kestrel. Mage-blood descendant of the First Dragon King. He stands as the most connected and knowledgable healer in Skardos. Chosen by the Moon Goddess as a protector."
"His patients recover despite his personality. His handwriting remains illegible. The ancestors have given up."
Alaric received this with the same enthusiasm he received most things: mild irritation and a desire to move on. The voice shifted, deepening.
"Aeron Lancaster. Born in Morbia. Mage-blood descendant of the First Dragon King."
Everyone’s eyes snapped to Aeron at this. He was now the most interesting person in the room, and looked like he’d rather not be.
"Master Mage in Shadowclaw. He chose his path wisely. Selected by fate to train the most powerful Alpha King in history, and the daughter of the Moon Goddess. He stands as one of the most knowledgeable mages in all continents."
Aeron straightened. Fin allowed himself a brief, proud grin, the kind reserved only for a brother in arms.
"His burn book from magic school contains dirt on every mage in this chamber. The journal he currently carries is much worse. It contains observations about every Alpha present that the ancestors will neither confirm nor deny finding hilarious."
Fin’s proud grin changed into a we-will-be-discussing-this-later look, and Tiberon’s eyes narrowed on him with the weight of a drawn sword.
The chamber rumbled, and the fire pulsed sapphire.
"Gavriel Sterling. Born in Drakenfell, descendant of the First Dragon King and First Fae King. Ascended to the Gamma seat in his twentieth summer."
"Warrior and protector chosen by the Moon Goddess. Will be known across Skardos as its greatest Gamma in history. The right hand of the Dragon Prince in this life and the last."
"In his tenth winter, he carried a wounded omega child five miles through snow to a healer’s door. It was the last thing Kael Sterling ever saw his grandson do and is the kind of man Gavriel Sterling is."
Dex, who had known him long enough to read every tell the man had, looked at his best friend with something that wasn’t cocky or sharp or sarcastic. It was pride. Raw and unfiltered.
Gavriel caught Dex’s expression. Looked away. If they held eye contact any longer, one of them was going to say something sincere, and neither of them could handle that.
"He honors his ancestors, known by the gods as the one who controls his fate. There is a crossroads ahead that no prophecy can navigate for him. He will choose, and the gods will not intervene. They have agreed not to."
"He also wears sarcasm like armor and is the loudest Gamma in Skardos. The ancestors would like both facts on the record."
The fire changed color to pure silver.
"Hale Ironholt. Incarnate of the Ice Dragon Lord, brethren of House Drakenfell. Now Beta of Drakenfell. High General of the Draken Forces."
Hale went still. The kind of still that only happened when something hit a nerve so deep the body didn’t know whether to flinch or break.
Elara’s hand found his arm behind Serena who was still tucked in between them. He didn’t look at her, but his fingers closed over hers.
"His tactical mind is unmatched. But his ability to ask Elara Vaelor to a dance required intervention from the Dragon Prince, the Gamma, and the daughter of the Moon Goddess. It took all three."
Hale took the hit like a soldier taking crossfire, but with a blush. The kind of blush that starts behind the ears and does not stop until it has claimed every available surface
The voice shifted, their words annunciated and proper. The fire remained silver, but flashed brighter than Hale’s. A classic one-upper that screamed Frostborne without having to lift a finger.
"Elara Ironholt. Dragon King Descendant. Fated to the Ice Dragon Lord Incarnate. She did not make it easy for him in this life. The ancestors enjoyed every moment of it."
"Beta Luna of Drakenfell. A red wolf blessed with mage power. Destined to be the best Beta Luna in all continents."
Elara’s chin lifted in defiance. Like the whispers had said out loud the thing she had been silently daring the world to deny. The love on Hale’s face was so open, so stripped of every wall he usually hid behind, that Gav had to look away. Even he had limits.
"She loves fiercely and forgives slowly. The ancestors advise Hale Ironholt to remember this. They advise him that she is also not fine, when she says she’s fine. She’s still very upset he ghosted her."
Hale blinked. Once. Twice. The third blink was slower, loaded with the dawning horror of a man who had just been publicly informed, by the dead, that a situation he believed to be resolved was, in fact, very much active.
The fire flared gold, and the whispers shifted again. This was much louder, and powerful sounding.
"Finnick Shadowclaw. Descendant of the First Dragon King. Now King of North Varos. Already counted among the most powerful Alpha Kings in all continents."
The whispers paused, and Serena briefly met Fin’s eyes. He held her gaze with a kind of calm that only came from a man who knew there was more they weren’t saying. Something he knew in his bones.
"Incarnate to the Sovereign’s Second—the High Brother-Commander. The second most powerful Dragon King in history."
"He has been called cocky by kings, arrogant by advisors, and impossible by every healer who has ever treated him. The ancestors have reviewed the testimony. The defense rests."
"He was also given the inability to express a single vulnerable emotion without clenching his jaw first."
Fin’s jaw clenched. The timing was catastrophic.
"Incarnate of the First King of Wolves, fated to the favorite daughter of the Moon Goddess, a Fae princess carved in her image. The first thread ever woven between two souls, connecting two species as one. A gift from the Gods to honor him."
"The fated matebond was taken in his second life. A severance not of his doing, but one he has paid for in every life since. A matebond that lay dormant, in this life reawakened."
The entire room froze. A pin could have dropped, and everyone would have heard it land, bounce, and settle.
Hyran’s eyes widened for a split second. Tiberon even seemed to be in recalculation. Dexmon stared at Serena who was now looking into the fire.
"And he still, in this life, introduced himself to her with a title and a handshake. The ancestors watched a god-ordained romance begin with a handshake. They would like a moment."
The gold in the fire shifted to bronze. When the whispers returned, they were not whispering and entirely different ancestors. Less patient ones. The kind who had clearly been waiting for this name to come up.
"Riven Nightspire. Alpha King of Southeast Skardos, the most integrated kingdom between Fae, Mages, and Wolves."
"He creates peace between the three species with creative measures including threats and blackmail. The ancestors reviewed the file. They have concerns. They also have results. The results won."
Riven’s expression did not change. A man who had been blackmailing people for the greater good was not easily rattled by ancestral commentary.
"Chosen as a protector by the Moon Goddess for a moon-blood descendant. A gift given to him, a love since childhood. Did not honor the fated bond, and stayed with his chosen who was carrying his heir. A choice that led to her death. A grief he will carry until the earth takes him back."
"His kingdom is a masterwork. His legacy is secure, and heir strong. And yet, every night, the other side of his bed is empty because of a decision he made when he was twenty-three. The ancestors do not pity him. They do, however, find it worth mentioning at this volume, in front of three other Alphas."
The phrase "at this volume" hung in the air like a slap delivered by someone wearing formal gloves. The ancestors were petty. Impressively, historically petty.
