The Vein He Opened

Chapter 3 The New Oath

The Great Hall had room for every wolf in the pack, and every one of them turned to watch me enter.

At the far end, Derrick stood on the dais before the Moon Altar. He held out a hand as though last night had been settled already.

"Come here, Serena. Enough foolishness. Kneel, accept your place, and I will forgive you."

I stopped halfway down the aisle.

The crowd quieted. Derrick kept his hand raised.

I opened the pouch at my waist and took out a rough wooden carving. A wolf pup looked up at a white doe, its ears uneven because Derrick had carved it when we were children. Back then, he promised the pup would always protect the doe.

I held it where he could see.

Then I crushed it.

Wood snapped in my palm. Splinters bit into the skin the Moon-Nectar had just healed. When I opened my fingers, pieces of the pup struck the floor one after another.

Derrick dropped his hand. "What does this mean?"

"It means I'm done."

I faced the pack. "I, Serena of the House of Winterheart, reject this union. Derrick used my blood, endangered our people, and still expects me to kneel. He is unworthy of me and unworthy of the mate bond."

Voices broke out across the hall. An elder demanded that I take it back. Someone near the doors called me a traitor.

Derrick shouted over them. "Serena, come to the altar. Now."

I turned my back on him.

Along the side wall stood a small delegation in gray. Wolves of the Shadow Forest had entered without ceremony while everyone watched the aisle. Kael waited at their center.

I walked to him and drew the Winterheart Crystal from my dress.

Its silver light ran over the walls. The dead ceiling runes answered one by one, bright enough for the pack to recognize what I held.

"Kael, Lycan King of the Shadow Forest, I offer you the heart of the Winter Pack. Its power, its loyalty, and the barrier tied to my bloodline."

The crystal rested in my open hand between us.

"I also offer myself as your mate and your queen."

No one spoke. One of Derrick's councilors backed into a bench and sent it scraping across the floor.

Kael studied my face. Then the most feared wolf on the continent lowered himself onto one knee.

He took my crystal hand in both of his and kissed my knuckles. The hall watched its enemy handle the Winterheart more carefully than its Alpha ever had.

Kael looked up. "My Queen."

"No!"

Derrick came off the dais with his claws out. "You are mine!"

Kael stayed on one knee. Power struck the charging Alpha square in the chest and threw him into the altar steps. Derrick landed hard enough to c***k the edge of one stone. He folded over it, coughing.

Kael still held my hand.

The pack stared at him, too frightened to move.

A shriek rose from the rear of the hall. Elara was clutching her stomach, and this time she had forgotten to make the sound pretty.