The Alpha's Blood-Stained mate

Chapter 8: The Mark of the Traitor

The guard’s smile was the last thing he ever did. As Silas’s man lunged at me with his curved blade, I didn't scream. I didn't have time for fear. I ducked low with the map still clutched in my left hand and used his own momentum against him. I drove my elbow into his throat to cut off his air. Before he could recover, I snatched a heavy iron candle holder from the dusty desk. I brought it down hard on the back of his skull.

He went down with a muffled thud. He wasn't dead, but he wouldn't be waking up for a long time. I dragged his body into the darkest corner of the records room and covered him with a tattered old banner. My hands were shaking because Silas’s guards were already inside the walls.

I waited until the sounds of Silas’s departure echoed through the stones. I heard the clicking of his cane, the heavy boots of his escort, and finally the slamming of the main iron doors. Only then did I creep back toward the hidden door in Kaelen’s room.

I pushed the stone panel open. The bedroom was a mess. Broken glass from the carafes glittered like diamonds in the firelight. Kaelen was slumped in a chair by the hearth with his head pushed back and his eyes closed. His face was unnervingly pale.

I stepped out of the shadows. "He’s gone."

Kaelen’s eyes snapped open. They were bloodshot and hazy. He looked at me and then down at his hand. The silver from the mercury dagger, combined with the deep cut he had given himself to distract Silas, was taking a toll. Silver was a poison that moved slowly and ate at an Alpha’s strength.

"You’re still here," Kaelen rasped. His voice sounded like ground glass. "I thought you would have run the moment you found a way out."

"I found something else instead," I said. I walked over to him and held out the map. "Silas didn't just want my father dead. He’s been planning to kill you for five years. He has your entire castle mapped out for an assassination."

Kaelen took the parchment with his good hand. His eyes scanned the red 'X' over his own bed. He let out a dark, bitter chuckle. "I’m not surprised. Silas has always been a snake. He just waits for the right moment to bite."

He tried to sit up, but a spasm of pain crossed his face. He leaned back with a groan. The wound on his hand was turning a sickly grey color, which was the sign of silver poisoning.

"You’re dying," I said. My voice was softer than I intended.

"Not yet," he muttered. "But it burns."

I looked at the wreckage of the room and found a clean linen cloth that hadn't been stained by wine. I grabbed a bowl of fresh water. Despite everything, the hatred, the revenge, and the years of anger, I couldn't just watch him rot. The Mate Bond was screaming at me to help him. It was a physical pull in my gut that I couldn't ignore.

I knelt on the floor beside his chair. "Give me your hand."

Kaelen hesitated and then held out his wounded palm. The moment my fingers touched his skin, a massive jolt of electricity surged through me. It wasn't painful. It was a burst of pure heat that made my toes curl. Kaelen gasped and his muscles tensed, but he didn't pull away.

"The bond," he whispered. His eyes were locked on mine. "It’s trying to heal me through you."

I didn't answer. I dipped the cloth in water and began to clean the silver-blackened edges of the wound. Every time my skin brushed his, those golden sparks flew. It was intoxicating. I could feel his heartbeat through his wrist. It was strong, steady, and strangely comforting.

"Why do you do it?" I asked. I kept my head down so he couldn't see my eyes. "Why act like a monster? Why let the world call you the Butcher if you were just trying to stop Silas?"

Kaelen was quiet for a long time. I could feel his gaze on the top of my head.

"Because a monster is the only thing Silas is afraid of," Kaelen said. His voice was low and weary. "If I was a good Alpha, he would have walked over me years ago. I had to become the Butcher to keep him at a distance. I had to be the villain so my pack wouldn't have to fight a war they couldn't win. I took the blood on my hands so theirs could stay clean."

He reached out with his other hand and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His touch was so light and so different from the predatory grip he’d had earlier.

"I never wanted to kill your father, Vespera," he said. For the first time, I believed him. "He was a good man who got lost in the dark. Silas’s secret coven promised him power to protect you, and he fell for it. I did what I had to do to save the Silver Moon pack from the curse he was bringing down."

For a moment, the room felt peaceful. The fire crackled and the bond between us felt like a warm blanket wrapping us together. I looked up at him. For the first time in five years, I didn't see the man who killed my father. I saw a man who had been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders all alone.

I felt the urge to lean in and close the gap between us. My wolf was purring and desperate for us to finally accept each other.

But then, my eyes wandered.

As I reached for more water, my hand brushed against a heavy stack of papers on Kaelen’s desk. The top sheet slid off and revealed a heavy iron seal used to stamp official letters.

The seal was carved into the shape of a shattered moon with a serpent coiling through the center.

My heart stopped and my breath hitched in my throat. I knew that symbol. I had seen it dozens of times in the secret letters I found in my father’s desk years ago. It was the mark of the Dark Coven. This was the very group Kaelen claimed he was trying to destroy. This was the group that had corrupted my father and destroyed my life.

I looked from the seal to Kaelen’s face. He was still looking at me with those soft, amber eyes. His hand still rested near my ear.

The warmth of the Mate Bond turned into a freezing chill.

"What is this?" I whispered. My voice was trembling as I pointed at the iron seal.

Kaelen’s expression didn't change, but his eyes went cold. He didn't answer and he didn't try to hide it.

I scrambled backward and away from his touch. I stayed far from the sparks. My heart was pounding with a new kind of terror.

"You told me you killed him to stop the coven," I said. My voice was rising. "You told me you were the hero."

I stood up and clutched the map of his bedroom to my chest. "But you’re one of them, aren't you? You didn't kill my father to stop the ritual. You killed him because he was a rival."

"Vespera, wait," Kaelen said. He reached out with his voice sounding strained.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed.

I backed toward the hidden door with my mind reeling. The man I was starting to trust was the very thing I had spent my life hunting. The Moon Goddess had given me a monster for a mate.

"You're not the Butcher," I hissed as the tears finally spilled over. "You're the Master."

Kaelen stood up with his face pale and his wound bleeding fresh red. But before he could reach me, a low and haunting whistle echoed from the servant’s passage behind me.

It was the same whistle my father used to use to call me home. It was coming from the darkness where I had left the guard.

A voice drifted out of the shadows. It was cold and mocking. "She's always been a smart girl, Kaelen. It's a pity she has to die now."