He Humiliated His Luna, So I Left His Pack to Die

Chapter 3 The Fatal Misjudgment

The howls reached the apothecary before I could lift the bundle of grimoires.

Claws scraped over stone. A heavy body struck the outer wall, and splinters fell from the ceiling.

Another impact shook jars from the shelves. Glass burst across the floor, filling the room with crushed herbs and the copper smell of my open palm.

Severing the ward and the mate bond had emptied me. My legs shook under my weight. I was a healer with a ritual blade, and the blade was still slick with my blood.

The door tore off its hinges.

A black beast filled the opening. Its red eyes fixed on me, and the room filled with the stink of wet fur and old meat.

I backed into my worktable and reached for the dagger.

Kael's wolf hit the beast from the side.

Black fur and teeth rolled across the floor. Kael fought with the speed that had made other Alphas fear him, ripping into the creature until its neck broke between his jaws.

When he shifted back, blood covered one shoulder and ran between his fingers. He was hurt, but his eyes were already searching for Selene.

For one second, I remembered why I had once loved him.

Then Selene screamed.

She crouched behind a fallen shelf, untouched. Kael shifted back to his human form and looked from her to me.

Dust coated my face. I had one hand against the damaged wall and the dagger in the other. He could see that I was barely standing.

The wall moved under my palm with every strike from outside. I tightened my grip on the dagger because there was nowhere left to retreat.

Selene whimpered.

His eyes moved between us. Then the choice settled on his face.

He had always treated my strength as something he could spend. Selene's weakness gave him someone to rescue.

"Elara can handle herself," he muttered.

More beasts forced their way through the doorway.

Kael ran to Selene, lifted her into his arms, and carried her out. He never looked back.

The main support beam cracked above me.

I shut my eyes as it fell.

The blow never landed.

Two figures in the deep grey cloaks of the southern mountains stood in the wreckage. One held the beam above his shoulder. The other caught my arm and pulled me clear.

Their cloaks bore no Blackmoon crest. I recognized the silver mountain clasp of the Royal Pack only after the second man dragged me beyond the falling debris.

"The Alpha of the Royal Pack sends his regards," he said. "He believes your talents are being wasted."

He offered his hand. I took it.

They led me toward a hidden escape route behind the herb cabinets. Before I entered it, I knelt among the broken jars and used my dagger to carve six words into the floor.

*As you wished. The debt is paid.*

Then I followed them south.

By sunrise, Kael would return with the forgiveness he expected me to accept. He would find ashes, the message in the stone, and no healer waiting for him.