SWNOVELXO Chapter 6: Chapter 5 : Fragments of a Shattered King
Alexander walked with a storm of rage swirling inside him, each step heavy with the weight of anger and disbelief. His fists clenched at his sides, his breathing labored as he replayed his confrontation with her—Luna, the fallen goddess who now stood powerless before him. The very sight of her filled him with a suffocating fury, a sensation that clawed at his chest, making it hard to breathe.
How could she, one of the gods who had stood by and done nothing as his world crumbled, now appear so nonchalant, so casual? The thought enraged him even more.
His mind, a whirlwind of memories, drifted back to a time when he was the Alpha King—when power, family, and his mate were all within his grasp. He had ruled with strength, surrounded by friends and allies, loved by his people. But all of that had been stripped away, one piece at a time, by the gods he had once trusted with his soul. They had manipulated his life, toyed with his destiny, and worst of all, they had tried to take away the one person who mattered most to him—
Davina , His mate .
He barely dared to think her name. It had been so long since he had allowed himself to say it aloud, as if the mere sound of her name would break him further. Alexander could still remember the day she stood in front of him, eyes wide with disbelief and betrayal, her voice shaking as she called his name, only for him to stare back, unrecognizing, lost in the haze of the gods' manipulation.
They had erased her from his mind, forced him into the arms of another woman while the real love of his life watched, shattered and forsaken. And he had done nothing. Nothing. The guilt of it burned in his veins, a constant reminder of his failure.
He could still see her face, that moment etched into his mind—her defying death itself to find him, to stand beside him again. But he had been powerless, unable to remember her, unable to protect her.
He could still remember the last time he saw her, how she stood beside him, even as the world fell apart around them. She stood by him despite everything, and yet he—he had hurt her. Betrayed her in the worst way possible. The gods took her from him, but it was him, Alexander, who had delivered the final blow.
The memory of that moment haunted him endlessly—the very instant he lost the last shred of himself. The gods had erased her from his mind once again, but this time, they had pushed him to do the unthinkable.
He had been made to attack her—his mate—to strike at Davina, the one person he would have given his life to protect. Worse still, he had turned against his friends, driven by the gods' cruel manipulation. How? How could he even dare to live after that? How could he stand here, breathing, when he had tried to kill the woman who was everything to him?
That was it.
That was the final line for him, and it had been crossed. She was gone—truly gone from him. The once Alpha King, Alexander Valencia Anderson, was gone too. For good.
The gods took her from him, and now, even though she lived, even though she stood in the world breathing and fighting, he had no right to her anymore. She was with someone else now, someone stronger, someone who had endured hell and back to keep her safe while he—Alexander, the so-called Alpha King—had only stood by and let the gods destroy them both.
The agony of it was unbearable, knowing that another man had fought for his mate in ways he hadn't been able to. What right did he have to even speak her name? Davina. The name that used to fill him with warmth now felt like a knife twisting in his chest. He had lost the right to it, to her, and he knew he could never stand before her again. How could he ask for her to come back to him when he had done nothing but fail her? He had to let her go. Let her be happy, even if it meant killing every part of himself that still longed for her. He could never take that happiness from her now. He didn't deserve her.
Though still the Alpha King in name, Alexander had left behind the life he once knew. He wandered from place to place, hoping to outrun the ghost of his past self—the king who had failed his people, his mate, and himself. His Beta, Charlie, managed most of the pack's affairs now on his behalf. Alexander had no interest in love, no desire for power. All of it had become empty to him. His heart was shattered, and his spirit hollow. He merely existed, a shadow of the man he had once been, walking through the wilderness and cities, lost in a world that only reminded him of his failures.
And then he met her.
Her.
Luna.
The fallen goddess.
It hadn't taken more than a second glance for him to realize who she was - The ancient goddess, stripped of her divine power, now stood in front of him as nothing more than a weak, vulnerable human. He couldn't understand it. What was she doing here? Why was she in this state?
He had first seen her in the realm where gods resided—when he had gone with Austin and Victoria. Luna had stood up for Davina, punishing the gods responsible for so much suffering. For that, Alexander was grateful. But it didn't change the fact that she was one of them. She had stood by for centuries while the gods tormented wolves, manipulating their lives, twisting their fates. The only reason she had even acted was because Lucifer interfered .
Alexander couldn't help but wonder, If it hadn't been for him, would she have ever come out of the shadows she was hiding in?
And now she was here, standing before him, stripped of her power, looking up at him with those deep ocean blue eyes. Eyes that haunted him. Eyes that he hated. She had ignored the cries of wolves for generations, turned a blind eye to the suffering. Maybe he was just a small casualty of her negligence, but there were countless others who had been victims of her inaction.
The weight of what-ifs crushed him.
What if she had intervened sooner? What if he had remembered Davina in time and stood by her side to fight with her? What if things had been different?
He hated the very sight of Luna, even as she stood there, broken and weak.
The second time he had seen her was at Davina and Lucifer's wedding. Their eyes had met across the room, and something about her gaze had intrigued him then. He didn't know why and It didn't matter as she was one of them.
She was part of the reason his life had fallen apart.
The third time was just days ago. He had found her in the city, beaten and wounded, barely conscious, her once radiant silver hair matted with blood. She looked pathetic. He had wanted to leave her there, to turn away as she had done to him and his kind. But some part of him couldn't. Perhaps it was because she had once stood up for Davina and his friends, or perhaps it was because, despite everything, he wasn't as heartless as the her - Her , who turrned blindeye to her own people cries . He had taken her to the hospital, paid her bills, stayed until she woke up. And when she did, he left.
He had done his duty. He owed her nothing now . Or so he told himself.
And yet, here they were again, crossing paths . In the café, as she looked at him with those same haunting eyes, Alexander felt his rage surge to the surface. He hated how she looked at him, like she was expecting something from him.
He had nothing left to give.
The anger inside him boiled over, and he couldn't control it. He hated her—her eyes, her face, her casual demeanor, as if none of this was her fault. As if she hadn't played a part in his misery.
He hated her for existing.
He hated her because it was easier than hating himself.
And as she stood before him now, in the aftermath of his outburst, Alexander felt only one thing—he wanted nothing to do with her. He didn't want to feel anything anymore. He just wanted to retreat back into the dark, lonely place he had carved out for himself. Away from the gods, away from his past, and far, far away from the memories of the life he had lost.