Chapter 40
Joe’s POV
The room was dim. Thick silence hung like a stormcloud over the palace, and despite the lavish decorations still hanging from my coronation just hours ago, there was no joy left in the air. The crowd had dispersed, but the energy of horror and disbelief lingered. An abomination had occurred.
For the first time in the royal history of the Dark Shades Pack, an Alpha had shed blood on the same day of his transition into kingship.
I stood in the middle of the throne room, staring at the tiled floor still stained with blood that came from my body. It hadn’t been fully cleaned yet, no one had dared to enter. My heart thundered in my chest. The rage that had powered my wolf had drained into a bitter chill. The adrenaline was gone. All that was left was the weight of what
