Chapter Four - The Fight
815 Words
Chapter Four
The Fight
The impact cracked the marble floor.
A shockwave tore through Blackwood Hall, shattering every remaining window.
I stumbled backwards as wind whipped my veil from my hair.
Kael and Ronan were already moving again.
Too fast to follow.
A punch.
A block.
A blur of black and silver.
Their wolves snarled beneath their skin, their eyes flashing gold as raw Alpha power rolled through the hall.
The gathered warriors instinctively backed away.
Nobody wanted to get caught between them.
Kael drove Ronan into one of the stone pillars.
The pillar exploded.
Chunks of rock rained across the floor.
A cheer erupted from Blackwood’s warriors.
“Alpha!”
Kael didn’t stop.
He landed another blow.
Then another.
His face was twisted with rage.
“You don’t walk into my pack and threaten my people!”
Ronan absorbed the hits without expression.
Almost…
Bored.
Then he caught Kael’s fist.
Just caught it.
The entire hall went silent.
Ronan looked down at Kael’s clenched hand before slowly lifting his gaze.
“Finished?”
Kael snarled and swung with his other arm.
Ronan blocked that too.
Effortlessly.
“I gave you a chance.”
His voice was quiet.
“You should have taken it.”
The next movement happened so quickly I almost missed it.
Ronan twisted.
Kael’s feet left the ground.
A heartbeat later, Blackwood’s Alpha crashed through the Elder’s platform, splintering centuries-old oak.
Gasps echoed around the room.
No one had ever seen Kael thrown like that.
Ever.
Kael rose immediately, blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
His chest heaved.
His wolf was dangerously close to the surface.
“You…” he growled.
“…what are you?”
For the first time, Ronan smiled.
“The question you should be asking…”
His golden eyes flicked toward me.
“…is what she is.”
Every head turned in my direction.
I hated it.
The attention.
The fear.
The whispers.
“I don’t understand any of this!” I shouted.
My voice cracked.
“I don’t know what a Moonborn is.”
“I don’t know why everyone keeps looking at me.”
“I don’t know why he’s here.”
I pointed at Ronan.
“And I definitely don’t know why you said you loved my mother.”
Silence.
Ronan’s expression softened.
“You deserve answers.”
“Then tell me.”
“I will.”
A scream echoed from outside.
Then another.
The massive hall doors burst open again.
A bloodied scout stumbled inside.
“There are more of them!”
Kael spun around.
“How many?”
The scout’s breathing was ragged.
“Three more Alpha banners.”
My stomach dropped.
Three?
The scout swallowed.
“The Crimson Claws.”
“The Northern Empire.”
“…and the Silver Crescent.”
The room erupted.
“They’re all here?”
“Impossible!”
“They’ve been enemies for centuries!”
Ronan didn’t look surprised.
“Of course they came.”
He looked at me.
“The moment you awakened…”
His voice was almost gentle.
“…every Alpha in the world knew.”
I wrapped my arms around myself.
“I never wanted this.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted…”
My voice broke.
“…to get married.”
The words hung in the air.
For one fleeting second, everything stopped.
Even Kael looked at me.
Really looked at me.
Not as a traitor.
Not as a Moonborn.
Just…
Isla.
The woman who had stood at the altar believing she was about to spend forever with him.
Something shifted in his expression.
Regret.
Real, unmistakable regret.
Before he could speak—
Marcus stepped forward.
“My Alpha.”
Kael didn’t take his eyes off me.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
Marcus held out a folded piece of parchment.
“It arrived just before the ceremony.”
Kael frowned.
“Why wasn’t I told?”
Marcus hesitated.
“I… believed it wasn’t genuine.”
Kael snatched it from his hand.
His eyes raced across the page.
Then he froze.
Every trace of colour drained from his face.
“What is it?” Elder Rowan asked.
Kael looked up slowly.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“…The evidence.”
My pulse quickened.
“What evidence?”
He stared at me.
Then back at the letter.
His hand tightened until the parchment crumpled.
“It was fabricated.”
The hall fell silent.
My breath caught.
“What?”
Kael’s eyes met mine.
For the first time since he’d rejected me…
They were filled with horror.
“I was wrong.”
Before another word could be spoken, Marcus quietly took one step backwards.
Then another.
His gaze darted toward the shattered doorway.
Toward the waiting forest.
Toward his escape.
Ronan noticed.
“So.”
The Ash King’s smile disappeared.
“There’s the real traitor.”
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