Chapter 2
858 Words
Inside, the royal dripped sweat.
“Miss Rowan's lifeblood is draining. Only the Moonlit Requiem Elixir can bind her broken spirit!”
Jocab ripped through his gloves as he whirled on me, eyes glowing with primal desperation.
“Yuki! Your Alpha father gave you that vial!”
My wolf snarled in my chest, the scent of Sophie's fading life - force clashing with Jocab's pleading pheromones.
“If I give it up, who guards my throat in Greyfield?”
His fist slammed against the stone wall. “I'll howl my protection across all packs! Her brother sacrificed his wolf for me—”
“Name your price!”
I uncorked the vial, watching silver liquid catch the moonlight.
Its glow pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
He lunged, snatching it from my grasp. “Pour it down her throat!”
As his nose buried in Sophie's hair, crooning soothing growls, I met my maid's knowing gaze.
I snatched a quill, scratching the parchment.
Sophie's sickly - sweet scent mingled with Jocab's desperate pheromone.
“Mr. Winslow,” she whimpered, her weak voice a siren's call,
“I only ventured out to find moon - herbs for your wound…”
Jocab's wolf - like growl softened into a tender croon as he lapped at her tears.
“Hush, little wolf. You're safe now.”
My own wolf raged within, but I held my ground.
Shoving the paper into his chest, I hissed, “Read this in half a moon.”
He reached for the note, but Sophie's pained whine stopped him cold.
“Thirsty…” she gasped.
Without a second glance, he stuffed the decree into his belt and bounded for the water basin.
I watched him nuzzle her neck as he tilted the cup.
The moment his back turned, I let out a silent howl of goodbye.
As the setting sun painted the sky blood - red, I knew the words on that parchment would sever our bond forever: Jocab Winslow and Yuki Carrington shall never meet again in this lifetime.
I tore through the chest of gifts, each item unleashing a tidal wave of memories:
the wolf-tooth necklace, the moon-blessed cloak woven, the carved totem that once pulsed with our shared bond.
"Burn it," I hissed.
Flames erupted, devouring the relics in a pyre of broken promises.
Mother's gift of Bloodsilk lay on the altar, its weave thrumming with Alpha blessings. The double moonlotus design mocked me, I once tender from learning to stitch for Jocab, now honed to razor points.
Each petal I embroidered was a stab:
"This veil is cursed,".
"Let me rip it to shreds."
"A true mate weaves her own bond," I'd teased, nuzzling his scarred palm.
Three moons later, he'd presented a lopsided veil stitched with his battle-rough hands, pinpricks dripping silver blood. "See? Your wolf bleeds for you," he'd boasted.
Now, that same scent clung to Sophie's sickly-sweet trail.
As I pierced the final thread, a guard's hushed snarl carried on the wind:
" No pack claims her, the concubine mate Jocab is going to mated,—Jocab had to beg the High Priestess to perform a blood-adoption.
“That's nothing! Her dowry alone cost tens of thousands in gold, with over ten carts of jewelry. They even tore down a temple to expand her courtyard. It's more lavish than a proper mate!”
The whispered gossip sliced through the air. My fingers shredded the embroidery hoop, and the needle plunged into my palm.
Wolf - blood, thick and coppery, spilled onto the moonlotus petal.
Before I could regain my composure, a howl of fury echoed through the corridor.
I burst into the courtyard to find Lily, pinning Sophie against the wall.
“You mangy wolf!”
“You dared desecrate the princess's Bloodsilk veil? That fabric carries the Alpha's blessing!”
Sophie cowered. “I - I only wanted to see...“
“Silence!” I stalked forward.
I snatched the tattered veil from Sophie's grasp.
Sophie's sobs echoed through the courtyard.
"She took dagger to it!"
Lily bared her teeth. "This is a direct insult ! By pack law, she deserves twenty lashes with silver - coated ropes!"
I stared at the ruins. The moonlotus embroidery now lay in tatters.
A strange calm washed over me; my wedding to the Greyfield Alpha loomed, and I couldn't afford a pack feud.
"Lily, leave it."
Just as Lily turned, a snarl ripped through the air.
Sophie lunged, her eyes wild, the scissor blades glinting with a strange, enchanted silver.
Lily's defensive howl shook the ground as she kicked out, sending Sophie sprawling.
In an instant, Jocab's Alpha roar split the sky.
He materialized like a shadow, snatching Sophie into his arms.
"Yuki, what have you done to her?"
His voice was a low, menacing growl.
"You smell the blood on her hands—literally—and still defend her?!"
I snarled.
"Is your bond with this wolf stronger than the years we spent howling at the moon together?
- Writer
