Accidentally Mated To Four Alphas-Chapter 276: _ Pack Heirs, Unite

Chapter 276

~Darien’s Point Of View~

Darien has always believed disappointment was a quiet thing.

A subtle ache. A small fracture you learn to live with. Something you swallow and bury under duty, discipline, and the promise that if you just try harder—if you are better, sharper, stronger, it will eventually go away.

He was wrong.

Disappointment is loud. It is violent. It is the sound of something sacred shattering inside your chest with no intention of ever fitting back together again.

His father’s face won’t leave him alone.

The way the Alpha looked at him in court without regret, not even with anger, but with cold certainty. As if Darien were a problem he had finally decided to cut loose. A failed investment. A son who had chosen wrong.

Like the pack hasn’t just lost its heirs.

He exhales slowly through his nose, jaw tight enough to ache. All his life. All of it.

Every early morning training session. Every lesson was drilled into his bones. Every sacrifice dressed up as honor. He chased excellence like it was oxygen, because excellence was the only thing that ever earned his father’s attention. Approval. Pride.

Or at least... the illusion of it.

And now?

Now that same man is willing to kill his mate. Condemn her. Damn her soul to appease ancient laws written by cowards and tyrants long dead.

Darien laughs under his breath, the sound harsh and humorless. Maybe I’ve always known.

He thinks of the moments he brushed aside. The way his father punished dissent but praised obedience. The way compassion was framed as weakness. The way love was always conditional.

He straightens slowly, spine stiff, something settling inside him.

No. He hasn’t just seen his father for who he is. He’s finally stopped lying to himself.

By the time the court finally disperses, he feels like his bones have been replaced with live wire. Everything is too loud. Too bright and close.

The elders scatter first, robes sweeping stone like they haven’t just detonated the future of an entire Alpha line. Pack members follow in clumps—some whispering, some crying, some staring at Darien and his brothers like they’re watching a myth being born in real time. And then there are the paparazzi. Gods, the fucking paparazzi.

They surge the moment the doors open, cameras flashing like artificial lightning, voices colliding over one another.

"Darien—was this planned?"

"Are the heirs truly going rogue?"

"Are you leaving the pack tonight?!"

"Is Heidi pregnant?!"

"Heidi—look here... Heidi—how does it feel to doom an Alpha line?"

That sends Darien’s blood boiling, making him lose his patience and snap before anyone else can.

He turns, baring teeth just enough for the cameras to catch it. His eyes glow, Kairos pressing against his skin in a silent threat humming beneath every breath.

"Back. Off."

The ground seems to feel it when he speaks. A pressure wave ripples outward, instinctive, untrained, pure Alpha wrath. The crowd stumbles back half a step. Even the cameras lower, just a little.

Good.

Heidi’s hand finds his wrist then, fingers trembling but warm. That’s the thing that keeps him a person.

They move fast after that. Their cars are already waiting, pack security forming a tight perimeter as flashes continue to strobe their exit. Darien shoves Heidi into the backseat with Morgan and Grayson, slamming the door himself before sliding in beside her. Amias had to ride with Lira.

The second the car pulls away, the world finally exhales. Silence crashes down, broken only by the hum of the engine and the uneven rhythm of breathing. Darien leans back, head hitting the seat, eyes closing for half a second.

"You tried your best, Darien. At least, you managed to keep her alive." his wolf murmurs, fierce and reverent. "She’s alive."

That truth is the only thing holding everything else together. Darien knows that surely, this isn’t the end of their problems. His mother wouldn’t just let her golden son sail away to turn a rogue all in the name of love.

No, Ines doesn’t give up. She’d die before she allowed such. Now, he was expecting her interference in the court, but she didn’t do much... which makes him wonder: just what are you planning, mom?

He’ll be waiting for his mother’s counterattack. At least, he’s expecting that much. What he does not expect—what throws him completely—is that they aren’t alone in this and they didn’t return home alone.

By the time they reach the Alpha estate, it’s clear half the pack decided that if the world is ending, they might as well watch it burn up close.

Nash’s car pulls in right behind theirs. Then Ace’s. Then Lucan’s sleek black one. And behind them—because apparently today has decided to be nothing but emotional whiplash, come the sisters.

Lira. Ginny. Maribel.

Amias ran inside the mansion the moment his fiancée parked. Darien blinks as he steps out of the car.

"Well," Grayson mutters beside him, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is... festive."

Morgan scoffs. "Told you we should throw a party."

Darien shoots him a look. "You are not serious."

Morgan grins, sharp and unapologetic. "I am extremely serious. Last day in the pack. Might as well go out loud."

And somehow, against all logic, against the way his chest still feels cracked open, Darien agrees. Because if he stops moving, he might fall apart. Because Heidi needs to catch a break. She needs to have fun after all this tension.

So they do something insane. They celebrate their little victory regardless of the deadly condition it comes with.

Darien barely has time to lead everyone toward the best place for the celebration–in his eyes—before Isolde collides with him, arms wrapping tight around his neck. She smells like jasmine and smoke and something uniquely hers, and the force of it knocks the breath from his lungs.

"You absolute idiot," she says fiercely into his shoulder. "You didn’t even hesitate."

He laughs despite himself, hugging her back. "You know me to do better than hesitation."

She pulls back just enough to look at him, eyes bright and wet. "I’m proud of you."

That does something dangerous to him. Something tender. If he has his sisters’ blessings on this, then that’s enough for him.

.

.

Darien’s bungalow sits on the far edge of the estate, technically still Alpha property but far enough removed that it’s always felt like his. Tonight, it becomes neutral ground. A strange truce zone where enemies blur into allies and grief pretends to be joy.

The music starts up fast and loud. Someone opens bottles. Someone else laughs like they haven’t laughed in years. Darien stands near the counter at first, watching it all unfold like a surreal dream.

Nash and Isolde are impossible to miss.

They gravitate toward each other like gravity is optional for everyone else. Nash’s hand stays anchored at the small of Isolde’s back, thumb tracing slow, unconscious circles like he’s grounding himself. Isolde laughs, head tipped back, eyes bright in a way Darien hasn’t seen since they were kids sneaking out of the estate together.

It hits him right in the chest. Gods. She’s happy. Not polite-happy. Not duty-happy. Real, reckless, glowing happiness. His throat tightens before he can stop it.

That’s my sister, he thinks fiercely. She deserves this.

Nash catches him watching and stiffens just for a second before offering a respectful nod. Darien nods back. Approval given silently. Across the room, Daphne is glued to Heidi’s side like a guardian spirit who decided today is the day she switches allegiances.

Heidi looks... wrecked. Smiling, yes. Thanking people. Laughing when appropriate. But Darien sees the cracks. The way her shoulders curl inward when she thinks no one’s watching. The way her hands fidget like she’s afraid the ground might disappear beneath her feet.

Daphne notices too. When she stationed herself firmly beside Heidi, Darien knew something was about to go down. Just to be sure everything will be fine, he listened in on their conversation a little.

"Hey," his youngest sister says gently, nudging the shoulder of the woman he loves. "You okay?"

Heidi tries to smile but fails at it because her eyes are too bright.

"I didn’t want this," she whispers. "I didn’t want any of you to—"

Daphne cuts her off immediately. "Stop. Absolutely not."

Heidi blinks.

"You didn’t drag anyone anywhere," Daphne continues, fierce and unwavering. "They chose you. We chose you."

That forces the most emotional smile out of Darien. This is their moment, he thinks. Let them have their privacy.

So he stops listening and just watches Daphne leaning in, saying something Darien can’t hear, exaggeratedly rolling her eyes at the ceiling. Heidi snorts despite herself, then laughs a real startled, and breathless laugh.

Daphne throws an arm around her shoulders triumphantly. Darien feels something warm bloom in his chest.

Daphne. Of all people.

If you’d told him a month ago that Daphne Bellamy would be cheering up the girl she once openly despised, he would’ve laughed in your face. Yet here they are. Growth. Character development. Miracles apparently do happen.

The tension doesn’t vanish—it hums under everything—but there’s something defiant about the way they choose joy anyway.

Morgan pops open a bottle like it personally offended him. "To surviving," he announces. "Spitefully."

"To chaos," Grayson adds.

"To terrible decisions," Lucan says cheerfully for the first time since Darien’s known the guy.

Apparently, even to Lucan, family was his shackle.

"Look at him glowing once he’s broken free."

Darien lifts his glass last. "To family. The kind you choose."

They drink.