The Curse Of The Blood Moon

3: The Unexpected

~Asher~

I stepped into the throne room, and a suffocating silence swept over the gathered elders. The usual murmur of conversation halted, and all eyes turned toward me, their expressions a mixture of reverence and wariness. I could see the tension in the room.

The letter, the one that had been delivered in the dead of night, weighed heavily on their minds, and they all knew it was meant for me… the kingdom was being threatened.

I glanced at the parchment still sitting on the table, the wax seal cracked open. I hadn’t bothered to read it yet, but the elders were nervous. I knew that they were anxious about my reaction.

“Speak,” I commanded, my voice steady as I moved toward the head of the table.

The eldest among them, Elder Corbin, cleared his throat, clearly reluctant to break the silence. “Alpha, the letter we received. It is… unsettling. It warns of a potential threat to your reign.”

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. The audacity of whoever had sent this message. A threat? In my kingdom? They clearly didn’t understand who I was… Asher, the Alpha King, the Lycan whose bloodline was ancient and unyielding. No one dared to challenge my rule.

“Unsettling, you say?” I mused aloud. “And who exactly dares to send me such a warning?”

I leaned back in my chair, my eyes narrowing. In my mind, only one person came to mind, my brother... The bond between us had always been strained, ever since the day my father had chosen me to lead the kingdom, father believed I was more worthy than him but he didn’t believe it, he believed he was cheated. He was the only one foolish enough to send something like this. But even if it was him, I wasn’t worried. I would deal with it in my own way, as always, he was just foolishly hiding in the dark and yet to reveal himself for the past five years.

“Keep calm, my elders,” I said, raising my hand to silence them. “This letter is nothing but a distraction. I’ll find out who sent it, and when I do, they’ll wish they’d never crossed me.”

Before anyone could speak, the doors to the throne room burst open with a loud crash, and two guards rushed in, their chests heaving, their faces pale with panic.

“Alpha! Alpha!” one of them gasped, clearly out of breath.

“What is it?” I demanded, standing up from my throne.

“Two guards… dead…” the other guard stammered. “At the east border. We need your help.”

A cold fury flooded through me, hotter than any flame. My mind raced. A rogue attack, most likely. I could feel the anger building within me…But no. I couldn’t let my rage take over. Not yet. I had to be calculated, and methodical.

“Gather the men,” I barked, my tone sharp and commanding. “We leave now.”

“Alpha! You shouldn’t leave… we don’t think it’s right for you to leave the kingdom now especially when we just receive a threat, what if it is a ploy to take you out of the kingdom.”

“Do you expect me to sit back and let my people suffer? I am the alpha king for a reason and I won’t back down from a fight!”

The elders tried to speak, urging me to remain calm, to not rush into danger without understanding the full scope of the situation, but I wasn’t interested in their counsel at that moment. I didn’t need anyone to tell me how to handle things. I would handle this my way.

“I’m going to see this for myself,” I growled. “I’ll get to the bottom of it. I don’t care what it takes.”

I stormed out of the throne room with my beta, Almond, close on my heels, followed by a handful of trusted guards. The sound of their footsteps echoed behind me as we made our way to the eastern border.

We arrived at the border, and the scene before me was worse than I’d anticipated. The bodies of the two guards were sprawled out on the ground, their faces frozen in a mix of horror and pain. The air around me was heavy with the scent of death, the metallic tang of blood mixing with the wild, untamed scent of rogue wolves. It was unmistakable.

“Rogue attack,” I muttered under my breath, my eyes scanning the perimeter for any signs of movement. “Get them back to the mortuary. We’ll take care of them later.”

Two of my guards carefully hoisted the bodies of the fallen men and began to carry them back to the mortuary.

I took a few more steps, trying to piece together what had happened when something strange caught my attention. A soft, almost imperceptible scent floated through the air. It was sweet and intoxicating, and it made my wolf stir within me. It was a scent I had never smelled before, but one that was familiar, too.

I turned sharply, my heart pounding in my chest. There, lying on the ground near the edge of the clearing, was a woman. She was barely conscious, her body bruised and battered, blood dripping from a wound on her forehead. Her clothes were torn, her hair matted with dirt and sweat. She was barely alive, and yet there was something about her that drew me in, something that made my wolf stir violently within me.

I rushed to her side, my heart thundering in my chest. I knelt beside her, my hands trembling as I gently lifted her into my arms. She was so fragile, so small, and yet there was an undeniable strength in her, a connection that I couldn’t explain.

As I held her, I knew. Without a doubt, I knew. She was mine. My mate.

“Alpha, wait!” Almond’s voice cut through the haze of my thoughts. He stepped forward, his tone urgent and tense. “We have more important things to do. We need to secure the border and figure out who is behind this attack. She’s a distraction.”

I shot him a glare, my eyes flashing with fury. “She is not a distraction. She is mine. And I will not leave her here to die.”

Almond hesitated, his eyes flicking nervously between me and the woman in my arms. “But, Alpha…”

“I said, no,” I snarled, cutting him off. “Get the others ready. We’re returning to the pack. And make sure the healers are prepared. She needs help.”

Almond opened his mouth to protest again, but seeing the fire in my eyes, he wisely stepped back. “Yes, Alpha,” he muttered, and then he turned to relay my orders to the rest of the guards.

I watched her as we made our way back, I couldn’t help but think about who she was and how I found my mate in this weird way, I knew for sure I would do anything to protect her, she is mine to protect.

We finally arrived at the palace, as I ordered, the maid had prepared a room for her and the healer was waiting to attend to her. I laid her down on the bed and I watched as the healer got to work immediately.

“What is happening?” I asked

“She is exhausted… it seems she has been running and…” the healer stopped, he looked scared to keep on talking, I took a step closer to him, and my left brow raised urging him to keep on talking.

“And?” I asked impatiently.

“She is poisoned alpha… a deadly poison is coursing through her body.”