Chapter 11

Willow’s POV

I stared at Alpha Kelvin in horror, my chest rising and falling too fast.

“No,” I whispered immediately. “No.”

Alpha Kelvin looked completely unmoved by my reaction.

“You should consider yourself fortunate,” he continued calmly. “Mordecai rarely accepts gifts from other packs. The fact that he agreed to take you at all is already more mercy than most get from him.”

“You will be given to Mordecai as a plaything, though I suspect you will find there’s no play involved in it for you.” He tilted his head. “His… guests rarely last more than two months. He burns through them quickly. But by then, you will no longer be my concern.”

I had heard enough stories about the Blood Moon Pack to know that two months inside those borders as Mordecai’s plaything was hell. It was a countdown to death. People who went to that pack did not come back at all.

My whole body had gone cold.

Desperation burned through me. I couldn’t let this happen. There had to be a way out.

I made my voice as steady as I could.

“Noah won’t allow this,” I said.

Alpha Kelvin looked at me, lifting a brow in response.

“Even with everything that has happened,” I pressed on, “even with Stacey — he loves me. You know that. You said it yourself, he is distracted by me, which means he won’t stand by and let you hand me over to—”

“You are correct,” Alpha Kelvin cut in simply.

I stopped.

He nodded once. “Noah does love you in his own way, yes — you are correct about that.” He paused. “That is why I am handling it. A father knows his son. A lie here and there, the right framing, the right timing — Noah will be managed. That is not your concern.”

“You’re going to lie to him.”

“I am going to protect the future of this pack,” he drawled flatly. “Which is what I have always done. What Noah does not know cannot interfere with his responsibilities.”

I stared at him. My hands were trembling under the blanket.

My mind was racing.

I looked toward the door instinctively.

I needed to leave immediately.

The moment Alpha Kelvin walked out, I would run. I didn’t care how weak I was or how much pain I was in. I would crawl out of this clinic if I had to.

I just needed one chance.

I had no wolf. I had no strength. I had just lost a child and fallen down a staircase and my whole body was in pain, but I had to escape.

Alpha Kelvin’s eyes shifted slightly, and a small cold smile crossed his face.

“Don’t bother,”

I froze.

“Whatever you are planning.” He glanced toward the door. “They’re already here.”

As if his words were a signal, a knock came at the clinic door.

My blood ran cold as Kelvin’s beta opened it and four other people walked in.

Three men and one woman.

Every single one of them looked dangerous.

They wore black clothing marked with a crimson wolf crest near the shoulder.

The Blood Moon pack. Mordecai’s pack

The air in the room shifted immediately.

The woman was the one who caught my attention first. She was tall, dark-haired, with a scar that ran from her jaw to her collarbone. A blade rested against her hip casually, like she used it often. She scanned the room with a bored expression on her face, but her eyes were sharp and intelligent.

My heart started pounding painfully.

One of the men stepped forward slightly.

“We’re here for the female,” he said flatly, no greeting or preamble. “For Alpha Mordecai.”

My stomach dropped.

I looked between them desperately.

Hopelessness wrapped around my chest so tightly it hurt to breathe.

“I hope you’ve made proper arrangements to move her,” Kelvin replied. His voice was cold and edged with annoyance. “She is not yet fully stable.”

“Leave that for us to worry about,” the man retorted, a small scowl forming on his face

Kelvin’s beta crossed his arms. “Watch your tone.”

One of the Blood Moon men laughed softly.

“Or what?”

Tension immediately filled the room. I could practically feel the mutual hatred between them.

The man smirked at Kelvin’s beta. “You Pinecrest wolves always bark too much.”

“And Blood Moon wolves think they’re above everyone else,” the beta shot back.

The other man snorted. “That’s the truth.”

Alpha Kelvin sighed in annoyance.

It was very plain that these people did not like Alpha Kelvin, and he did not like them.

“Enough.” The woman spoke up for the first time.

She carried a quiet authority, not like that of an alpha or a beta, but something close.

The room quieted immediately.

“We leave within the next hour,” the woman stated. “Mordecai dislikes delays.”

Even hearing his name again made fear twist violently in my stomach.

I imagined dark eyes with blood-covered hands and a maniac grin.