The Alpha's Dead Bride

Five years ago, I married Alpha Kael, believing I was finally stepping into the life I had always dreamed of. I remember how happy I had been that night. Even now, after everything that happened, I can still remember the warmth of his hand around mine as we stood before the pack and exchanged our vows. I remember the way he looked at me when the ceremony ended, as though I were the only person in the room, and I remember thinking that I had never felt safer anywhere else. I should have known better. By midnight, my wedding dress was stained with blood, my husband was kneeling beside me, and I was dying with the certainty that the man I loved had betrayed me. At the time, however, I knew nothing about how the night would end. I was sitting alone in our chambers, waiting for Kael to return, when I finally began to wonder where he had gone. The wedding feast had ended almost an hour earlier, and most of the guests had already retired to their rooms. Music still drifted faintly through the estate, but the celebration had become little more than a distant murmur behind the thick stone walls. Kael had told me he needed to speak with several members of the council before coming back. I had believed him. Still, something about his behavior throughout the evening had unsettled me. He had smiled whenever I asked if something was wrong, but there had been a tension in his expression that I couldn't explain. More than once, I had caught him looking toward the doors as though he were waiting for someone. When I finally decided to find him, I noticed the blood. A single dark drop stained the pale floor just outside our chambers. I crouched and touched it with my fingertip, and my stomach tightened when I realized it was still warm. There was another drop farther down the corridor, followed by another. Someone was bleeding. I should have called for a guard. Instead, I followed the trail. It led me toward the oldest part of the estate, where the walls were darker and the corridors narrower than the rest of the house. I had never had a reason to come this far before, and the farther I went, the more uncomfortable I became. At the end of the corridor, I found a narrow staircase leading underground. I hesitated when I saw it because I had never known there was another level beneath the estate. Then I heard voices. One belonged to Kael. The other belonged to Aurelia. My heart sank. Aurelia had grown up with Kael and had remained one of his closest confidantes long before I entered his life. The pack had once expected them to become mates, although Kael had always insisted that there had never been anything between them. I had trusted him. I wanted to continue trusting him. So I descended the stairs. Their voices became clearer as I approached a heavy wooden door. "Are you certain?" Aurelia sounded nervous. "I am." Kael's answer was quiet, but I recognized his voice immediately. Aurelia was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Once this is done, there is no going back." "There was never another choice." I stopped outside the door. Something cold settled in my chest. I pushed it open. The room beyond looked nothing like the rest of the estate. Ancient symbols covered the stone walls, and dozens of candles surrounded a silver basin sitting on a table between Kael and Aurelia. Then I saw their hands. Both of them had cuts across their palms, and blood was dripping slowly into the basin. My gaze moved to the knife lying beside it. I knew that blade. It was the ceremonial knife used during Alpha blood oaths, an object reserved for promises that were supposed to bind people more deeply than ordinary words ever could. I stared at Kael. "What are you doing?" He turned toward me, and the expression on his face made my heart pound. He wasn't angry. He looked terrified. "Sera." I stepped into the room. "Why are you here with her?" Neither of them answered. I looked at Aurelia, hoping she would explain what I was seeing, but she only lowered her eyes. The silence was worse than anything they could have said. "Kael, I asked you a question." He moved toward me. "Sera, you need to leave." I stared at him in disbelief. "Leave?" "Please." "You disappeared from our wedding, and I followed a trail of blood downstairs only to find you performing some kind of blood oath with Aurelia. I think I deserve an explanation." His jaw tightened. "It's not what you think." "Then tell me what it is." He said nothing. I felt tears burning behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "Is this why you've been acting strangely all night?" "Sera." "Did you ever intend to tell me?" He took another step toward me. I stepped back. For the first time since our wedding, I was afraid of him. Not because I thought he would hurt me, but because I suddenly realized that there might be a part of him I had never known at all. Then his eyes flicked toward the open doorway. His expression changed again. "You weren't supposed to see this." The words were quiet, but they destroyed whatever remained of my trust. I stared at him. "What does that mean?" He didn't answer. I looked between him and Aurelia one last time, and whatever explanation I had been hoping for disappeared beneath the weight of their silence. I turned and ran. Kael called my name behind me, but I didn't stop. I made it halfway down the corridor before I realized how foolish I had been to run through an unfamiliar part of the estate alone. The silence had changed. I slowed and looked over my shoulder. Nobody was there. "Kael?" There was no answer. I took another step. Something struck me from behind. Pain tore through my side, and I stumbled forward, catching myself against the wall before I collapsed. I looked down and saw blood spreading across the front of my wedding dress. My blood. Before I could scream, someone grabbed me and covered my mouth. I struggled desperately, but my body was already growing weak. "Don't fight." The voice was low, almost a whisper. I couldn't see the person's face. Then I caught their scent. It was familiar. So familiar that my mind struggled to understand why. "You have to die," the stranger whispered. Something struck me again. The world went black. When I opened my eyes, Kael was beside me. I was lying on the cold stone floor, barely able to breathe, while he knelt over me with blood covering his hands. His blood? Mine? I couldn't tell anymore. "Sera." I tried to move, but pain ripped through me. Kael immediately caught my shoulders. "Don't move." I stared at him. "What happened?" His face was pale, and there was something desperate in his eyes that I couldn't understand. "You've been hurt." "Who did this?" He didn't answer. My heart began to race. "Kael, who did this?" Still nothing. I looked at his hands again. There was blood beneath his fingernails and across the sleeves of his wedding clothes. Suddenly, the room seemed colder. "Was it you?" His expression changed. "No." The answer came quickly, almost too quickly. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small vial. I tried to move away, but I had almost no strength left. "What is that?" "Something that will help." He brought it toward my lips. I shook my head. "Kael, don't." "Please trust me." Those words hurt more than they should have. I had trusted him. I had trusted him enough to marry him. I had trusted him enough to follow his blood trail through the estate. And now he was kneeling over me with blood on his hands, refusing to tell me what he had done. He pressed the vial to my lips. I swallowed whatever was inside. It was bitter, and within moments, the room began to blur. "What did you give me?" He didn't answer. Instead, he pulled me against his chest and held me tightly. I could feel his heart pounding beneath my cheek. Then he whispered the words that would haunt me for the rest of my life. "I'm sorry."