The Offering 

The sky wore a veil of grey, and the heavy clouds seemed to be pregnant with rain that hadn't fallen yet, as though the heavens themselves mourned with her. 

Anana stood beneath the stone archway of the Pack Hall. Her skin still throbbed from the latest wound, her arms wrapped tightly around her trembling frame. The ache in her chest rivaled the pain on her skin. 

Mira and Kade had been together again the night before and she could feel it, etched into her flesh like a punishment from the Moon Goddess herself for a crime she didn't commit.

The fresh scar across her ribs hadn’t even stopped bleeding when she'd wrapped it tightly in linen just to be able to stand upright.

Her fingers curled into fists. She could still feel the phantom pain of Kade’s betrayal from the night before. She didn’t need to be told, her skin always told her the truth.

A laugh rang out.

Soft and feminine.

Mira.

Anana stiffened, hidden behind one of the thick, weathered pillars. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the voices carried.

"I knew you would understand, Kade. I knew you'd choose us. You should after all I'm carrying your child."

Anana’s vision blurred. Her breath caught in her throat. The words slammed into her chest like a hammer. Mira… was pregnant? She wanted to scream. But no sound came.

Kade’s voice followed, low and casual. “Just don’t say anything yet. Let’s wait until the visit is over. It’ll only make things worse.”

Worse? Worse for who? Her? Or his precious Mira and their unborn child?

Mira chuckled again, light and victorious. “She’ll see it in your eyes, you know. You’ve already left her in every way that matters.”

Anana bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood. Her body trembled not from the curse, but from heartbreak.

She felt the words slice through her more cruelly than any wound the mating curse had inflicted. Her hands trembled. Her knees buckled slightly as she turned toward the voices, hidden behind a pillar.

It was too much. Her mouth went dry. The pain in her ribs tightened until she couldn’t breathe.

How could he? After everything. After every time he held her as she cried herself to sleep. After every time he whispered that he would never leave her.

They stepped into view. Mira glowing, grinning from ear to ear with Kade being calm.

Then their eyes met hers.

And Kade did nothing.

He didn’t flinch, he didn’t move. Didn’t even pretend to be ashamed.

His silence ripped her open wider than any scar.

A scream built inside her, but she swallowed it. Like she always did.

The truth cut deep into her soul deeper than any scar.

The council had gathered. The air buzzed with whispers and unease. A visitor was coming. Not just any visitor, the God of War himself.

The hall was prepared for the arrival of the God of War—Lucien Kael, Alpha of the Crimson Blood Pack. The name alone had silenced even the noisiest warriors. Lucien wasn’t a man. He was a myth and death wrapped in skin. Stories whispered of him were soaked in blood and fear. It was said that he owned nothing and no one but took everything he desired. 

Anana barely had the strength to care. Her body was failing, and her heart was already in ruins.

The meeting with Alpha Lucien Kael began with thick tension. 

He entered like thunder.

Six guards flanked him, armored and grim. Lucien strode into the Pack Hall wearing a black cloak drenched with rain, shoulders broad, head high. Eyes like smoldering ice swept the room. He didn’t speak at first. He didn’t need to. His silence demanded submission.

No one dared look him in the eye. Not even Kade.

Except Anana. She couldn’t stop herself. His presence was cold, terrifying but oddly grounding. The kind of danger that didn’t pretend to be kind. There was no deception in Lucien Kael.

He looked around, unimpressed, until his eyes settled on the Pack Alpha.

Kade

“I’m here for a she-wolf,” Lucien said, his voice deep, grating like rocks grinding against one another.

Kade stepped forward, paler than usual. “We…we…we didn’t expect the request to be… personal.”

“Your former Alpha made an oath. An offering in exchange for peace,” Lucien said. “Now I’ve come to collect.”

Mira’s grip on Kade’s hand tightened. Whispers grew louder. Eyes scanned the room, some pleading for protection, others terrified of being chosen.

Murmurs erupted. Several women recoiled. A few men stood in front of their mates, trembling.

Kade cleared his throat. “We have several unmated she-wolves. You may choose.”

Lucien’s gaze cut like a blade. “I don’t want to choose. Offer one. Now.”

Everyone froze.

Kade’s eyes darted to a quiet girl near the back. Barely of age. Trembling.

He pointed. “That one.”

A gasp tore from the crowd. The girl’s father stepped forward. “She’s just a child!”

Lucien raised an eyebrow. “That is your choice?”

“I…yes. She’s unclaimed.”

Lucien’s voice dropped an octave. “Coward.”

It wasn’t a shout, but the insult landed like a slap.

Then, a single voice rang out…soft but cutting through the chaos.

“Take me.”

Anana stepped forward, shoulders squared despite her shaking legs.

Lucien turned, expression unreadable.

“You?”

“I am the Luna of this pack,” she said. “And I offer myself in place of any innocent girl.”

Kade’s eyes widened. “Anana…no. Don’t be ridiculous, you don't have to do this”.

“You already made your choice,” she said, bitterness creeping into her voice. “You chose Mira. You chose your heir. You chose to let me bleed.”

Mira’s smug smile twitched.

“I will not stand here and watch you offer a child to a man because you’re too afraid to do what’s right.”

Lucien approached her slowly. Close enough to see every detail, her pallor, the pain in her eyes, the trembling in her limbs. He sniffed lightly.

“You’re marked by a curse.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“My mate found his fated mate… and chose her. Each time they bond, my body pays the price.”

Gasps echoed through the room. Mira flushed red. Kade looked away.

Lucien circled her like a predator studying prey. “And still, you offer yourself?”

“I have nothing left to lose.”

“You could die under my command.” Lucien said emotion blank.

“I’m already dying here.”

For the first time, something flickered in his gaze, not pity, not interest, just curiosity.

She had the eyes that's believed to only run in the royal family of the Crimson Blood Pack. Ocean blue eyes.

His curiosity increased.

He stepped back. “Pack your things. You leave at dawn.”