Chapter 4: The first dinner disaster
1150 Words
The dining hall was built for power, not comfort.
Its ceiling arched high overhead, the rafters thick with dark beams polished to a deep sheen. Narrow windows slit the stone walls, letting in thin ribbons of moonlight that fell across the long banquet table dominating the center of the room. Every inch of the place seemed designed to remind whoever entered that they were not in a home they were in a stronghold.
Serena sat at Kael’s right, the seat reserved for the Luna. The wood of the chair was unyielding beneath her, the carved wolf crest pressing lightly against her shoulder blades whenever she sat back. She didn’t sit back.
The smells were the first thing she’d noticed upon entering: woodsmoke from the torches, the tang of metal from the polished weapons hung on the walls, and most dominant the annoying odor of wolf and roasted meat. It was wild and primal and wholly different from the refined, perfumed halls of the human capital.
Kael was beside her, eating with the same controlled efficiency she’d come to expect from him. His knife cut clean, deliberate lines through his meal. Not a wasted motion. Not a glance up unless it was to scan the room. If the stares directed at Serena bothered him, he didn’t show it.
But they were staring.
The wolves were arranged along the table according to rank, his lieutenants closest to him, elders farther down. Warriors filled the gaps, some in formal clothes, others in casual fits that looked hastily pulled over still-damp skin. Their eyes were the most striking thing gold, amber, steel-gray all focused on her like she was a stranger who had wandered into their den uninvited.
No one spoke to her directly at first. There was the clatter of knives against plates, the low murmur of voices, but she was left in silence beside Kael. It wasn’t the kind of silence born of indifference it was the kind that meant they were waiting. Watching eagerly .
It didn’t take long for one of them to break.
A man three seats down leaned forward, his broad shoulders blocking part of the torchlight. A scary scar ran from his temple to the corner of his mouth, pulling slightly when he grinned. “So, the Chancellor’s daughter joins the wolves’ table,” he said, voice pitched just loud enough to carry over the steady hum of conversation. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
Serena met his gaze evenly. “There are a lot of things no one thought they’d see lately.” She said.
A ripple of amusement ran down the table.
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing like he was weighing how far to push. “Tell me, princess,” he went on, “did your father warn you that wolves don’t have any manners when it comes to their meat?” He picked up a bone from his plate, gnawing at it with exaggerated relish. “Or are you hoping one of us teaches you?”
Several wolves chuckled low, sharp sounds with an edge of challenge.
Kael’s knife paused mid-slice, but he didn’t lift his head.
Serena set her fork down gently as she looks up. She could feel the prickle of heat along the back of her neck, but she kept her voice calm, smooth, almost pleasant. “My father did teach me one thing about wolves: the ones who brag the loudest about their bite usually have the weakest jaws to bite.”
The reaction was instant. Laughter broke around the table again, but this time it wasn’t at her expense. The scarred man’s smirk faltered, his eyes hardening before he turned his attention back to his plate.
From further down, Kael’s beta a tall, lean man with ash-blonde hair and the easy posture of someone used to reading the atmosphere of a room let out a single, genuine laugh. It was the kind that slipped past politeness into appreciation. His eyes met hers briefly, an unspoken nicely done in their glint before he reached for his drink.
Kael’s gaze moved toward her, sharp and assessing. She felt the weight of it even as she picked her fork back up.
The conversation around the table resumed, but Serena caught the way voices dipped when they thought she wasn’t listening. She didn’t need to hear the words to know what they were: human, outsider, doesn’t belong here.
When the meal shifted to bread and cheese, Kael leaned slightly toward one of his lieutenants to issue an order in a voice too low for her to catch. Even so, she could feel the subtle change ripple down the table a quiet reassertion of dominance. Whatever else they thought of her, no one openly tested her again.
But the tension didn’t reduce.
Halfway through the meal, the beta spoke, his tone mild and soft but his words laced with something more. “We’ve never had a human Luna before,” he said while his eyes were on Kael. “The council will have questions.”
Kael didn’t look up from his plate. “Then they’ll get answers.”
“And if they don’t like them what would you do?”
This time, Kael’s cold gaze lifted to meet his beta’s. “Then they can choke on their questions.”
A few laughs rose at that, and the beta’s smirk deepened, but Serena caught the flicker of surprise in a few faces.
When the last plates were cleared, Kael remained seated, watching the pack leave in pairs and trios. Some gave her polite nods as they passed. Others didn’t acknowledge her at all as they left . The scarred man didn’t look her way.
Serena took the opportunity to rise, smoothing her dress. She’d barely made it to her feet when Kael’s hand closed lightly around her wrist not hard, not possessive, but enough to still her.
He leaned in, his voice low, rough, brushing the edge of a growl.
“You’re either very brave,” he said, close enough that the warmth of his breath grazed her ear, “or very stupid.”
She didn’t step back. “Maybe I’m both.”
His eyes searched hers for a long minute , unable to read her emotions in the torchlight. Then he released her and rose to his full height, shadowing her without touching.
“Stay close to me tonight,” he said, the words more command than request.
She arched a brow. “To protect me?”
“To keep you from starting another fire,” he replied, though the faint curl at the corner of his mouth suggested it wasn’t entirely a complaint.
They left the hall together, the sound of murmured voices following them like a second set of footsteps. Somewhere behind them, the beta’s quiet laugh rang out again amused, perhaps a little impressed.
Serena didn’t look back.
- Writer
