Scent of the Alpha

Chapter 8: THE STAINED CROWN

"Why does it hurt this much? Isn't a marking supposed to bring peace?"

I whispered to my own reflection in the large bathroom mirror. My fingers trembled as I touched the skin on the base of my neck, where Eros’s mark of ownership was engraved. Instead of a healthy golden glow, the mark looked inflamed. It was a deep, purplish red, with thin veins throbbing painfully. It felt as if a hot iron was being constantly pressed against my skin.

The reason was clear. Our bond was unstable. How could it be stable when the Alpha who carved this mark was sharing his breath and energy with another woman in the room next door?

I looked away, trying to ignore the sting, and turned to the object I had found beside my pillow this morning. An ancient silver necklace with a highly detailed rose pendant. I didn't know who had placed it there, but when I put it on, a soothing coldness flowed from the necklace, slightly dulling the heat on my neck.

"You're beautiful, but you're just a trophy, Aira," I thought bitterly. "Just a decoration so this pack looks like it has a Luna, while their heart still beats for Sera."

***

"Smile a little, Aira. This is an important banquet for the mental stability of the warriors," Eros’s deep voice broke my daydream as we walked toward the main hall.

Eros looked incredibly handsome in a formal black suit, but there was a tiredness in his eyes that he couldn't hide. He didn't hold my hand. Instead, his hands were busy adjusting his own cufflinks, as if an invisible distance had stretched between us after last night.

"Important for the pack, or important to celebrate Sera’s recovery?" I asked flatly, without looking at him.

Eros stopped in his tracks for a moment. He let out a harsh sigh. "Don't start again, Aira. Sera almost lost her life trying to help me suppress my wild side before you came. Silas just wants to celebrate his daughter's return. Is that wrong?"

"There’s nothing wrong with gratitude, Eros. What’s wrong is how you all treat me like a stranger in my own home," I replied before walking past him into the hall.

The hall was already filled with the high-ranking members of the Obsidian Pack. At the end of the long table, Silas sat with an arrogant expression, and beside him, Sera sat in a white silk dress that made her look like a fragile angel.

"Welcome, Alpha! And... ah, welcome as well, Miss Aira," Silas's voice boomed, but his tone when mentioning my name felt incredibly condescending.

We sat in the seats of honor. Eros in the middle, me on his left, and—making my chest even tighter—Sera was right on his right. Silas stood up, raising his porcelain glass high.

"Tonight, we gather not just for a regular dinner. We celebrate the return of the light of the Obsidian Pack. Sera, my daughter, who has given half of her soul over the last three years so our Alpha could stand tall. Without her, Obsidian might have crumbled. She is the true heart of this nation!"

Thunderous applause broke out. I saw Eros give a sincere, thin smile toward Sera. It felt like being slapped in public. I was his Luna, yet the praise of 'heart of the nation' was given to another woman.

"Father, don't exaggerate," Sera’s voice sounded soft, but her eyes flickered toward me with a flash of victory. "I only did what someone who loves Eros had to do. I don’t need an award."

Sera then turned to me, her smile widening, yet cold. "Miss Aira, don't be offended by my father's words. He is just too worried about me. As a human, you might not understand how heavy the energy burden of an Alpha is. If you want, I can teach you bit by bit. You know... so you don't faint again like last night. It's very dangerous if a Luna looks so weak in front of her people."

The table suddenly went silent. It was an insult wrapped in fake concern.

"Thank you for the offer, Sera," I replied while staring sharply into her eyes. "But I prefer to learn directly from my own mate. Besides, isn't 'artificial' energy just that? Artificial. It can never match a true blood bond."

Sera’s face turned pale for a moment, but she immediately looked down, her shoulders shaking slightly as if she had just been hurt by my words.

"Aira, watch your tone," Eros whispered sharply beside me.

I could only snort cynically. However, the pain in my neck suddenly increased a thousandfold. Through this still-fragile mental bond, I could feel something that made my blood boil. Under the table covered by a long velvet cloth, I felt movement.

Eros did not pull his hand away when Sera’s fingers crawled into his palm. I could feel through the mark on my neck how their energies intersected. Eros was letting Sera take a bit of his energy, and vice versa.

"Eros, stop," I whispered, my voice trembling from pain and rage.

Eros only glanced at me briefly, then went back to listening to Silas speak. He seemed to ignore my internal protest. He preferred giving comfort to Sera over protecting his mate’s feelings.

"Miss Aira, you look pale. Let me pour this herbal tea for you," Sera stood up with an elegant movement, holding a hot porcelain teapot.

She stepped closer to me. As she stood right beside me, she leaned in slightly, her face right next to my ear.

"He will never let me go, Aira. My blood has been flowing in his veins for years. You are just an accident of fate that arrived late," she whispered so low that only I could hear.

My hand moved instinctively. I wanted to get away from her, but when I tried to reach for the teapot so she would stop, Sera suddenly screamed.

"Ahhh! It’s hot!"

*Prangg!*

The teapot fell to the floor, shattering into pieces. Sera fell to a sitting position, clutching her hand that hadn't even been touched by the hot water. She began to gasp for air, her face turning blue as if she were having a massive asthma attack.

"Sera!" Silas shouted in panic and immediately rushed to his daughter.

Eros stood up abruptly, his chair falling backward. He looked at me with a gaze I had never seen before. A look of deep anger and disappointment.

"Aira! What did you do?!" Eros barked. His Alpha voice boomed, making several servants in the corner of the room bow in fear.

"I didn't do anything, Eros! She dropped it on purpose!" I defended myself.

"Enough!" Eros cut me off. He approached, grabbing my shoulders firmly. "Control your emotions, Aira! I know you're jealous, but using your power to hurt a weak Sera is a coward's move! You know she is unstable, don't make it harder for her!"

"My power?" I laughed bitterly, tears starting to well up. "What power? I don't even know how to use it! You believe her cheap performance over my words?"

"Look around you!" Silas shouted, pointing at the table.

I was stunned. The glasses on the table were shaking violently. The water inside rippled wildly as if there was a small earthquake centered only around me. The lights in the hall began to flicker unstably.

"You can't control yourself, Aira. You are dangerous to the people around you if you continue to nurse this hatred," Eros said coldly. He released his grip, then turned his back on me to lift Sera into his arms.

"Take her to her room, Alpha! This Luna truly has no mercy!" Silas shouted, fueling the fire.

My world felt like it was collapsing. I stood frozen in the middle of the hall, watched by the pack leaders who looked at me with expressions of disgust and fear. Eros... the man I loved, the man who promised to protect me under the Blood Moon, was now walking away from me while cradling another woman.

The pain in my neck was no longer just heat; it was like an explosion.

"I... hate you, Eros Obsidian," I whispered.

Suddenly, the pressure in my chest exploded. I didn't know what happened, but the vibrations in the hall became even more intense. *Crack!* One of the stone pillars near the dining table split. The porcelain cup in Silas's hand shattered into pieces just because I looked at it.

Blood began to seep from behind the silver rose necklace I was wearing. Not red blood, but a shimmering metallic silver liquid that sparkled under the lights.

"Who says she has no mercy?"

A cold, authoritative baritone voice echoed from the dark entrance of the hall. The voice was so powerful that the vibrations I caused suddenly stopped, as if submitting to a greater force.

Heavy, measured footsteps approached. Everyone turned, including Eros, who was still holding Sera.

A man emerged from the shadows. Kaelen.

He walked with the elegance of a true predator. His long black cloak billowed behind him. His usually calm eyes now flashed a deep silver, radiating a Sigma aura so dominant it made several pack elders who had just insulted me kneel automatically.

Kaelen didn't look at Eros. He didn't look at Silas. His eyes were locked only on me.

He removed his thick black cloak with one elegant motion, then walked straight toward me. Ignoring everyone's shocked stares, Kaelen draped the cloak over my shoulders, covering my trembling body stained with silver blood.

He wiped a drop of silver blood from my cheek with his thumb, then looked at Eros with a gaze that could kill instantly.

"If you cannot protect your own Luna's honor, Eros, and prefer to embrace that manipulative trash..." Kaelen paused, his cold aura enveloping the room until everyone’s breath turned to mist as the temperature dropped drastically.

"...then let me be the one to take her away from this poisonous room. And don't you ever hope to touch her again with those dirty hands of yours."

Kaelen pulled my waist, pressing me against his solid frame. In front of a frozen, stunned Eros, Kaelen led me out, leaving behind the Luna crown they had just trampled on the cold floor of the hall.