Beyond the Fated Bond: Finding the Dark Alpha

CHAPTER 8

"Take off the Luna."

Like a death sentence, the words sounded.

Before I knew what they were, I could feel them: the tie slipping away, my inner wolf bared, and the frail life I was carrying trembling in terror. Alaric did not move. Not immediately. With his shoulders straight and his jaw so clenched that I felt it could snap, he stood between me and the door.

"No," he responded.

Just one word. Low. Not secure.

The council guards paused at the threshold. In the light of the flames, their silver-edged swords gleamed. Like wolves facing a storm, they knew better than to confront Alaric, but they had to maintain their position.

"Elowen, this is your fault," Alaric stated without turning.

She gave a little laugh. "Don't flatter me." When I returned, the law was already in effect. "I just reminded them."

Despite feeling lightheaded, I slid my legs off the bed. When I said, "I'll walk out by myself," "You can't drag me like a criminal."

When he turned to face me, Alaric replied, "You're not going anywhere."

"Alaric," I said in a whisper and grabbed him.

He gripped my wrists tightly but tenderly, as though he was afraid I may shatter. "They're not touching you."

His throat was cleansed by the head guard. "With all due respect, Alpha, the directive is definite. Until the investigation is concluded, the Luna must be removed from Moonspire.

"What if I decline?"Alaric inquired.

"Then the council will see it as defiance," the guard said, swallowing hard.

The word "defiance" had a b****y tang.

With her heels tapping on the stone, Elowen approached and said, "Be careful, Alaric." If you make even one mistake, they'll start to doubt your capacity to be Alpha.

That was it.

The atmosphere shifted.

Power snapped through the room like a bowstring, and Alaric's eyes blazed gold as his wolf charged forward.

Elowen heard him growl, "Get out." "Before I forget all the laws."

Seeing history unfold, she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, but her smile remained unblinking. "I'm going outside."

Slipping by the guards, she vanished down the corridor.

Even horrible was the quiet she left behind.

"You should have told me," Alaric said softly, sorrowfully, rather than accusingly, as he turned back to face me. "I would have been with you."

Whispering, "I know," I explained, "that's why I waited."

Uneasy, the guards shifted once more.

"They'll use it against you." "We're out of time." "Don't fight them now; they'll break up the pack."

Angrily, "I don't care," he said.

His heart pounded against my palm as I placed my hand on his chest and said, "I do." "I care about you." "About the group. About... our kid."

The word struck us like a lightning strike.

Our child.

He gasped.

Before he could say anything, one of the guards moved too fast and too close.

"Luna," the guard said, reaching for my arm.

It everything happened at once.

Alaric's wolf roared loose, causing the walls to tremble. He shoved me away, placing himself directly in front of the guard. "Don't touch her."

The guard drew his blade.

A gleam of silver appeared.

"No!" I screamed.

There was a growl, a terrible snap, and then— Alaric moved faster than anyone could have imagined.

Blood.

It sprayed bright and shockingly across the citadel's pale stone floor, and the guard screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his arm where Alaric's claws had sliced deep.

The room froze.

My legs buckled, my stomach turned, and I couldn't take my eyes off the blood.

"Seraphina!Before I fell, Alaric grabbed me, and his hands were smeared in red that wasn't mine." "Observe me." Avoid looking down.

However, it was too late.

My wolf howled in agony as the scent of iron and terror reached me. The acute, frightening pain was in my lower abdomen.

"No," I replied while clinging to him. "Something's not right."

Alaric's face went completely white. "Elias!" he exclaimed. "Now!"

The other guards retreated, authority replaced by terror.

The healer came running in, glared at me, and said, "She needs to rest." "This kind of stress—violence—

He was stopped by another wave of pain.

I buried my fingers in Alaric's arms and yelled. I sobbed, "Don't let them take me," though. "Please."

He grabbed me up again and repeated, "I won't," with a ferocious expression on his face. "I swear it."

However, the room's doors crashed open.

The council's seniors entered together, their expressions icy.

"The Alpha has shed blood in the citadel," declared the oldest one icily. "This changes everything."

Alaric turned slowly, horror and rage shining in his eyes. "One of your guards pulled a knife on my friend."

According to the elder, "She is no longer known as Luna." "Not under an active order."

My heart fell.

"Then realize this," snarled Alaric. "She is carrying my heir."

The room erupted in gasps.

I had everyone's attention.

Elowen, standing in the rear, remained still.

The elder's expression hardened. "If that's true, then the threat is worse than we thought."

"What does that mean?" I asked quietly.

The older man replied, "It means that the child must be separated from the line of power for the pack's safety."

The words didn't make sense at first.

Then they did.

Alaric answered, "No," and fear gripped him. "You wouldn't dare."

The elder answered, "And we will." "We would."

The ache returned, more intense this time.

I shouted.

The last thing I saw before darkness encroached on my field of vision was Alaric shouting at the council from above—

the blood seeped deeper into the citadel's floor.