The Alpha's Blood-Stained mate

Chapter 9: The Blood Moon Feast

The man who stepped out of the shadows was a ghost I thought I had buried. It was Julian, the former Beta of my father’s pack. He was the man who had taught me how to hunt when I was a child. Now, he stood in Kaelen’s bedroom with a cruel smile, wearing the dark robes of a Coven Liaison.

"Julian," I whispered, the name tasting like ash in my mouth.

"The one and only," he said. He looked at Kaelen, who was struggling to stand up despite the silver poison in his blood. "You should have killed her years ago, Kaelen. The High Master doesn't like loose ends. But don't worry. I won't tell Silas she’s alive just yet. I want to see how this little drama plays out at the feast tonight."

Kaelen growled, his eyes flashing gold. "If you touch her, Julian, I will tear the Coven down stone by stone."

Julian just laughed. "You’re in no position to make threats, Alpha. Put the girl in a mask and get her to the Great Hall. Silas is waiting. If she makes a sound, I’ll tell your precious pack exactly what you’ve been doing in the dark."

That was how I found myself standing against the cold stone wall of the Great Hall a few hours later. My face was hidden behind the heavy iron mask of a Sentinel. My ribs were taped tight, and my heart was a lead weight in my chest.

The Great Hall was a sea of flickering candlelight and sharp shadows. Long wooden tables groaned under the weight of roasted meats and heavy flagons of wine. The air was thick with the smell of grease and the underlying scent of tension.

Kaelen sat at the head of the table. He had changed into a deep crimson tunic that hid the blood from his wounded hand. His expression was a mask of cold boredom, but I could see the slight tension in his jaw. Every time he moved, the mate bond hummed in the back of my mind. It was a low and persistent vibration that I tried to ignore.

Silas sat to his right, looking perfectly at home. He was charming the envoys and spinning tales of his pack’s prosperity while he picked at his food. I watched him through the narrow slits of my mask. My fingers twitched near the hidden blade at my thigh.

"It is a shame the Silver Moon bloodline was so weak," Silas said. His voice carried easily across the table. He took a slow sip of his wine and sighed with fake regret. "My brother was a fool and his daughter was even worse. Vespera was a fragile little thing. She probably died in the woods within an hour of the fire. She was nothing more than a waste of royal blood."

The words felt like hot needles under my skin. I gripped my spear so hard the wood creaked. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to rip off my mask and show him exactly how fragile I was. But I forced myself to stay still. I was a ghost and a nameless guard.

Kaelen didn't look at me, but his hand tightened around his wine goblet until his knuckles turned white. "The girl was a child, Silas," Kaelen said. His voice was dangerously low. "There is no honor in mocking the dead."

Silas chuckled. It was a dry and dusty sound. "I am not mocking, Kaelen. I am stating a fact. The world is better off without the weak. That is why our alliance is so important. We are the strong."

I watched Silas closely. As the envoys began to laugh at a joke from one of the other Alphas, Silas leaned slightly toward Kaelen’s glass. It was a move so subtle that no one else noticed. He reached into the long sleeve of his silk coat and flicked his fingers over the rim of Kaelen’s silver goblet. A tiny puff of white powder disappeared into the dark red wine.

My breath caught. My wolf stood up in my mind with her fur bristling and her teeth bared. It wasn't a question of honor anymore. It was survival. If Kaelen died, Silas would take over the Iron Claw. He would hunt down every remaining Silver Moon loyalist. He would find me and he would finish what he started.

But if I saved Kaelen, I was saving a man who might be the leader of the very coven that destroyed my life. I was saving a man I had promised to kill.

Kaelen reached for the goblet. He was distracted as he looked at a map an envoy had spread across the table. His fingers closed around the stem of the glass. He began to lift it to his lips.

The bond in my chest screamed. It wasn't just a pull. It was a command. My body moved before my mind could give the order. I stepped out from the shadows of the wall with my heavy boots thudding against the stone.

"Alpha!" I shouted.

I intentionally stumbled to make my movements look clumsy. I lurched forward and my shoulder slammed into Kaelen’s arm just as the rim of the glass touched his lower lip.

The goblet flew from his hand. It hit the stone floor with a loud metallic clang.

The Hall went silent instantly. The music stopped and the laughter died. Every eye in the room turned toward me.

The wine didn't just spill. As it hit the dark stone floor, it began to bubble and hiss. A thick and acrid smoke rose from the puddle. The sound of dissolving stone filled the quiet room. The liquid was eating into the floor like acid and leaving a charred hole where the wine had landed.

Kaelen stared at the floor with his face turning pale. He looked at the smoking remains of the drink that should have been in his stomach. Then he slowly turned his head to look at me.

Silas sat perfectly still with his eyes narrowing into cold slits. His mask of the charming uncle was gone and replaced by the face of a predator who had just been thwarted. He looked at my iron mask with his gaze searching for the eyes behind the metal.

"It seems we have a very clumsy guard," Silas said. His voice was dripping with venom.

Kaelen stood up slowly as his Alpha aura exploded into the room. It was so thick it felt like the walls were closing in. He looked at me, then at Silas, and then back at the hole in the floor.

"You," Kaelen said. His voice was a low growl that vibrated through my entire body. He stepped toward me with his hand reaching for the edge of my mask.

Every guard in the room drew their sword. The envoys scrambled back from the table. Silas gripped the handle of his cane with white knuckles.

I stood my ground with my heart hammering against my ribs. I had saved his life, but in doing so, I had put a target on my back that Silas wouldn't miss.

Kaelen’s fingers brushed the cold iron of my mask. "Unmask," he commanded. "Now."