The chaos was immediate.
No sooner had Caleb uttered those quiet, devastating words than the hall seemed to explode. Evan, quick as a spark on gasoline, collapsed into a new act—gasping, trembling, sobbing into lace sleeves.
"If you never wanted him," he wailed dramatically, "you could've just said no! I would have forgiven you!"
He didn't point at Caleb, but all eyes were on him anyway.
Whispers rose like a tide.
"Poor Omega…"
"Manipulated by his own brother?"
"That Beta… how cruel."
Caleb stood helpless in the middle of it.
Frozen.
And then — the shutters clicked.
Reporters, patrolling the edges of society gatherings as always, surged forward with cameras raised. Their flashes lit up the hall like lightning.
"Caleb Arden! Did you scheme your way into this marriage?"
"Is it true you betrayed your Omega brother to gain influence?"
"How does it feel to steal a fiancé?"
Caleb tried to stay composed.
"No," he began, voice gentle but shaking, "It was never like that. He—"
But another voice cut in.
"My heart— shattered!" Evan sobbed, leaning into a protective arm offered by a clan representative. "And my brother— my own brother did nothing to stop it!"
People murmured sympathetically.
A few glared openly at Caleb.
A few offered fake pity.
Most remained silent.
Silent support for the Omega.
Silent condemnation for the Beta.
Lucian watched the unfolding hysteria from across the stage.
He had seen wars with less dramatics.
He had killed men for less noise.
The crowd's opinions shifted with the wind. He'd always known they were nothing more than vultures glued to the most sensational corpse. But watching them turn on his mate—oh, what a word—to defend an actor with pretty tears…
It sickened him.
Yet…
When Caleb looked his way, eyes wide and pleading—when he saw the Beta disappear in the flood of accusations—his jaw locked.
He shouldn't care.
But he did.
And the feeling annoyed him more than anything.
"Enough."
The word wasn't spoken aloud.
It was stamped into the floor as Darius Vale stepped forward.
Shadow to Lucian's blazing sun. A different kind of storm.
He moved through the crowd like a knife, silent and sharp.
His voice was even, but it cut through the reporters' shouting like a blade.
"Back. All of you," he said. "This is not the time or place."
When a reporter tried to shove past, he simply looked them in the eyes —
And they flinched.
Because Darius didn't need threats.
He was the threat.
Without another word, he reached Caleb, placed a steadying hand on his shoulder, and turned him away from the snapping cameras.
"Walk," he said quietly.
Caleb followed, numb with shock.
The last thing he heard before stepping out of the hall was Evan's dramatic wail:
"You broke me, Caleb— you broke everything!"
Outside, in the quieter hallway, Caleb leaned against a pillar.
His breath shook.
Darius looked at him for a moment. Then offered him a bottle of water.
"You held yourself together," he said plainly.
Caleb managed a hollow smile. "It didn't feel like it."
"You'd be surprised how often the calmest person in the room is losing half the battle inside."
Caleb blinked.
…Was that empathy?
"Why are you helping me?"
Darius was quiet for a moment.
Then, "Because someone should."
Caleb's throat tightened.
And before he could reply—before he could breathe out thank you—a hand shot between them.
Gripped his wrist.
Hard.
Caleb gasped.
Lucian stood there — tall, unyielding, fury radiating from every line of his body.
Darius didn't move. But his eyes sharpened like a drawn blade.
Lucian spoke with a voice cold enough to frost glass.
"I didn't give you permission to leave."
Caleb shook his head in panic, already stumbling over his explanation. "I—I just needed some air—"
Lucian's fingers tightened.
Reporters weren't here anymore. His voice didn't need to be pleasant.
"Don't ever walk out in the middle of an announcement."
Caleb stared at him.
"I didn't—"
"You made me look foolish."
The words were a snap. A chain.
And something in Caleb finally bent under the pressure.
"I didn't ask to be part of your show," he breathed, so softly Lucian almost missed it.
Lucian stared at him.
Fury burned under a heavy silence.
Darius stepped forward then — a blur of movement, calm but unyielding.
"Let go."
Lucian's eyes met his.
Cold Alpha to cold Alpha.
No words.
But war simmered just beneath the surface.
Caleb stood between them, caught like a wire between two live currents.
He pulled his wrist gently free, cradling it against his chest.
Lucian let him go.
"Solve the mess you made," Lucian said flatly, stepping back. "And don't ever embarrass me again."
Caleb's heart sunk.
Not because of the threat.
But because of the way Lucian looked at him.
As if he was the one who caused all this.
As if his existence was the problem.
Caleb bowed his head.
Softly. Carefully. Perfect etiquette.
"As you wish."
Lucian turned and walked away.
His glare slicing down every reporter, guest, and whisper like a guillotine.
He shouldn't care.
But somehow, annoyingly… he did.