MOON BOUND DECEPTION

Chapter 19 The cell beneath the ashes

The scent of silver and ash clung to the walls like rot.

Alec paced the confines of the reinforced cell, each movement jerky, barely restrained. The chains embedded in the stone floor rattled with every step he took. They weren't necessary—yet. The silver bars alone were enough to keep a raging lycan at bay, and Alec was well past rage.

His nails had darkened, half-shifted into claws that refused to recede. His eyes, once a warm amber, now burned molten gold, wild and restless.

Tova’s voice still echoed in his ears. “She’s pregnant… with Daxus’s child.”

The words had been a blade to the gut. Not because it was Daxus—his king, his brother in all but blood—but because it wasn't supposed to happen. Mates were sacred. The bond undeniable. And yet, the Moon Goddess had played a cruel trick.

He slammed his fist into the wall, a low snarl tearing from his throat. Dust and flakes of ash crumbled to the ground. His breathing came fast, uncontrolled.

“She’s mine,” he growled, low and guttural, more beast than man. “Mine.”

Footsteps approached from the corridor beyond the cell, slow and deliberate. Alec knew who it was before he even saw him. The weight of authority always walked differently.

Daxus entered the room, his expression unreadable. The door shut behind him with a hiss of magic and metal. His black coat moved with predator grace, but his eyes—they didn’t glow with anger.

No, it was worse.

They held pity.

Alec’s lips peeled back in fury. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“And yet here I am,” Daxus replied smoothly, stepping into the cell’s field of suppressive magic without flinching. “Because unlike you, I know how to control myself.”

Alec roared, slamming into the bars, the silver sizzling against his skin. He didn’t care. Pain was better than the hollow ache in his chest.

“She’s my mate!” he howled, voice cracking under the weight of grief and fury. “She’s my completion. The light the moon gave to me! And you—you—got to her first.”

Daxus’s jaw ticked. He didn’t move closer. He didn’t speak for a long time. And when he did, it was low, firm.

“She’s carrying my child, Alec. You attacked her. Had you been the least bit rational, I’d have you out of this cell already.”

Alec slumped forward, forehead pressing against the cool metal. His breath shook.

“She smelled like mine,” he whispered. “You know what that feels like, Daxus. You know.” But the king didn't. He did not have a mate.

What he had with avane was the closest he would get to a mate bond

Daxus looked away for a moment, jaw tight. He did know. And that was what made this unbearable.

The woman who had shaken him to his core… the one who had stirred something terrifyingly close to hope in his chest… was not his to claim. Not without consequences. Not without pain.

But letting Alec near her now? Impossible.

“She’s human,” Daxus said coldly. “She didn’t know what she was walking into. None of us did. But that doesn’t excuse your loss of control.”

“You don’t get to talk to me about control,” Alec snapped. “You kissed her. Touched her. Claimed her space before the bond even had a chance to wake. She responded because she felt safe with you. Not because she chose you.”

“She didn’t choose either of us,” Daxus said, his voice sharpening. “The choice was made by fate. And now? Now it’s too damn late.”

Alec sank to the ground, head in his hands. The fire in his blood refused to cool, but the fight was draining from his limbs. His wolf whined, restless and pained.

“She’s everything,” Alec whispered. “Everything I’ve been waiting for.”

“And yet, she’s carrying my heir.”

Silence fell between them like a wall.

Daxus exhaled slowly, crossing his arms. “I can’t let you out of this cell, Alec. Not yet. Not when I know what your instincts are screaming at you to do.”

“To mark her.”

“To claim her,” Daxus corrected darkly. “But that cannot happen.”

“She’s mine—”

“She’s mine now,” Daxus snapped, eyes flashing for the first time. “You think I don’t feel it too? You think I haven’t wondered how the hell the Moon could give my Beta the same woman I—” He cut off, shaking his head.

“This isn’t a territory we can share, Alec. And you know it.”

Alec looked up, broken and bitter. “So what then? You keep me caged until she births your child? Until she bonds so deeply to you that she can’t feel me anymore?”

“I don’t know,” Daxus admitted, voice low and tired. “But I will keep you here until I figure it out. And in the meantime, I’ll be appointing a temporary Beta.”

Alec flinched. That was a punishment almost worse than the cell.

“I’m not your enemy, Alec,” Daxus said after a pause. “But I won’t let you near her. She’s already afraid. She doesn’t even understand what’s happening to her. And you—”

“I’d only make it worse,” Alec finished bitterly. “Yeah. I know.”

Daxus turned, the door hissing open behind him.

“I’ll come back when your mind is clearer,” he said. “But until then… rest. Heal. Try to find reason in this madness.”

Alec didn’t respond. He simply curled his knees in, resting his forehead against them like a boy haunted by shadows.

And Daxus left him there.

Alone.

Because for the first time in his rule, the king didn’t know what the hell to do.