Gambled to the Rival Alpha

Chapter 5-Severed

Elder Aaron unrolled a strip of sacred white linen, dipping his thumbs into a small clay bowl of ceremonial ash and silver dust.

The private chamber adjacent to the VIP lounge felt like a crypt. High walls absorbed the low murmurs of the few witnesses permitted inside: Alpha Alexander, Miguel, Elder Aaron, Silas, Diego, and me.

"Ophelia Scarlet," Elder Aaron began. "Step forward."

With legs feeling like undercooked spaghetti, I stepped to the center of the room. I could feel Diego’s intense gaze tracking my every movement, his powerful presence hovering like a shadow just a few feet away.

Silas stood opposite me, his head bowed, refusing to meet my gaze. The arrogant golden boy was gone; in his place stood a coward scared of his father’s wrath.

"By the laws of the First Packs," Elder Aaron intoned, gesturing for Silas to step up, "a bond pledged in wager and lost in fair play must be dissolved to clear the debt. Reach out your hands."

Silas hesitantly raised his right hand. I lifted mine, my fingers trembling violently. When our palms met, a cold shockwave rattled through our unfinished mate link.

'No!' Nyx barked in agony inside my mind, beating her claws against the walls of my consciousness. 'Do not let them break us. Please, Ophelia. Do something!'

I shut my eyes for a split second, wishing that was enough to calm the whimpering canine within me. Wishing I could magically transport myself inside my mind and pet her head, telling her I could do something.

But it was impossible and that was the painful truth. Along with the reality of what was about to follow.

"Silas Grey," Elder Aaron commanded. "Speak the release."

Silas swallowed hard. He finally looked up at me, his eyes filling with a solemn regret. "Ophelia... I'm sorry."

"Speak the words, boy!" Alexander snapped from the corner. His arms were crossed over his chest and his fiery gaze looked like it would burn his son to ashes if possible.

"I, Silas Grey, heir of Silver Crest..." Silas began, "...sever my claim upon Ophelia Scarlet. I release the bond. I surrender her to the victor."

Elder Aaron pressed his ash-stained thumbs into the pulse points on our wrists, whispering an ancient, low incantation.

Then came the pain.

I would have been able to bear it a bit if it was physical. It wasn't. It was far worse. It felt as if a hot blade had been driven into the center of my chest, twisting violently as it shredded the soul-mist binding me to Silas.

A blood-curdling scream tore from my throat. My knees buckled instantly and the room spun into darkness as the bond snapped with a crack within me.

I fell forward, expecting to slam hard against the floor.

Instead, a pair of arms caught me mid-air.

A familiar scent instantly flooded my senses—one I had been accustomed to recently. I gasped for air, my chest heaving with dry sobs as I clung instinctively to the shoulders holding me up.

"I've got you, chica," a baritone rumbled against my ear.

I opened my tear-blurred eyes to find myself pressed firmly against Diego’s chest. His eyes were locked onto mine. They were surprisingly soft for a man I had always known as a monster. And also considering the usual devilish glint they had reflected earlier while he played Silas. The heat radiating off his body wrapped around my broken soul like a thick blanket.

Silas dropped to his knees a few feet away, clutching his head and gasping as the recoil of the broken bond hit him. But no one was looking at him.

Diego effortlessly shifted his arms, scooping me up into his arms as if I weighed nothing at all. My sapphire dress cascaded over his dark suit sleeve.

"The debt is cleared," he stated as he looked over my head at Alpha Alexander and the groveling Silas. "Silver Crest has no further claim on this woman. She belongs to Bloodmoon now."

"Take her," Alexander conceded bitterly, turning his back on his son. "She is no longer our concern."

Silas looked up from the floor, his face pale and wet with tears as he watched Diego hold me.

"Ophelia..."

I pulled my gaze away from him, turning my face into the crook of Diego’s neck, hiding from the shame and the sting of betrayal.

Diego turned on his heel and strode out of the chamber, carrying me past the staring crowds in the VIP hallway and out into the cool night air. Miguel walked alongside us, opening the rear door of a black SUV parked at the private entrance.

Diego slid into the plush leather back seat, holding me carefully in his lap before setting me gently on the seat beside him. He pulled off his suit jacket and draped it over my shivering shoulders. The jacket was warm, heavy, and completely saturated with his commanding scent.

"Drive," he commanded the driver, his voice echoing in the quiet interior of the vehicle.

As the SUV pulled away from the Grand Crystal Hall, leaving Silver Crest and my ruined past behind in the dark, I curled into a tight ball under Diego’s jacket.

My life as I knew it was over.

I was no longer a Luna-to-be. I was a gambled trophy, riding into the dark territory of the most dangerous Alpha in the realm.