Chapter 354
STONEVALE PACK
The doors to Janet’s chamber opened.
Darren stepped inside like he had already made his decision long before he got there.
The room was just as he had left it days ago–quiet, dim, the low fire still burning at the center like it had never gone out.
Janet didn’t acknowledge his presence.
She already knew he was going to come back.
A faint smirk tugged at her lips as she finally lifted her gaze to him, her eyes sharp with quiet amusement.
“You came back.”
Darren didn’t return the expression.
He stopped a few steps in, his posture rigid, controlled–but there was something different beneath it now. Less patience. Less tolerance.
“I want results,” he said.
No greeting.
Janet’s smirk didn’t fade.
“Do you?” she murmured.
Darren took another step forward, his gaze locking onto hers.
“Name your price,” Darren said.
The words came out steady.
“Whatever you want.”
That got her attention.
She wasn’t surprised. Darren was always that desperate. And she liked that about him.
A subtle shift in her posture as she leaned back slightly, studying him now with more care than before.
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Because this wasn’t the same man who had stormed out of her chambers.
This one had come back… prepared.
Janet held his gaze for a moment.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
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She didn’t respond immediately.
She held his gaze for a moment longer, then slowly leaned back in her chair, as if settling into a decision she had already made.
“Fine,” she said at last.
The word was quiet.
Darren’s eyes narrowed slightly, watching her carefully.
“If you’re going to be Alpha,” Janet continued, “then it will take more than walking into that council chamber and claiming the Moon Goddess spoke your name.”
A faint pause.
“The pack values my words,” she added, “but they are not fools.”
Darren didn’t interrupt.
But his posture shifted–subtle, impatient.
“There was a reason Kael was chosen over you,” Janet said, her tone steady. “And that same reason is why, even after his death… even after his son was exiled…”
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
“…you are still not Alpha.”
The words landed clean.
No hesitation.
No attempt to soften them.
Darren’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
Janet watched him for a second longer, then continued.
“You don’t have their trust,” she said. “And you don’t have their respect.”
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A brief silence followed.
“You want them to follow you?” she added. “Then give them a reason.”
That was where Darren’s patience snapped.
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“I didn’t come here for a lecture,” he said, irritation breaking through again. “I asked for a solution… Do you have it or not?”
Janet didn’t react.
Didn’t flinch.
Instead, her gaze drifted past him–toward the low fire burning steadily.
The flames flickered softly, casting shifting shadows along the walls.
She went quiet.
Completely.
Darren frowned slightly, watching her.
Seconds passed.
Then longer.
But Janet didn’t move…didn’t speak.
Her focus remained fixed on the fire, her expression slowly emptying into something distant.
Meditative.
Like she was listening to something no one else could hear.
The room grew still around her.
Even Darren didn’t interrupt this time.
Because he knew better.
When Janet went like this… it meant something was coming.
And when she finally spoke-
Her voice was quieter.
But heavier.
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“You don’t need my voice to make you Alpha,” she said.
Darren’s attention sharpened immediately.
“You need theirs,” she continued.
A slight pause.
“The elders. The pack. Every wolf that still looks at you and sees… second choice.”
Darren’s eyes darkened.
Janet’s gaze lifted slowly from the fire, returning to him.
“If you want that to change,” she said, “then you don’t ask for it.”
Her voice dropped just slightly.
“You prove it.”
Silence stretched between them again.
Then-
Darren’s expression shifted, just enough to show he was listening now… really listening.
Janet leaned forward slightly, her eyes locking onto his.
“Do what no Alpha before you has done,” she said.
The words came slower now.
Measured and intentional.
“Give this pack something it has never had.”
A small pause.
Then, quieter-
“Bring them power they cannot ignore.”
Darren held her gaze.
Something flickered there now.
Interest.
Calculation.
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Janet didn’t look away.
“If
you can do that…” she continued, “they won’t just accept you.”
Her voice lowered into something almost final.
“They’ll need you.”
The fire crackled softly between them.
And for the first time since he had walked in, Darren felt hope.
But because an idea was beginning to take shape.
Something that felt… like an answer.
Janet saw it happen.
The shift.
And she didn’t stop it.
She just watched.
Because whatever Darren chose to do next-
Would change everything.
Darren was still silent.
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Janet’s words lingered in the air between them, settling slowly, deliberately–like something
meant to take root.
He stood where he was, his gaze fixed on her, but his mind was still turning over what she had said, stripping it down, testing it.
Do what no Alpha before you has done.
Bring them power they cannot ignore.
It wasn’t a vague suggestion.
It was a direction.
A challenge.
And more than that-
It was possible.
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Darren exhaled slowly, his jaw tightening as the idea began to shape itself into something clearer. The path wasn’t fully formed yet, but he could see enough of it to understand the weight behind her words.
This wasn’t something he could improvise.
It wasn’t something he could force through intimidation or influence alone.
It would take precision.
Planning.
And most importantly-
Guidance.
His gaze sharpened slightly as he looked back at Janet.
“You’re not saying all this without already having something in mind,” he said.
It wasn’t a question.
Janet’s lips curved faintly, that knowing expression settling back into place like it had never
left.
“I rarely speak without direction,” she replied calmly.
Darren held her gaze for a second longer, then took another step forward, closing the distance between them just enough to shift the balance of the room.
“Then stop circling it,” he said. “What exactly are you suggesting?”
There was a brief pause.
Janet leaned back slightly, her fingers resting lightly against the arm of her chair as her gaze drifted.
She stayed still for a moment.
Not like someone lost in thought-
But like someone listening again.
Darren waited.
Because he understood now–this was part of it. Whatever she was about to say, it wasn’t coming from impulse.
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It was something she had already considered.
Already weighed.
And then she finally spoke.
“You need to give them something undeniable,” she said.
Darren frowned slightly. “You’ve already said that.”
“Yes,” Janet replied. “And you still don’t understand what it means.”
That flicker of irritation returned, but Darren kept it contained.
“Then explain it.”
Janet’s gaze lifted slowly, settling back on him.
“The power I speak of,” she said, “is not the kind they’re used to,” she continued.
She paused for a second.
“Something older.”
Darren’s eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was going.
Or maybe-
He didn’t like how much sense it was starting to make.
“Where do you expect me to get something like that?” he asked.
Janet didn’t hesitate.
“You don’t get it,” she said. “You take it.”
The words settled into the room like a quiet threat.
Darren stilled.
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His mind moved quickly now, connecting what she was saying with what he already knew- what he had heard, what he had dismissed before.
Ancient rites.
Forbidden practices.
Power that wasn’t meant to be handled lightly.
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His gaze sharpened.
“You’re talking about something specific,” he said.
Janet didn’t deny it.
“I am.”
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Darren studied her, trying to read past the calm, the control, the deliberate way she revealed only what she wanted to.
“Then say it,” he pressed.
There was a small pause.
Then-
“There are rituals,” Janet said slowly, “that were buried for a reason.”
Darren didn’t speak.
But his attention had locked in completely now.
“Rituals that require… very specific elements,” she continued.
Her gaze didn’t leave his.
“And when done correctly… they don’t just strengthen a pack.”
A faint pause.
“They transform it.”
Darren’s jaw tightened slightly.
Because now-
Now he understood.
At least enough of it.
“You’re saying there’s a way,” he said, his voice lower now, more controlled, “to elevate the pack beyond what it is now… and I can achieve it.”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
Darren exhaled slowly.
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This was it.
This was the answer he had been looking for.
Not just influence.
Not persuasion.
But power… real power.
The kind that couldn’t be argued against.
The kind that would force the council to act.
Force the pack to accept him.
He let the thought settle.
Then looked back at her.
“And you know how to do it.”
Janet didn’t smile.
Didn’t nod.
But her silence said enough.
Darren took a deep breath.
“Then tell me what you need,” he said.
There was no hesitation now.
“You don’t get my guidance for free.”
Darren’s expression didn’t change.
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He expected that. When he told her to name her price, he knew Janet was going to hold onto that. But he didn’t mind… so long as he got what he wanted.
“Name it.”
Janet leaned forward slightly, her gaze sharpening just a fraction.
“If you want me to stand behind you,” she said, “if you want me to guide this–properly…”
A pause.
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Then, calmly-
“You submit to me.”
The words landed without warning.
Clean and unapologetic.
Darren stared at her.
For a second-
He didn’t react.
Then a short, humorless laugh left him.
“You’ve lost your mind,” he said.
Janet didn’t move.
“I don’t make offers I don’t intend to enforce,” she replied calmly.
Darren’s eyes darkened.
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“You expect me,” he said, his voice tightening, “to kneel to you? To answer to you? As Alpha?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
Without concern.
It wasn’t a suggestion.
It was a condition.
Darren let out a sharp breath, turning slightly as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“This is a joke,” he muttered.
“It isn’t,” Janet said.
He turned back to her, irritation breaking through now.
“I don’t need to submit to anyone,” he snapped. “Especially not you.”
Janet held his gaze.
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“You do,” she said simply.
That only made it worse.
Darren stepped forward again, his presence heavier now, his tone colder.
“You’re overestimating your importance.”
“No,” Janet replied. “You’re underestimating your situation.”
“You don’t have the pack,” she continued. “You don’t have the council.”
A slight tilt of her head.
“And without me… you don’t have a path.”
That landed.
Because it was true.
Darren knew it.
He hated it-
But he knew it.
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Janet watched him closely, seeing the shift, the calculation returning behind the frustration.
“You can walk away,” she said calmly. “No one’s stopping you.”
A pause.
“But you won’t,” Janet added.
Darren’s jaw clenched.
Because she was right.
Again.
He had already come too far.
Too much had been set in motion.
Too much depended on this.
Walking away now-
Wasn’t an option.
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The silence stretched as he stood there, weighing it.
His pride, his ambition.
His need for control.
Against-
What this could give him.
Power.
Position.
Everything he had been denied.
Slowly-
The resistance began to give way.
Not completely, not willingly.
But enough.
Darren exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders shifting as he made his decision.
“…Fine,” he said.
The word came out low.
Janet didn’t react outwardly.
But she heard it.
Accepted it.
“You’ll have my support,” she said.
Darren’s gaze hardened slightly.
“Don’t mistake this,” he added. “This is temporary.”
Janet didn’t argue. She didn’t need to.
“We’ll see,” she replied.
A brief pause.
Then she straightened slightly, her tone shifting just enough to signal the next step.
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“You’ll seal it.”
Darren frowned.
“How?”
Janet lifted her hand slowly.
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On her finger, a ring caught the light from the fire–dark, ancient, etched with markings that seemed older than the pack itself.
“On your knees,” she said.
Darren stilled.
For a moment-
Everything in him resisted.
But then-
He moved.
Slowly… deliberately.
And lowered himself.
The air in the room shifted.
Janet extended her hand slightly, her gaze fixed on him.
“Seal your word,” she said.
Darren reached forward-
And pressed his lips to her ring.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
