Reborn After My Son Killed Me

Chapter 5

Alaric pov :

The great hall of Blackridge was suffocatingly warm, reeking of roasted meat, cheap wine, and the desperate, cloying fear of minor Alphas.

I sat at the head of the massive banquet table, half-listening to Cassius deliver a bloated, rehearsed speech about pack unity. The hollow flattery made my skull ache. I stared blankly at the crystal glass of blood-red wine in my hand, my mind entirely consumed by the violent argument I was having with my own beast.

My Lycan was pacing relentlessly against my ribs, snarling, clawing at my insides, demanding that I go back out to the courtyard and drag the pale, broken Omega out of the dirt.

Mate. Ours.

She was a wolf less breeder. I coldly shot back, locking my beast down. A weak, discarded toy. We do not need her.

"And to honor the Lycan Crown," Cassius's voice boomed, pulling me from my internal war.

I looked up. Cassius was standing before the high table, a sickeningly proud smile on his face. Flanking him were two beautiful, terrified she-wolves dressed in sheer silks.

"The finest, high-fertility she-wolves in Blackridge," Cassius announced, gesturing to them like prized livestock. "A humble tribute, Your Majesty. To ensure the royal bloodline—"

Crack.

The sound was sharp, cutting through the murmurs of the hall. I looked down. I had gripped my wine glass so hard that the thick crystal stem had shattered in my fist. Dark red wine and a few drops of my own blood spilled over my knuckles, dripping onto the pristine white tablecloth.

Cassius's smile froze. The two she-wolves trembled, stepping back.

"Get them out of my sight," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, yet it vibrated with a lethal Alpha command that made the floorboards shake. "Before I mount their heads on your gates."

Cassius swallowed hard, frantically waving the women away. "Apologies, my King. I only meant to—"

He didn't get to finish the sentence.

The scent hit me again.

It was the same blinding wave of midnight rain and dark earth that had paralyzed me in the courtyard. But this time, it was wrong.

It was twisted with the sharp, metallic tang of fresh blood. It was drenched in pain. And beneath it all, a cold, terrifying spike of pure, unadulterated danger.

My mate was dying.

The mental cages I had built to lock my beast away shattered into dust. The Lycan didn't just awaken; it violently took over. A feral, earth-shaking roar tore through my chest.

I stood up, kicking the heavy oak table completely out of my way. It splintered into pieces against the stone floor. Every Alpha in the room dropped to their knees in blind panic, but I didn't see any of them. I only saw the path to that scent.

Rhea pov :

They dragged me into a small, windowless side chamber off the main baptism hall.

There were four pack guards. Every single one of them found an excuse to put their heavy hands on me, twisting my arms, bruising my ribs, before violently forcing me down onto my knees on the cold stone floor.

I kept my head down, my breathing shallow, conserving whatever strength I had left in my exhausted, wolfless body.

The heavy iron door clicked shut. Selene walked in, her silk skirts whispering against the stone.

She didn't look like the gentle, perfect moonlight she-wolf the pack worshiped. Her mask was completely off. Her eyes were alight with a sick, malicious thrill. She walked right up to me and looked down at my chained hands resting on the floor.

Without a word, she raised her foot and brought the hard heel of her shoe down violently on my right hand.

Snap.

My index and middle fingers broke instantly. The pain was blinding, a sickening crunch that shot pure fire up my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut, biting the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted copper, but I absolutely refused to give her the satisfaction of a scream.

Selene scowled at my silence, twisting her heel into my broken bones before stepping back.

"You are charged with seducing the pack Beta," Selene announced, raising her voice just enough, so the elder standing outside the corridor could hear her playing the righteous Luna. "Attempting to flee the territory, and conspiring to kidnap the Alpha heir."

She looked at the guard standing behind me. Her eyes were cold, dead pools. "She is a rogue and a traitor. Execute her."

The guard didn't hesitate. A thick, muscular forearm locked brutally across my throat, jerking my head back. On his other hand, a heavy silver blade flashed in the dim light.

The phantom pressure of my past life slammed into me. I was choking again. I was dying in the dark again.

But I wasn't the same woman I used to be. I knew things they didn't. I knew that less than a hundred yards away, the most powerful Lycan on the continent was sitting at a banquet table. And I knew exactly how a Lycan's beast reacted to the smell of its fated mate’s blood.

My vision began to tunnel, black spots dancing at the edges of my sight as the guard crushed my windpipe.

I needed blood.

With the last ounce of strength in my broken body, I twisted my chained right arm upward, throwing it directly into the path of the guard's descending blade.

The silver sliced deep into my forearm. Hot blood immediately poured from the open wound, soaking my sleeve and splashing onto the cold stone floor.

The sharp, metallic scent flooded the small room.

Please, I prayed to whatever Goddess was watching, my lungs burning, the darkness closing in. Please let him smell it.

The guard cursed, adjusting his grip to snap my neck. I couldn't fight him anymore. My body went completely limp. Somewhere, on the other side of the stone wall, I thought I heard a pup crying. I didn't know if it was real, or just the ghost of my son waiting for me in the dark.

My vision went completely black.

CRASH.

The sound of the heavy iron door being literally ripped off its hinges was deafening. The massive slab of metal flew across the room, smashing into the stone wall.

"Let her go!"

The voice was a demonic, guttural roar that didn't sound human.

The room instantly collapsed. An Alpha aura so heavy, so physically crushing that it felt like the ceiling had caved in, slammed into us. The guard holding me screamed in pain, dropping me as he hit the floor, violently clawing at his own throat. Selene collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, gasping frantically for air.

I hit the stone, coughing violently, trying to pull air into my crushed windpipe.

"It was her, my King!" Hayes, who had slinked into the room behind Selene, started babbling in absolute terror from the floor. "She came onto me! She tried to escape with the heir—"

He didn't finish. Selene's horrified, blood-curdling scream cut him off. I couldn't see what Alaric did to him, but the sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed in the room.

Then, the crushing aura vanished from around me.

Warm, massive hands gently touched my shoulders. I felt myself being lifted effortlessly off the freezing stone, pulled hard against a broad, solid chest vibrating with a low, protective rumble. The scent of pine and frost wrapped around me, shielding me from the nightmare.

I weakly opened my eyes, resting my head against his neck.

Alaric buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. His voice, stripped of all its icy royalty, was a broken, possessive growl against my ear.

"My mate."