Chapter 5: Moment of Respite

Lyria's POV

The music, the frenzied dance, the squeals of excitement, the lively chatters and every other activity going on at the festival became irrelevant to my senses as I knelt down beside the grand vacant chair of the king, awaiting his arrival.

My head was bowed low and I had my eyes fixated to the ground, just as instructed. I had no liberty to partake in any of the activities or even look elsewhere but at the ground throughout, whereas everyone else were having the best moment of their lives.

I could feel the eyes of some of the elders on me as if trying to make sure I did nothing else but what was required of me.

“Hey Slave,” the chief elder called out to me. I like that I had been instructed not to raise my head up or look anywhere else but at the ground unless told otherwise. That aided my pretense not to know I was the one he was referring to.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw him marching down toward me, displeased with how I made him speak to the wind.

Having endured different forms of maltreatment and punishment from them all these years, there was nothing he would do to me tonight that I had not seen before or gotten used to. So I maintained my position, without moving a muscle.

By the time he almost got to me, the second ranking elder called out to him. “The king is almost here. Leave her and hurry back here.”

All my years of stay in this pack, I had never seen the old fool scamper the way he just did. He literally forgot what his blanched hair connoted and hurried back to the rest of the elders like a terrified kid.

“Lyria, look here,” he shouted, making his voice audible enough for me to hear despite the loud music.

The moment I raised my head to spare him a glance, he only scowled. He must be delusional to still think his scowl had any effect on me by now. The only thing that stopped me from laughing at his delusion was none other than the unknown fate that awaited me tonight.

Seeing that I was unfazed, he finally spoke. “Remember what I told you, don't mess this up.”

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, clearly fed up with the banalities.

I had lost count of the number of times most of the elders had ringed it in my ears that the king tolerated no mistake and I should consider myself a dead meat should I ever get clumsy and make a single mistake.

If I hadn't known this chief elder so well, I might have been bamboozled into thinking he now cared about me. But in truth, he didn't give a fuck about me. He was only advocating for himself because he knew that any mistake on my part would also boomerang on him in the presence of the king.

Earlier during the day when I saw the Alpha King in the woods and I narrowly escaped being shot with an arrow, I knew I was only lucky because if his minions had not come for him, I sure would have been dead by now at the command of such a king.

There was no mercy in his eyes when he snapped the neck of that lion so effortlessly today. Since then, I had been uncertain what to expect when I come face to face with him tonight. I didn't know what would be my fate when he saw a weak Omega like me hanging around him, let alone cleaning his feet.

Finally, the king came in with his two minions flanking him and I managed to tilt my head slightly to get a view of him. His aura was so powerful and dominating that it had everyone on their feet in an instant with their heads bowed low in reverence except the girls currently dancing.

As the king strode regally to the seat, I didn't dare look up at him so I quietly began my duty and I like how he didn't bother to spare me a glance as he watched the entertainment from the girls dancing.

All of a sudden, something happened. I caught a scent of someone who was supposed to be my mate.

This scent was unlike anything I had ever encountered—dark, intoxicating, and undeniably powerful.

He smelled of smoldering cedarwood, rich and deep, with hints of crushed blackberries—a sharp, almost forbidden sweetness that lingered in the air. Beneath it, there was something more primal, an undertone of storm-charged air, like the moment before lightning split the sky.

It was a scent that made my breath hitch—a scent that warned of danger yet pulled me in like a relentless tide.

As I raised my head slowly in an attempt to scan the crowd for the owner of that scent, I hadn't even looked too far when a sickening realisation hit me and my eyes dilated in shock.

The scent was coming from no other person but the Alpha king himself.

As I looked up to him slowly to see him also scanning the crowd like he had also picked up my scent, a cold shiver didn't only run through my spine. It coursed through my entire body so much so that as I lowered my head back and continued to clean his shoes, my fingers trembling.

This tremor finally gave me away and I was busted. Throughout his bout of fury, I only clenched my chest with my hand as though it would calm my frenzied heart that's pounding hard against my ribcage.

The moment the king rejected me, I felt something snap within me and my wild heart seemed to pause.

Time seemed to freeze into a slow motion as the King's words became a sharp razor slashing through the rope that connected us together in a forward and backward motion, cutting thread after thread.

All I could think of was how my life started terribly and I couldn't even get a happy ending at least.

I hated the kind of life the Moon Goddess had made me live

A lone fear fell off my eyes as I embraced my ill fate.

And then, I felt the last thread pull apart. I collapsed to the ground, squirming as pain exploded through my chest. It felt as though a thousand silver blades were piercing my heart.

My wolf—weak and locked away for years—let out a wounded cry inside my soul.

As I kept writhing in agony from the unbearable pain, my vision blurred gradually, and for a moment, I could swear I saw something in the shadows: a pair of glowing golden eyes and a whispered voice I didn't quite understand.

Then my eyelids went shut as I succumbed to the cocoon of darkness that engulfed me.

*****

By the time my eyes fluttered open, a golden hue had begun creeping over the horizon, casting a soft glow on the world around me. It was dawn already and I couldn't believe that I was still here, still breathing.

I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling the cool morning air sting my raw throat. That I was left for dead outside the King's palace was the least of my concern. To find myself alive this morning after what went down last night, I couldn't be more mystified.

How is this even possible? I kept asking myself.

I should be dead. By all accounts, I should have died last night after the King’s rejection severed the fragile bond between us. I remember how the pain had been unbearable, ripping through my chest like silver-coated daggers. And yet… here I was.

My fingers pressed against the damp earth as I pushed myself up, ignoring the ache that radiated through my limbs. Only then did I become aware of my surroundings.

There were pack members around me. A lot of them.

They formed a loose circle around me, their faces contorted with something between awe and horror. Their hushed whispers slithered through the cold morning air, growing louder by the second.

“How is this possible?”

“She’s an omega… she should be dead.”

“An omega should not be able to survive a rejection from the King.”

“This isn’t natural…”

Their words swirled around me, feeding the same confusion that was clawing at my own mind. My heart pounded as I tried to make sense of it. Was I a ghost? A cursed soul lingering between life and death?

A ripple of movement in the crowd caught my attention, and my blood ran cold. One of the King’s minions had arrived at the scene. His face twisted in open shock as his gaze landed on me. Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and sprinted back toward the palace.

Panic swelled in my chest immediately.

No. No, no, no—

I scrambled to my feet just as heavy footsteps thundered against the earth. The crowd parted instantly, as if the presence alone was enough to strike terror into their bones. And then I saw him.

The Alpha King.

He marched toward me, his face unreadable but his aura burning like a wildfire. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes darted to the two men flanking him—his ever-present minions. But they didn’t matter. Not when his piercing gaze was locked onto me.

A chill crawled down my spine, and the suffocating terror from last night returned in full force. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

Before I could react, his hand lashed out.

A crushing grip wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air supply in an instant. My feet left the ground slightly as he lifted me with ease, his strength overwhelming.

My fingers clawed at his wrist, struggling, fighting, desperate for relief. But his grip was unrelenting.

His voice, cold and laced with something dangerous, sliced through the tense silence.

"Why aren’t you dead? Tell me!"

His words sent a shudder through me. I tried to speak, to plead, to even breathe, but nothing came out. My lungs burned, my vision swam, and yet—he didn’t let go.

I kicked weakly, my body instinctively fighting for survival, but compared to him, I was nothing. My efforts were nothing but futile attempts. The last kicks of a dying horse.

His fingers tightened further, and I saw the dark flicker in his stormy gaze, something unreadable lurking beneath the surface.

The crowd remained deadly silent, watching in muted horror. No one dared to intervene.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.

Then, just when I thought I would slip into oblivion once more—

"My King."

A voice, calm and a little less authoritative than the king's, suddenly broke through the tension.

It was one of the king's minions again.

For a second—just a second— the king's grip loosened as he turned to the guy that interrupted him. Seizing that fleeting moment of respite, I gasped in a ragged breath, my head spinning, my body trembling.

At the king's questioning look, his minion spoke up again. “I need to tell you something, your Highness. It's important.

“Beta,” the king only said as he furrowed his brows at him even more as though he didn't trust him.

“No, no no,” his Beta said, looking so serious for the first time since I've seen him. “This is not one of my silly jokes, I promise.”

The alpha king must be so good at passing subtle gestures and commands as he only gave the other minion a fleeting look before walking inside with his Beta. And the next thing I knew, the second minion folded his arms across his chest, monitoring me with a scowl.

I simply ignored him as I tremulously awaited the outcome of whatever discussion the alpha King and his Beta went inside to have as my entire life now rested on it.