Mated to my murderer

Chapter Four

The Masquerade Mix-Up

Rhea

The word echoed in my mind, vibrating through the dirt beneath my boots, but panic completely overrode the intoxicating pull in my chest.

Mate!!!

The Rogue King? The most feared monster in the supernatural world?

‘Rhea, run!’ Astraea’s voice snapped inside my head. ‘He will drag us to the mountains before we can even taste Julian’s blood!’

Kael took another heavy, ground-eating step toward me, his eyes locked onto my hooded face with a terrifyingly possessive glare. The crowd around him scrambled backward, sensing the explosive change in his aura.

I didn't wait for him to reach me. I turned on my heel and bolted into the thickest part of the Hollow Market’s crowd.

"Stop her!" A deep, rumbling roar shook the wooden stalls behind me.

I dove between a tent draped in dried animal bones and a cart of glowing crystals, using my newly awakened agility to weave through the maze. I could hear the heavy, thundering footsteps of his guards and the much louder, terrifyingly fast approach of Kael himself.

Reaching the edge of the valley, I threw myself into the dense, silver mist of the Noosewood forest. The moment the trees swallowed me, I pulled the crystal bottle from my cloak. Without stopping, I ripped the cork out with my teeth and swallowed a mouthful of the thick, bitter midnight-black liquid.

It tasted like ash and liquid copper, burning its way down my throat.

Instantly, the majestic scent of Astraea which smells like moonlight and fresh winter air, was completely snuffed out.

The heavy, suffocating pressure of the mate bond snapped and fizzled into a dull, distant ache in my chest. To any wolf tracking me, I now smelled like nothing but damp earth and common rain.

I scrambled up a steep rocky ledge, hiding behind a thick cluster of pine trees, my heart hammering against my ribs. Seconds later, Kael burst into the clearing below.

He stopped, his nostrils flaring violently as he threw his head back, inhaling the air. His amber eyes swept the trees but my scent trail was completely dead.

The Void Draught had worked.

"Find her!" Kael snarled to his men, his voice shaking the frost from the branches. "Search every border! Someone has a scent-masking witch on their payroll. I want her brought to me alive!"

I held my breath until they disappeared deeper into the neutral zone, completely passing my hidden spot. I let out a long, shaky breath, leaning against the frozen tree. I had escaped the Rogue King, but my heart was still racing from the sheer adrenaline.

I needed a distraction.

I needed to feel alive, to celebrate the fact that I was breathing, that I had a wolf.

By the time I snuck back into the servant quarters of the Bloodrose Pack house, the sun was setting. As I washed the dirt from my hands, my bedroom door burst open.

"Rhea! Oh thank goddess you're here!"

I turned to see Taya, another low-ranking omega and the only person who had ever shown me a shred of kindness in my past life. Before my execution, she had been reassigned to a distant border post, which was why she hadn't been there to save me. Seeing her face now, whole and smiling, brought a genuine warmth to my chest.

"Taya," I said, a small smile breaking through my lips.

"You look... different," Taya said, blinking as she looked at my dark silver-charcoal hair. "Did you dye it? It looks amazing! But listen, we need to move fast. Tonight is the annual Bloodrose Mid-Year Masquerade, and the head housekeeper is letting the lower-tier servants have a small gathering at the hidden tavern down by the pack border line while the royals are busy!"

Finally, a celebration. It was exactly what I needed.

"Let's go," I said without hesitation.

"Wait, drink this first," Taya grinned, pulling a small silver flask from her apron. "It's a special spiced berry wine I snuck from the Alpha's cellar storage. Consider it a toast to your gorgeous new look."

I took the flask, laughing softly, and swallowed a deep swig. It was sweet, fiercely strong, and left a strange, tingling warmth radiating from my stomach to my throat. I didn't think twice about it. I wanted to drown the memories of the silver rope.

An hour later, the tiny, underground pack tavern was packed with low-ranking wolves and omegas, all wearing cheap, colorful masquerade masks. The music was loud, the room dark, lit only by flickering red lanterns.

I wore a simple black lace mask that covered the golden rings in my eyes. But as the minutes passed, the tingling warmth from Taya's wine turned into a raging, burning heat. My skin felt hyper-sensitive and every breath I took felt heavy with a strange, desperate hunger that began to pool deep in my lower abdomen.

‘Rhea...’ Astraea whispered, her voice sounding unusually hazy, almost intoxicated. ‘The wine... something is wrong with the wine...’

My vision blurred.

It wasn't standard alcohol. It felt like an aphrodisiac. Taya must not have known since she had stolen it blindly from the Alpha's private, restricted reserves.

The room spun.

I needed air.

I pushed through the grinding bodies toward the dimly lit back corridor of the tavern, leaning heavily against the dark wooden wall. I gasped for breath, pulling at the collar of my shirt. The heat was driving me mad.

"Are you lost, little bird?" a smooth, deeply velvety voice purred from the shadows.

I snapped my head up as a tall man stepped out from the private lounge area. He wore a heavy silver masquerade mask that covered the top half of his face, leaving only a sharp, devastatingly handsome jawline and full lips visible.

I couldn't get his scent which was strange but I brushed it aside as a side effect of the potion, but his presence was absolutely commanding.

"I'm not lost," I gasped, my voice dropping into a sultry, breathless whisper which I barely recognized.

I stepped forward, my hands moving entirely on their own, pressing flat against his broad, muscular chest. He froze, a sharp intake of air rattling in his throat as my fingers curled into the expensive fabric of his dark shirt.

"Oh? And what is it you want?" the stranger murmured, his deep voice dropping as his hands hovered just above my waist trying to test the waters.

"You," I breathed, completely intoxicated by the heat in my veins.

I pulled myself up, burying my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the clean scent of him. I dragged my lips along his jawline as a soft, needy moan escaped my lips and I pressed my body flush against his.

I was all over him, my movements seductive and driven by a wild, uncharacteristic desperation to be held and to feel his hands against my skin.

The stranger groaned, his grip tightening and his large hands locked onto my hips. He pulled me firmly against his rigid frame as his lips instantly found the sensitive skin right beneath my ear.

"You are a bold little thing," he whispered against my skin, his hands sliding down to cup the back of my thighs, lifting me slightly. "Play with fire, and you will get burned."