Mated To The Supreme Alpha King

Celine The loud pounding of footsteps rips me from my dreamless sleep. My heart slams against my ribs before my eyes even open. It’s barely dawn, only the maids should be stirring. This kind of chaos only means one thing: war. Or betrayal. Voices crash through the hallway like thunder. All I hear are angry shouts, barked orders, and raw screams that claw at my skin. I stumble out of bed, my legs tangling in the sheets, panic flooding my throat with copper. Is this a coup? Has someone finally challenged my father? My father's shifter-enforcers always seemed loyal to my father, so I highly doubt that there is a pack coup happening. My fingers shake as I fumble with the lock. The door flies open, and the corridor hits me like a wall of bodies. Shifter midwives rush past in blood-spattered aprons. Guards shove through the crowd, their massive shoulders nearly taking up all the space as they march up and down. When I look at the maids, my brows furrow when I see them clutching each other, sobbing. The metallic reek of blood is everywhere, and I swallow dryly, unable to understand any bit of what is going on. One of the senior midwives, Elder Mira, barrels toward me, clutching a silver tray loaded with crimson-soaked cotton and glistening tools. Her eyes lock on mine, blazing with pure hatred. “You will pay for this heinous crime, Celine.” The words punch the air from my lungs. Crime? My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, just a strangled breath. What is she talking about? I open my mouth to ask her what is going on and what she means but a gasp tumbles from my lips instead when iron-strong hands clamp onto my shoulders from behind. Fingers dig into my bones like they want to crush them. I’m yanked backward so hard that my bare feet skid across the cold floor. “Let me go!” The protest tears out of me with a small, broken sound. My heart thunders in my ears, and fear floods my veins. Where is father? Where is mother? Why am I being accused and manhandled like this? They drag me through the pack house of the NeonFang, past portraits of our ancestors glowing under torchlight, past the grand moon banner that has hung proudly for generations. “Let me go? What have I done?!” I demand hoarsely, my throat already going raw from screaming too hard. “Shut up, Luna killer.” One of the guards hisses sharply. Luna killer? As in, my mother? Dead? Nausea climbed up my throat. My mother is alive. It's not even up for debate. They shove me through the doorway of her bedroom where the air is thick with grief and blood. Shifters crowd the bed, their heads bowed in sorrow, until they see me. Instantly, their faces twist into pure hatred, their eyes glowing with rage. Then I see her. Mother lies on the silk sheets, her skin is a ghostly white color, her lips are blue, and her chest is unnaturally still. A thin line of crimson stains the corner of her mouth, and her beautiful silver hair fans out like a broken halo. “Mother!” The cry rips out of me, a guttural, animalistic sound. I lunge forward, desperate to touch her, to feel her warmth, to wake her from this nightmare. A heavy boot slams between my shoulder blades, grinding me face-first into the cold floor. Pain explodes across my ribs. I can’t breathe or move. The crowd parts, and father steps through, tall and terrible, his Alpha presence crushing the room, crushing me. His eyes, those eyes that once softened only for me, are now empty of everything but grief and fury. “You stole my mate from me,” he snarls in a voice that rips the air from my lungs. Tears burn down my cheeks. “Father, please, what is this? What’s going on?” My words come out like a child’s plea, but I don't mind. Right now, all I want is to understand why I'm being treated like a traitor minutes after waking from sleep. The boot on my back presses harder, forcing a whimper from my lips. My chest screams for air. “You killed my Luna. Your own mother.” His voice trembles with rage and heartbreak. “You crept into her room while she slept and poisoned her, because you couldn’t wait. You wanted to be Luna so badly you slaughtered the one person who loved you most. You are no daughter of mine. You are a disgrace to the ArrowFang pack!” Each word is a knife between my ribs, twisting deeply. Poison? Ambition? I shake my head against the floor, my tears soaking the wood beneath me. This has to be a misunderstanding. “No,” I choke out, my voice barely audible as I choke on tears and saliva. “I would never… I loved her. I love her. She's my mother!” But the boot on my back doesn’t lift. My father's eyes don’t soften. And in the silence that follows, the terrified truth sinks in: they all believe I did it. They all believe I poisoned my mother. Every single one of them. “The new Alpha will decide your fate. You deserve no mercy.” Father’s voice cracks like a whip, leaving no room to beg. He steps aside, the crowd shifting with him, and only then do I see the figure waiting in the shadows by the window. Tall, broad, cloaked in black, with the hood pushed back just enough to reveal sharp cheekbones and eyes the color of midnight. The scent hits me next. A dark, wild, and unmistakable scent that makes my stomach drop. Kael. The name fractures inside my chest like glass. My wolf stirs, her claws scraping against the inside of my ribs. She paces in tight, furious circles, hackles raised, a low growl vibrating through my bones. Ten years. Ten silent, aching years of stolen glances across the training grounds, of his scent lingering in the halls long after he’d gone, of my wolf whining every time he looked away. I loved him before I even understood what the pull meant, dreamed of the day he’d cross the space between us, cup my face, and say the words my heart already knew: Mine. Now he stands above me as Alpha of the Nightshade Pack, the title that should have been my father’s until death. My mother’s blood still stains the sheets behind him, and my father has just handed him my life. I search his eyes for something, anything of the man who once brushed his fingers against mine in the training grounds, who watched me shift for the first time like I was the only thing in the world worth seeing. Please, Kael. You know me. You know I could never hurt her. I was her shadow, her echo, the daughter who sat at her bedside every full moon when the Luna gifts tore her apart with visions. She called me her little moon, her heart outside her body. Everyone knew it. He knows it. He has to see the truth. He won’t condemn me. Not if he ever cared. “Kael,” I whisper his name like a prayer, hoping it touches his heart. His jaw tightens, and something dark flashes across his face, something too fast to name. Then he speaks, in a low voice that cuts through the silence in the room like a blade. “Take her to the cells. She will be banished by midnight.” The world narrows to a single, crushing silence where my heartbeat used to be. Rough hands seize my arms, yanking me upright so hard my shoulders scream and my feet scramble for purchase on the floor. His eyes meet mine, but they carry no warmth or recognition. I’m being sentenced to pay for my mother’s death by the man I thought I loved, and while he does it, his face never once shows any emotion. “No, this is unfair!” The words tear out of me, raw and ragged, echoing off the stone walls as the guards drag me down the corridor. “She was my mother! I loved her—I didn’t do it!” My voice cracks on the last word, turning into something broken and feral. I thrash against their grip, heels scraping the floor, desperation clawing at my throat. “I didn’t do it,” I sob, louder this time, pleading to every face we pass. Maids flinch away. Guards stare straight ahead. No one meets my eyes. The accusation is a poison I can’t spit out. It burns deeper than silver, deeper than shame. “Please,” I whisper as the cellar stairs loom ahead, cold air rising like a grave. “Someone believe me.” But the heavy iron door creaks open, and the darkness below swallows my cries whole.