An Alpha's Payment

TWO

LIRA

Don’t make a sound. Don’t even breathe.

I could feel Alpha Kael’s gaze slicing through me, heavy and questioning. They all stared, always did.

No one could ever quite grasp how a child could do something so monstrous—poisoning their own parents. My head hung low, shame seeping into my bones. I wished the floor would split open and swallow me whole.

There was movement around me. I hadn’t noticed him step closer until he was right in front of me. Rough fingers lifted my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. His hand curled around my throat, firm but not choking.

“You killed your parents?” His voice was low, too calm.

“I was six,” I choked out. “I just made them lemonade.” My voice cracked, childlike and thin. I barely remembered their faces, but the guilt? That had been branded into my soul every single day since.

His crimson eyes flicked over to my brother. “Blaming a six-year-old seems like a reach.”

“A six-year-old should know which plants are toxic,” Alpha Corin bit out.

Alpha Kael tilted his head. “Sounds more like someone wanted her to take the fall.” He let go of my throat with a slow shrug. “And we all know regular wolfsbane doesn’t do anything to us anymore. That stuff stopped being lethal generations ago.”

What? My mind reeled. Wolfsbane wasn’t deadly? But… they told me it was. They all told me that’s what I’d done.

“That leaves only one option—Blood of Wolfsbane,” Alpha Kael muttered under his breath.

“You weren’t there,” my brother growled, jaw clenched tight. “It was just wolfsbane.”

Alpha Kael gave a small nod. “True. I wasn’t.”

Perfect. Another person to remind me of a crime I didn’t even understand at the time—one that has haunted me since I could speak.

“But answer me this,” Alpha Kael continued, eyes narrowing. “Where would a six-year-old even find Blood of Wolfsbane?”

“I didn’t invite you here to interrogate my slave,” Corin snapped, voice sharp as a blade. “Or dig up the past.”

Alpha Kael reached for his leather jacket, the only sign he was preparing to leave. He didn’t dress like the other Alphas—no symbols of dominance or legacy. Just a simple black tee stretched across broad shoulders, jeans, and not a single tattoo in sight. Clean, unbranded. Unpredictable.

“You’re right,” he said, calm again. “Still, you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“We had a deal,” Corin barked, voice rising in panic.

“Nothing’s signed.” Alpha Kael turned, already walking out. “I’ll see myself out.”

The second he was gone, the room cracked open like thunder.

Corin spun on me, eyes wild. “What the hell did you say to him?” He drove his fist into my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs.

“N-nothing,” I gasped. “He just… asked why I smelled strange.”

“Did you tell him?” Reta Riven barked, his face inches from mine. Spittle hit my cheek. I despised him. I hated him so deeply that I had sworn—sworn to myself—that one day, I’d rip his insides out and watch him choke on them.

“WELL?” my brother bellows when I don’t answer fast enough. His palm cracks across the side of my head.

My head jerks sideways before nodding without meaning to. “But I didn’t say it was you,” I whisper, trying to sound steady. But my voice comes out too small, too broken. If they weren’t wolves, they wouldn’t have heard me.

My brother’s hand tangles in my black hair, yanking it hard until pain explodes across my scalp. “If you’ve ruined this for me,” he growls low, “you’ll never see daylight again.”

He drags me by the hair out of the office, down the corridor, straight to the basement door.

---

In the Library

“Please,” I cry, stumbling to keep up. “He’s an Alpha—I had to answer him!” My tears sting as they streak down my cheeks, shame burning brighter than pain.

He throws the basement door open.

And standing there, arms folded, leaning against the opposite wall… is Alpha Kael. His crimson eyes flick to us.

My brother’s hand instantly drops from my hair, the pressure easing off my head.

“I thought you’d gone,” Alpha Corin mutters tightly.

“I said I’d see myself out,” Kael replies, casually. “But instead of the door, I found a staircase. It led to a basement—one drenched in your sister’s scent. Is that where you keep her?”

“She’s not some helpless victim,” Corin snaps, shoulders squared. “She’s the reason our parents are dead. So yes, that’s what she deserves.”

“You should keep your nose out of other packs’ matters,” Beta Riven cuts in sharply.

Alpha Kael laughs, cold and amused. “If I go through with this alliance, your problems become my problems. So answer me this—what punishment were you planning for her? Starvation? A week in darkness? A few beatings?”

“We don’t—”

“No?” Kael raises a brow. “You want me to believe you’d just let her rest? I already stopped you from hitting her once. And I can see the signs. She's underfed, exhausted. Those bruises on her? That’s not how an Alpha treats his kin. Not even if she was guilty.”

“She is guilty!” Corin roars. “And she’s got nothing to do with our agreement!”

“That’s my call to make,” Kael replies coolly. His gaze sweeps the hallway. “Where’s your Luna? I’d love to hear her thoughts on this.”

Please no. My stomach drops. I squeeze my eyes shut, silently begging him not to call her. Luna Karessa is a nightmare—worse than both of them combined.

Alpha Kael scoffs. “On second thought, don’t bother. I’m sure she’s as foul as the rest of you.”

I risk a glance. His crimson eyes are locked on me. There’s no reason for him to defend me—no logic to it. I’m a traitor. A nobody. Just a ghost kept alive to be punished. My brother could’ve killed me years ago, but this was worse. This was a lifetime of suffering.

Then Alpha Kael speaks again.

“I have a proposal for you, Alpha Corin.”

Corin frowns. “We already agreed on terms.”

“I’m changing them. And if you say no, there won’t be a deal. Instead, you’ll gain a very powerful enemy. And we both know that’s the last thing you want.”

Corin’s jaw clenches. “I’m guessing this has something to do with her.”

“You’d be right. I want to take her with me. She comes to my pack—and then you’ll have my support.”

Me? I blink, stunned. Why me?

While my brother and his Beta mutter amongst themselves, Kael’s eyes never leave mine. That steady stare makes my skin prickle. What could someone like him possibly want with someone like me?

Finally, Corin growls, “Fine.” He extends his hand.

Alpha Kael doesn’t take it. Instead, his crimson gaze drifts back to me.

“I’ll return tomorrow with the papers,” he says calmly. Then he steps closer, gently cupping my face. “Be ready. Have your things packed.”

He brushes his thumb across my lower lip, then turns and walks down the hallway, heading straight for the front door.

He hadn’t been lost—he knew exactly where the exit was. So why had he pretended otherwise?

He stops at the doorway, glancing back. “If I find out any of you touched her again, the contract will be the least of your problems.” With that, he steps outside, the door slamming shut behind him with finality.

“Get out of my sight!” my brother snarls.

I don’t hesitate.

I rush up the stairs, escaping into the only space that was mine—my tiny bedroom. There’s barely anything in it. Just a few pieces of clothing folded neatly in the corner. Packing would take less than a minute.

---

By the time morning crept in, I hadn’t slept. My mind kept circling Alpha Kael’s words—his questions, his actions. Why would someone like him take an interest in me?

There had to be a reason he ruled the largest pack in the region. His wolves were warriors, feared for their strength and precision. That’s what made my brother eager to link Moonshine with them.

But where did I come into it?

Why me?

And most of all... what exactly was the Blood of Wolfsbane?