Chapter 5

Kael’s POV

As Darius took the stage, boredom was already nearly overwhelming me. Darius hadn’t even hired a bad for this celebration. The only means of entertainment for the guests seemed to be to talk to each other. Any conversations with me were stilted and uncomfortable, no one brave enough to say anything to me other than empty compliments or comments about the weather.

The maid had been much more interesting – and more honest. Perhaps I should have insisted she stay by my side. Then at least, I would have an outlet for fun.

“Good evening, friends and guests,” Darius said. “I am deeply honored to have so many high-ranking individuals here, none of which are higher ranked than our Lycan King himself, Kael Ashvorn.” Darius lifted his glass toward me like he meant to offer me a toast.

I glared in reply, seeing through his insincere platitudes.

Even so, Darius stumbled forward. Glass raised, he spoke loudly and clearly, “To our most gracious King, strong and brave. To his health and continued successful reign.”

“Here, here!” said others in the room, each taking a sip from their glasses.

I crushed my own in my hand. The glass shards cut into my palm, blood pooling, dripping down from my hand.

Darius, seeing, nearly choked on his wine.

The other guests, nearest to me, immediately started moving away.

A low growl escaped my throat, but I felt no pain. In my veins, my blood started to boil, a violent frenzy pulsing inside of me.

I gripped my hand tighter, forcing the sharp shards farther into my skin. I still didn’t feel pain, but it gave me something to concentrate on other than my desire to rip the throats out of those around me.

By sheer willpower alone, I held back my madness and kept from committing a massacre.

Darius was by far the palest face in the room, looking at me with fear.

I’d already thought of killing him once the peace treaty expired. That moment crept ever closer.

After the introductions, Darius left the stage. He approached me with a frightened servant in tow and four women behind him. The servant was holding a towel. Darius gestured, and the servant held the towel out for me.

My quick healing had already pushed the foreign glass out of my palm, but I used the towel to wipe away the remnants of dried blood on my skin.

“My King,” Darius said with a polite nod. “I have the women ready for your inspection.”

Darius held his hand toward them proudly. “These are the most beautiful women of my pack. Their fertility values have been tested as among the highest possible.”

I looked at the women. Each was heavily painted with makeup, while wearing silken clothes that left little to the imagination. Yet none of them stirred anything within me but deep disgust.

I scoffed. “Get these women out of my sight.”

Darius swallowed hard, but bowed. “Yes, Your Highness.” As he righted himself, he scowled at the women and harshly gestured for them to leave. Darius went with them, which was just as well.

Every forced conversation with him was a test of my will, when all I wanted to do was rip his head from his shoulders.

Yet, I was only alone for a moment before I heard a commotion at the far end of the hall, near one of the siderooms. Had someone entered?

I scented the air – and the world stopped.

My senses were not diminished now. As I was dangerously close to a rage, my senses were more acute than ever, sharpening.

Beyond the perfumes and wines and flowers in the room, I scented something familiar.

Lavender and milk.

At once my body reacted, the restlessness inside of me suddenly becoming even more intense. But this had nothing to do with the desire to kill.

My wolf slammed against my ribs so hard my vision whited out for half a second.

She's in danger.

I was already moving east before the word finished forming.

Lyra’s POV

Quincy had dragged me into the sideroom, and forced me down onto my knees. By now, other guards had joined in, one holding me by the shoulder as Quincy finally straightened.

Serena, holding my crying baby, followed us into the room. Her handmaidens were with her, all of them looking at me with disgust.

“What a whore,” one whispered.

“Seducing the Beta against the Alpha? She’s even worse than that,” said another.

“Vicious bitch,” Quincy said, spitting at the ground in front of me.

Desperately I struggled against the guards holding my shoulders, desperate to get to my son, who was crying so loudly his face was turning red. Serena didn’t seem to care, barely paying any attention to him.

How could anyone be so calm when he was crying like that? Each tiny wail cut through my chest like blades.

Darius stormed into the room, murder in his eyes. “What is the meaning of all this?”

“She seduced me, Alpha,” Quincy said, pointing at me. “The conniving little pretender wanted to use her body to try to turn me against you. That would never work, of course.”

“I witnessed the entire event, beloved,” Serena said, the liar. She had only come in at the end.

“You twist everything, you steal my son. You'll burn in hell for this. ” I spat.

Darius, who had already seemed angry, only became more insensed. Looking at me, he lifted his heel, and brought it down hard on my fingers. Two cracked, and I cried out, unable to stop my shout, despite my efforts. I didn’t want my baby to be afraid. But Gods, the pain!

“It’s the least she deserves,” one of the handmaidens said.

“Hold her head up,” Darius said. “Make her look at me as I dole out punishment.”

Quincy grabbed my hair at the back of my head and yanked my head back, forcing my gaze up.

"You're nothing but cowards and hypocrites, every last one of you." I saw red.

Darius said, “Execute her.”

Quincy's forearm came across my throat. I clawed at his arm and got nowhere. My vision went dark at the edges, then darker.

My son's crying was still coming from somewhere nearby. Faint now. Getting fainter.

A tear ran from the corner of my eye. Who would hold him like that if I died here?

The darkness came all the way up.

“Let her go.”

Quincy froze. Then, with a splatter of blood littering the wall behind us, his head slipped from his shoulders, and hit the ground. His body joined it a half-second later.

At once, more heads rolled. The guards who had held me. The handmaidens who had mocked me. Each other dropped to the ground as a corpse.

In the center of the room, right in front of me, stood the Reaper.

“Kneel,” he commanded, his power radiating off of him with such force it stole the air from the room.

Darius and Serena dropped to their knees at once. Blood covered them.

“My King!” Darius started, eyes wide, body trembling. “She is a temptress and manipulator! And she was plotting to kill me! And I… Gugr--!”

Dariuss words were cut short as he spit out blood.

“Stay out of my business,” Kael said, his voice cold as ice.

The Reaper turned to me, but I couldn’t react, too busy trying not to scream.

I was still on my knees. My hands were useless. The stone under me was wet and warm and I could not tell anymore what was mine and what belonged to someone else.

I didn't know what was going to happen. My heart was about to leap out of my chest.

Was he about to kill me?

But then, surprisingly, he crouched down. His arms moved toward me, encircling me, and he lifted me from the pool of blood around me, up into the cradle of his arms.

He held me tight. I could feel the heartbeat in his chest—steady, strong. My face pressed against him, and his scent surrounded me, overwhelming everything.

At the same time, he lowered his head. The tip of his nose touched my neck, sliding slowly downward, like a beast scenting its prey.

His breath burned against the most fragile part of my skin—so hot I almost wanted to curl away. But I couldn't move. My body was no longer mine. It softened in his arms, melting into a strange, tingling warmth, as though it had finally been waiting for something it had longed for its whole life.

His lips brushed against me, and I heard him whisper—

“My mate…”