The Alpha's Blood-Stained mate

Chapter 15:The Blood Moon Sacrifice

The night air was freezing, biting into the raw skin of my back, but the fever from the silver made me feel like I was walking through a furnace. Two guards dragged me toward the Black Altar. It was a massive slab of obsidian that sat at the highest peak of the Iron Claw territory. The stone was as dark as a starless night, polished until it shone like glass.

I could feel the tiny obsidian pick Kaelen had given me pressed against my palm. I tried to move my fingers, to slide the tool toward the heavy iron shackles on my wrists, but my hands were numb. The wolfsbane and silver had done their job. My wolf was silent, and my muscles felt like lead. I was too weak to save myself.

Silas stood at the edge of the altar, his silk robes fluttering in the wind. Next to him stood Mira. Her scarred face looked even more terrifying in the glow of the ritual torches. She held a bowl made from a human skull, her eyes fixed on the sky.

"The time has come," Mira announced. Her voice carried over the mountain, chilling and hollow.

The guards threw me onto the cold stone of the altar. They strapped my arms and legs down with thick leather bands. The obsidian felt like ice against my shredded skin. I looked up at the sky. The moon was no longer white. A dark, rusty red was creeping across its surface, turning the world into the color of dried blood.

As the moon turned, the mate bond in my chest began to scream. It wasn't just a pull anymore. It was an agonizing, burning heat that tied me to Kaelen. I could feel his heartbeat, fast and jagged. I could feel his terror and his resolve. It was a fever pitch of longing that made me want to howl.

Kaelen stepped into the circle of light. He was dressed in black leather, his face a mask of absolute coldness. He looked like the Butcher the world feared. One of the Coven priests stepped forward, holding a long, curved ceremonial blade. The edge was silver, designed to kill an Alpha with a single strike.

"Take the blade, Alpha Vane," Silas commanded, his voice full of a sick, triumphant joy. "Fulfill your contract. Take the heart of the last Silver Moon royal and secure your place by our side."

Kaelen’s fingers closed around the hilt of the knife. He walked toward me, his boots thudding on the stone. He looked down at me, and for a split second, I saw the truth in his eyes. He wasn't the Butcher. He was a man who was about to lose everything to save me.

"Do it!" Mira chanted, her voice rising in a dark, melodic rhythm. "Let the blood flow! Let the old world die!"

Kaelen stood over me, the red moonlight reflecting off the silver blade. The bond between us was vibrating so hard I thought my heart would stop. He raised the knife high above his head. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end. I expected the cold bite of the steel.

Instead, I heard a wet, sickening thud and a gargled scream.

I snapped my eyes open. Kaelen hadn't stabbed me. He had spun around in a blur of motion, plunging the ceremonial blade deep into the chest of the High Priest who had handed it to him. The priest fell to the ground, blood bubbling from his mouth.

Kaelen didn't stop. He kicked Silas back, sending my uncle sprawling into the dirt. "Get her out of here!" Kaelen roared to the shadows, signaling the few loyal Sentinels he had hidden in the trees.

But Mira was faster than any of us.

Before Kaelen could reach the straps holding me down, Mira lunged forward. She grabbed my hair, jerking my head back, and pressed a jagged obsidian dagger against my throat. The edge was sharp enough to draw a thin line of blood instantly.

Kaelen froze, his hand inches from my shackles. His face was pale, his eyes wide with horror. The Alpha was gone, replaced by a man who was looking at his entire world balanced on the edge of a knife.

Mira sneered at Kaelen, her lopsided face twisting into a look of pure malice. She pressed the blade harder against my neck.

"I knew you were weak for her, Kaelen," Mira hissed, her voice dripping with poison. "I saw the way you looked at her in the dungeon. I saw the way you held the whip."

She looked at the circle of priests and guards who were now drawing their weapons. Then she looked back at Kaelen, a cruel, victorious light in her blue eye.

"Drop the blade," Mira commanded. "If you move even an inch, I’ll open her throat and watch her bleed out on this altar. Choose now, Alpha. Your pack, or your mate?