Chapter Four
1271 Words
I could feel sprinkles of water on my face. Cold. Sharp. Each drop dragged me back from the dark.
“Wake up,” a voice hissed. “Lyra, open your eyes before someone sees you like this!”
Mistress Venn.
My eyelids fluttered open, heavy as stone. The ceiling above me swam in and out of focus, tall marble arches, gold torches flickering against the walls. My head throbbed, and my throat burned. When I tried to sit up, a wave of dizziness hit.
“Stay down,” Mistress Venn snapped, pushing a damp cloth against my face. “You fainted in front of the King, you fool. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
The words hit me like a slap.
Everything rushed back at once, the hall, the noise, the eyes on me. Kael’s voice cutting through the chaos like thunder: She is mine.
My stomach turned.
The bond. They’d called it that. But I didn’t even know what it meant.
I glanced around. We were still inside the great hall, though most of the wolves had cleared out. The long tables were scattered with goblets and half-eaten food. A few guards stood watch near the King’s dais, where the Alpha King sat stiffly, speaking in low tones with his advisors. And Kael, he stood near the far column, half in shadow, arms crossed over his chest.
He didn’t look at me.
Not once.
I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to work. “I… I didn’t mean to—”
“Silence,” Mistress Venn hissed, eyes darting toward the guards. “The King hasn’t dismissed you. Don’t speak unless spoken to.”
My fingers tightened around the cloth in my lap. My heart wouldn’t stop hammering. I didn’t understand what was happening, only that everyone seemed to look at me like I’d done something unforgivable.
The King’s deep voice broke the silence. “Bring the girl here.”
Mistress Venn’s grip on my arm turned to iron. “Move,” she muttered under her breath, shoving me forward.
Each step echoed in my skull. The floor felt too big, the room too quiet. When I stopped before the dais, I didn’t dare lift my head. I could feel Kael’s presence behind me, a weight, cold and steady, making it hard to breathe.
The King’s tone was smooth, almost calm. “Human girl. You claim no knowledge of what happened here?”
“I… I didn’t claim anything, my King,” I stammered. “I swear, I only came to serve the wine.”
“Yet the bond ignited in your presence,” he said. “A sacred force that does not lie.”
My knees shook. “I don’t even know what that means.”
A soft murmur rippled through the hall. I could sense their disgust, the wolves watching, whispering, judging.
The King leaned back on his throne, eyes narrowing. “You are human. He is a wolf. The Moon would never bless such a union. It is unnatural.”
A part of me wanted to scream that I hadn’t asked for any of this. But my throat wouldn’t work.
Then Kael spoke. His voice was quiet, but it cut through every other sound. “You question the Moon’s will, my King?”
The room froze.
The King’s eyes flickered towards him. “I question nothing. But I will not have the sacred rites tainted by confusion or falsehood.”
He turned to his advisor. “Send for the Priestess. She will confirm the truth of this… bond.”
Mistress Venn stiffened beside me. My stomach dropped. The Priestess. Even I had heard of her, the King’s seer, said to be able to read the will of the Moon itself. If she found me guilty of lying or deceit… I’d be executed before nightfall.
The King gestured for us to wait. “Until she arrives, no one leaves.”
The minutes stretched into hours.
The hall emptied of noise, leaving only the sound of distant wind and my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I stood perfectly still, afraid to draw attention to myself again. Kael remained in the column, silent, unreadable.
Once, I dared a glance at him. His face was carved from stone, no emotion, no pity. The faint scar down his jaw caught the firelight, making him look even more inhuman. Yet every time someone moved too close to me, his head lifted slightly, eyes following.
Protective. Dangerous.
I didn’t know which.
The great doors opened suddenly with a deep creak.
A tall woman entered, dressed in white robes that shimmered like frost. Her hair was silver, her eyes pale and unblinking, the Priestess. The wolves bowed their heads as she passed. Even the King’s tone softened.
“Priestess Elara. We require your insight.”
Her gaze drifted toward me, then to Kael, then back again. “The bond I felt earlier reached even my chambers,” she murmured. “It is powerful… and strange.”
She approached, her bare feet silent on the marble floor. When she stopped before me, I wanted to shrink into the ground.
“Raise your head, child.”
My body refused, but her voice wasn’t a command, it was soft, like the pull of the tide. Slowly, I obeyed.
Her hand lifted, hovering inches from my face. “Do you feel it?” she asked.
“I—I don’t know what you mean.”
“The connection,” she whispered. “The bond between soul and soul.”
“I don’t feel anything,” I said honestly. “Only fear.”
A faint smile ghosted her lips. “Fear is a kind of knowing.”
Then she turned to Kael. “And you, Cursed Alpha?”
His voice was low, rough. “I feel it.”
The words sent a chill down my spine.
The Priestess nodded once, then pressed her palm lightly against my chest. A sudden warmth surged through me, not painful, but consuming. The air shimmered around us. I gasped, clutching at my tunic as a pulse of light flashed between her hand and my skin.
Gasps echoed through the hall.
When the glow faded, she stepped back, breathing heavily. “The bond is real,” she said, her voice ringing through the silence. “The Moon chose her.”
The King’s hand gripped the armrest of his throne. “Impossible.”
“She bears no wolf blood,” one of the Alphas shouted. “It’s a trick!”
But the Priestess shook her head. “Not a trick. A secret.” Her eyes rested on me with a strange, almost pitying look. “There is more to this girl than you see.”
I didn’t understand. My legs trembled beneath me.
The King rose slowly, his gaze sharp as a blade. “If the Moon truly made this mistake, then perhaps the Moon needs reminding of her place.” He turned to Kael. “End it. Reject her.”
My chest tightened. Reject me?
Kael didn’t move. His eyes, cold, gray, endless, found mine.
Something flickered there. Something dangerous.
“No,” he said simply.
The word cracked the air.
The King’s fury was instant. “You dare defy me?”
Kael stepped forward, his voice steady but quiet. “You asked for truth. The truth has been spoken. I will not undo what the Moon has bound.”
“Then you choose death,” the King snarled.
The guards shifted, uncertain. The air itself seemed to tremble.
I couldn’t breathe. This was madness. Because of me..... a mistake, he might die.
- Writer
