Kaelen swore loudly, ripping his body away from mine. The sudden loss of his heat left me shivering on the mattress, my p***y still aching and soaking wet for his touch.
"Stay here," Kaelen said, not even looking back as he zipped his trousers and grabbed his shirt. "Do not move from this bed. Do not step outside this room. I will deal with this pathetic excuse of an Alpha myself."
He didn't wait for my response. He kicked the bedroom door open and stormed out into the corridor, slamming it shut behind him.
I sat up on the bed, my breathing ragged. My bare breasts were still flushed, my skin tingling from where his hands had just been gripping my waist. Was Derek here? At the royal fortress? The nerve of that bastard made my blood boil. He had rejected me, stripped me of my dignity, and thrown me to the wolves. Now he dared to show up at the castle calling me a slave?
I looked down at the floor where my torn clothes lay. Kaelen told me to stay put, but he clearly didn't know whom he was dealing with. I was the Crimson Luna now. I wasn't going to sit under the blankets like a good little omega while my abuser negotiated my fate outside.
I grabbed a silk robe draped over a nearby chair, tying it around my waist. I crept toward the door, pushing it open just a crack so I could listen. The sound of shouting echoed from the entrance hall down the stairs. I slipped out into the hallway, keeping low as I moved toward the balcony overlooking the floor below.
Down below, the tension was thick.
Kaelen stood at the bottom of the staircase, his shirt half-buttoned, his bare chest glistening. He looked like a god of war, his presence completely dominating the space. Opposing him stood Alpha Derek, flanked by six of his elite Silverfang enforcers. Derek looked pale, but he was holding his ground, his hand gripping a glowing silver chalice.
The Moonstone Chalice. My jaw clenched as I recognized it. It was an ancient royal artifact given to the Silverfang ancestors centuries ago by the first Lycan King. It granted the holder a direct audience with the throne, bypassing any territorial laws.
"You dare bring a sacred artifact into my home to demand trash, Derek?" Kaelen’s voice rolled through the hall. He didn't use soft words. He stepped down the final stair, approaching Derek like a predator cornering its prey. "You have five seconds to state your business before I tear your head from your shoulders."
Derek swallowed hard, his knuckles turning white around the chalice. "Your Majesty, I respect the throne. But pack law is pack law. Elena Vance is a registered omega of the Silverfang Pack. Her bloodline belongs to our territory. When I rejected her, her pack status was downgraded to a criminal exile. By royal decree of the old laws, any exiled omega who triggers a high-level magical surge becomes the physical property of her alpha to sell or trade."
"She is my secondary true mate," Kaelen roared, his voice slamming into Derek like a physical blow. The enforcers behind Derek dropped to one knee, groaning under the pressure of Kaelen's authority. "She belongs to me. She signed the royal mating contract tonight."
"A contract signed under duress by a pack criminal is void, Your Majesty!" an annoying voice piped up from behind the pillars.
Tanya stepped out, wearing an expensive coat and a smirk. She looked up at the balcony, her eyes scanning the shadows until they locked right onto me. She pointed a manicured finger straight at my face.
"There she is! Look at her, hiding like the dirty rogue she is," Tanya sneered, her voice dripping with venom. "Your Majesty, she tricked you. She used her newly awakened curse to mimic a true mate bond just to escape her execution. She isn't your mate. She's a broken parasite who threw away her pack. We have the artifact, and by the ancient laws, we demand you hand her over so she can face the silver whip!"
Kaelen didn't even look up at me. He kept his eyes locked on Derek, his upper lip curling back to reveal his razor-sharp fangs. "If you think a piece of silver glass gives you the right to touch what is mine, you are dumber than I thought."
"I am within my legal rights!" Derek shouted, his voice shaking as he raised the chalice higher. The silver object began to glow with a blinding light, projecting an ancient barrier between him and Kaelen. "The old laws state that if the King refuses a legitimate artifact demand, the pack has the right to challenge the throne in an official territorial war! Do you want to risk a rebellion across the northern border for a useless piece of trash, Kaelen?"
Before Kaelen could move, I vaulted over the balcony railing, dropping right between them. My robe fluttered around my bare legs, exposing my thighs.
"Who are you calling a useless piece of trash, Derek?"
Derek choked, taking a step back as the pressure of my aura hit him. He had never seen me look like this. I wasn't the shivering, pale girl from the council hall. I was radiating pure danger, and my skin was still flushed from Kaelen's touch.
"Elena?" Tanya gasped, her smirk fading into envy as she noticed the dark marks on my neck.
"Look at her, She’s already sleeping with the King You shameless w***e"
"Shut your mouth before I rip your tongue out, Tanya
Kaelen moved instantly, his massive hand coming down on my shoulder. His grip was firm, pulling me back against his hard chest. "I told you to stay in bed, Elena."
"I don't take orders when my trash comes to visit," I retorted, tilting my head back to look at him.
"Let me kill him myself."
Kaelen chuckled, "I like your fire, but he brought an artifac, a formal challenge has been issued."
"That's right. Hand her over now, or the Silverfang Pack declares open war on the royal fortress. You have until sunrise to decide, Your Majesty. Either give us the girl, or prepare to watch your kingdom bleed."
Derek turned on his heel, gesturing for Tanya and his enforcers to follow him. They walked out the main doors, leaving the gates swinging in the wind.
The silence in the hall was suffocating. I turned around in Kaelen's grip, my hands flattening against his bare chest.
"Are you going to give them to me?" I asked.
Kaelen didn't answer with words. He grabbed my waist, lifting me effortlessly and slamming my back against the nearest stone pillar. His massive body crowded over mine, his thick c**k already hard again, pressing right against my thigh through the silk robe.
"You think I'm afraid of a little pack war?" Kaelen growled, his thumb digging into my jaw, forcing my lips open. "They want a war? I'll give them a m******e. But first, we finish what we started in that bed."
He gripped the collar of my robe and ripped the fabric completely down the front with a loud tear, exposing my bare breasts and my dripping p***y to the cold air right there on the floor. He unbuckled his trousers again, his massive c**k throbbing as he aligned it with my soaking wet center, ready to claim me right on the spot.
Before he could push inside, the front doors flew open again with a violent bang.