nightmare

Dante Milburn

My best friend was dying. 

Caius Winters had also started hiding things from me, hell between the two, I didn't know which one was worse.

And the sickening part was, that I couldn't do jack shit about it.

“Curses,” I spat harshly, watching the icy wind fog up in my face as the chill bit through my nose and ears, leaving tears in my eyes.

The fortress activities went on around me in a blur.

Patrolling soldiers idled about the carefully manicured lot with its granite fillings between rows and branches of cobblestone paths.

“Your Highness,” A string of maids greeted as they skipped by, throwing me looks over their shoulders and squealing between blushes.

I debated giving myself a voluntary lobotomy with my index claw.

What did an Alpha have to do to get some bloody rest around here?

Blue dahlias lined the darkened archways over the mouths of each darkened corridor I passed, the whispers of servants and elites catching in my ears like static before fading when I passed.

It was beautiful…should have filled me with deep passion but instead, only a burning anxiety gnawed in my gut.

How long would I be able to hide the old Beta before the Infinites notice he is missing from his post?

There was no telling how long it would take Strauss to neutralize whatever poisons that damned wolf had gotten into his system.

Will Caius ever be the same on the battlefield?

“Enough, Dante…anymore of this, and you’re going to go mad like your old man,” I heaved regretfully, pausing with my claws on the gold knob of my chambers when a strange scent made me hesitate.

Where were the guards?

My heartbeat picked up in my chest as I glanced this way and that on the long stretch of hallway, with only the flickering fire torches in sight.

There was someone in my chambers. Someone unwanted.

The last time an intruder had entered my chambers without notice, their corpse had been wheeled out on the cloth gurney the servants use for execution prisoners.

The wind rattled through the doorframe when I swung it open, immediately hit by the scent of lavender and rose bombs sitting in the air.

“Show yourself.” 

My eyes drifted around the shadowed room before a figure moved on the king sized bed and i snapped on the overhead chandelier.

Its soft glow burned stars into my red-rimmed eyes, but the gentle hum of its electric buzz was drowned out by the raven-haired woman’s surprised gasp.

When had my chambers turned to a whorehouse?

“Y-Your Highness,” Selene Willows greeted, her small cheeks perking up when she arched her chest into the air, gazing at me from hooded violet eyes.

Was she drunk? Mad?

“Confessor? What is the meaning of this? Who let you in here?” I growled, glancing at the shadows along the walls as though I could have found the erring guard standing there.

I didn't have time for whatever this shit was. Not now.

The raven-haired woman must have taken my irritation as surprise because she purred, slithering up from the red satin sheets like a Phoenix from a pile of shit.

Her long red robe fell open, revealing full white breasts that jutted from her chest like mountains.

A brief flicker of arousal made my balls tingle but I tightened my jaw, refusing to stare past the sunken lines of her collarbone.

“Oh, it was nothing, Your Highness, I wouldn't blame them. Hardly anyone in this fortress can resist a royal confessor,” she whispered, her lips curving into a wide grin as she padded over blossoming rose petals.

The candles on either side of the make-shift rose path flickered, the flowery scent of lilac and rose sifting through the air.

What the hell was she thinking showing up to my chambers dressed like a slut in heat?

What would Brahm think of this? Was he aware his old lover was throwing herself at me? Was this another one of his set-ups?

“No,” I cursed inwardly, shaking the thought from my head.

Even the king of sin wouldn't go that far!

“You shouldn't be here.” I growled, my voice as emotionless as I tried to keep my face when she paused only feet away from me.

The confidence that had filled her long face only seconds ago now wavered, her eyes flickering with uncertainty before she took another step toward me.

“How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman, Alpha Milburn? Surely you don't mean to tell me not since…” She rasped breathlessly, tracing a finger over the hard ridges of my arms before I clapped my claws over her wrist.

Her breath hitched in her throat when I yanked her violently against my chest, staring daggers into her wild violet eyes.

Who the hell did she think she was to take Leila’s name?

It was true that I had never let my wolf be with another woman since then…and not for lack of the women trying.

“I don't think you’ve noticed, Confessor, but i’m not in the habit of taking Laziel’s leftovers. I will overlook this misunderstanding and let you keep staying in my fortress where you will abide your roles.” I hissed, my voice low and cold as hurt reflected on her face and her tear-filled violet eyes bounced between mine.

“You are Confessor. Nothing more. Make yourself scarce until you’re needed. I’d hate to have to do this again,” I growled, turning my back on her when she exhaled a bitter laugh, her jaw working animatedly when I turned to see what was so damned funny about anything I’d said.

My brows arched reflexively and the smile fell from her face before she gathered my sheets around her body, withering under my stare.

“Are you sure about that, Your Highness? I wouldn't have dared talk about leftovers when that cursed damsel of yours is one.” she huffed, before I shoved her back, my eyes narrowing on her reddened face.

Cursed? 

Had she seen something when she confessed the redhead?

The walls I had kept carefully around my wolf seemed to have blown wide open before I struggled to rein it in.

My spine tingled and a vein throbbed painfully in my temples as the wind howled outside the thick glass panes of my windows.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

The entire length of the woman’s wiry frame trembled as she marched up to her purse and weeded out a limp poster which she handed over to me with a haunted look on her oblong face.

I glanced down at the ivory white paper, picking at it with my fingers as a rush of adrenaline flooded my body.

My heartbeats sounded loud and jagged even to my ears as my eyes flew across the inked words beneath the photo of the red-haired woman.

“What the fuck is this?” I ground through clenched teeth even as the words seemed to leap up at me.

“Notice of mating termination, Kiernan Bones and exile— Amara Eldwood,” 

This…this couldn't be…Kiernan rejected Mara? 

Seven hells, It didn't make any sense!

The raven-haired woman smirked at the incredulous mask of rage on my face before I flew at her, my claws circling her neck faster than she could dodge.

“Wh-what are you doing? Please! You’re hurting me!” She choked, eyes bulging as she writhed desperately against my grip and her face turned an unhealthy shade of beetroot red.

“You may have forgotten your place, Confessor, but I am the only beast in this pack your powers don't work on. I’m not like Laziel, I will not hesitate to kill you if you ever insult the throne like this again,” I hissed carefully, leaning in so my icy breaths fogged between us as I stared deep into her dim purple eyes that hovered over my face with fear.

“Y-Your Highness—” she sputtered, jaw trembling as my wolf’s fierce energy rippled in the space around us like blood-sucking tentacles before I shoved her off, turning to face the glass instead.

How could my mate be a reject of that Hades spawn?

Amara Eldwood had never mentioned anything about being Kiernan’s mate when Strauss discovered her halfling status.

Hell, it seemed like every single thing we’d found out about our mate was from everyone but herself.

Amara Eldwood had many secrets, that was for sure. And I didn't trust that.

“Your Highness, I never meant to offend… its just, you can't trust that woman, alright? When I was in her head…at the Confession stand—” Selene wheezed behind me, trailing off when I whipped around to face her in alarm.

She’d seen something then? I was right?

A gulf opened up in my gut and it was all I could do to keep the mask of disinterest on my face from cracking.

The confessor’s reddened face froze up like a wolf’s shrivelling balls in the peak of a blizzard, before she shook her head, as if dismissing a thought.

Her long wiry hands fiddled with the thin hem of the night coat she’d managed to put on, drawing it tight around her body.

Some shame…I never thought I’d have seen the day.

“I’m not sure what I saw, Alpha Dante, you have to understand there was barely enough time…but whatever it was, it was bad news for this pack,” She rasped firmly, and the distant noise of soldiers cheering suddenly seemed ominous.

“What do you mean?” 

I kept my tone careful, even as blood roared in my ears and the tip of my nose and ears froze over.

“There was a dark power, Alpha. One no different from The Reckoning that brought on this darkness years ago.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, shaking my head and backing away from the woman who advanced toward me like a panther on the scent of prey.

The Reckoning had been devastating, with rims of black clouds covering the sky and thunder reverberating over the entire city and others around it. 

It had been so dark that even elite wolves could hardly see through the thick fog.

It caused chaos, letting some of the more powerful wolves descend from their fortresses to attack and kill in other packs.

I would know, it was how my father had added even more acres to the cursed territory around the fortress.

Such bloodshed and fear had been unrivaled, and to think the weak, red-haired woman had the power to bring such catastrophe once more?

“This has to be a mistake. The woman barely has any swordmanship and even worse fighting skills,” I ground through clenched teeth, ignoring the pain pulsing through my temples.

At this rate I was going to give myself a quivering, mouth-foaming aneurysm.

“Amara Eldwood might not know this now, Your Highness, but once she unlocks whatever powers are lying inside her, we will all be doomed.” The Confessor’s eerie hiss made my throat tighten.

I clamped down on the urge to sink my fist into the blessed concrete walls when silence stretched between us.

The ticking of the large wooden grandfather clock on the other end of the room made me even more restless.

For a split second, with the orange hue of flames dancing in my vision, I wondered what it would feel like to stick my head into the fireplace.

Amara Eldwood was cursed. 

Whatever hope I had been holding out that she could be my true mate vanished with the wisps of smoke that traveled up the chimney.

“The woman has to leave Infinity Fortress, M’lord. Its the only way to keep your pack…our pack safe. That's the thing Laziel doesn't understand —”

“Brahm knows about this? About Mara’s curse?” I hissed through clenched teeth, cutting her off and making her eyes widen before she tore her gaze away, looking everywhere but at my face.

“I see.” I ground through clenched teeth, the rage pooling in my chest like a tidal wave.

Heavy footfalls echoed between the crackling of flames in the fireplace as I marched over to the wine distillery humming with a fluorescent buzz.