Five

Kaelen

The council chamber smelled of iron and incense. I sat at the head of the long obsidian table while the voices around me fought to be heard over one another, a cacophony of outrage and fear.

"She's with him now," Elder Raith spat, his weathered hands slamming against the wood. "Shadowfang territory, and parading herself as though she belongs there."

"Parading?" Elder Arwen sneered. "She has been claimed. You all saw the decree. Draven has made her his Luna."

The words thudded into my chest like stones. My mate. My bond. Selene... mine by blood and by destiny was now bound to another.

I clenched my jaw so tightly my teeth ached. "Decree or not, Shadowfang is nothing compared to Bloodfang. Let Draven play with what I discarded. It changes nothing."

But it did change something. Every time I closed my eyes, the bond screamed with it. A tearing sensation deep in my ribs, like fire licking through veins. I felt her rage and her defiance. I felt her heat when she looked at him.

I would not show weakness here.

"She is not discarded," Raith said sharply. His eyes glinted with something dangerously close to defiance. "Selene was loved here. She bled for this pack. Many of us raised our children on the stories of her strength. She was supposed to be our Luna. Do not speak of her as though she were–"

"Enough." My voice cracked across the chamber. Every head turned toward me. "Selene made her choice when she spat in my face. She allied herself with Shadowfang. She is no longer of Bloodfang."

"Draven," I growled, the name tasting like bile. "That scarred bastard has always been waiting for a chance to strike at me, and now he's got her."

Thorne shifted uneasily, his loyalty unwavering but his eyes betraying a flicker of doubt. "It's a bold move, Alpha. Selene as his Luna... it legitimizes him. Gives him insight into our pack."

"Insight?" I laughed bitterly, but inside, the bond twisted, a flash of her face in my mind– fiery red hair, storm-grey eyes, that unyielding spirit. She'd been mine, fated, the one who should have stood beside me. But I'd chosen prosperity, alliances, the gold and armies Lysandra brought. It was the right choice for the pack, dammit. The right choice for our future.

The doors opened again, and Lysandra glided in, her golden hair cascading over her shoulders, her silk gown whispering against the floor. She looked every inch the princess she was bred to be. She was beautiful, a vision of royal grace, but it lacked that fire I'd come to love.

Selene's laughter still haunted these walls. The way she once stormed into this chamber with mud still on her boots, bow slung over her shoulder, daring the elders to mock her. She never bowed. Not even to me.

Lysandra bowed every time like an obedient wife should. Perfect, and yet completely lacking. Whenever I looked at her, I felt nothing but the dull echo of obligation. The bond pulled elsewhere.

"Kaelen," she said, her voice smooth. "What's this I hear about Selene? The servants are whispering."

I ignored her and forced my attention back to the council. "Bloodfang remains strong. The alliance with the royal family secures our future. Ships, armies, gold. The people will never starve under my rule. That is what matters. Not the rash decisions of one she-wolf."

"She-wolf?" Elder Arwen's tone was sharp enough to cut. "You speak as though she is not your mate."

A growl ripped from my chest before I could stop it. "She was my mate, elder. Was. Past tense."

The elders exchanged uneasy glances.

Lysandra's voice finally slid through the silence. "You all waste breath on a traitor. She abandoned this pack the moment she ran into Shadowfang arms. Whatever loyalty you cling to, it is misplaced. She will use Draven's name to turn everything you love against you. It is an insult."

"An insult?" I echoed, my rage bubbling over. "It's war. Draven's using her to undermine me. He knows her value... her knowledge of our defenses and our people. She's handing him everything on a silver platter."

Lysandra stepped closer, her hand on my arm was cool. "Then we will deal with her, my husband. All she has is Draven's name and his dwindling resources. You have ships and an army that can rival even the King's."

I turned my head, studying her profile. Perfect, yes. Poised. A princess trained for politics. She knew how to speak to the council, how to thread venom through civility.

But her words coiled around me differently than she intended.

Just Draven's name? No. It was not Draven who lit the fire in her. It was she herself. Selene had never needed a man to make her dangerous. She was danger itself.

And now she was his.

The bond twisted in my chest, a violent knot I had felt two nights ago. I'd felt the press of Draven's teeth on her neck, marking her. I had torn my chamber apart with the fury of it, ripping silk sheets, splintering wood beneath my claws. Lysandra had fled the room and had not returned until dawn.

I could still smell Selene on my skin even though she had not touched me in weeks.

"She will come back," I muttered under my breath, low enough that only I heard it. "She has to."

But even as I said the words, I doubted their sincerity. The Selene I knew would rather die than beg.

Just then, the chamber door burst open and a messenger stumbled in, gasping, and holding out a parchment sealed with Shadowfang wax. My claws itched as I snatched it from him and broke the seal.

The words inside were simple and bold.

The Shadowfang invite you to come celebrate the joining of their Alpha with his new Luna bride. There will be drinking, dancing and a massive feast. All are welcome.

Draven's signature scrawled at the bottom like a wound.

I crushed the parchment in my fist, nails biting through as my blood slicked the crushed seal. The room spun with the sound of rushing rage in my ears.

"She is mocking you," Lysandra said sweetly though her eyes glittered with something dark. "Mocking us. Mocking this union, this council, this pack. Are you going to let her?"

Raith bristled. "What would you have him do, princess? Send assassins? Spill Bloodfang blood across borders and risk war before we are ready?"

"Yes."

Just one word and the whole chamber went completely still. Every head swung toward her.

"Yes," she repeated, her voice sharper now. "End it before it grows. If you let her stand beside Draven, she becomes a banner for every enemy you've ever had. Wolves will rally to her because they know her, because they believe in her. You may have their coin and their fear, Kaelen, but she has their hearts. Cut her down before she spreads the infection further."

My chest heaved. A thousand memories tore at me at once: Selene teaching pups to string bows. Selene standing at my side during raids, her arrows whistling past my head. Selene laughing, that her fierce contiguous laugh, even when covered in blood.

And now Lysandra was telling me to kill her.

I replied with one word. "No."

Lysandra blinked. "No?"

"Did I stutter by any chance?"

The council stared in stunned silence. No one dared to interrupt.

Lysandra's eyes narrowed. "She is a threat."

"You expect me to send assassins to kill my son's mother?" I said turning to look at her.

"Your son has another mother now," She retorted. "Selene is a traitor who is now married to your mortal enemy. What do you think she'll do next, huh? Right this very moment, she's probably whispering our secrets in his ear while they share a bed"

The image flashed through my mind. Selene's body arched under his, her laughter for him. Jealousy surged within me, but with it came a realization:

They hadn't consummated the marriage yet. I would've felt it through the mate bond. And if Selene hadn't consummated their marriage, that meant by the goddess' law, she wasn't his Luna yet.

A smile started to spread across my face.

"No," I said, leaning back in my chair. "No assassins yet. I have a better idea."

Every head turned to me with rapid attention, eager to hear what I had in mind. With the smile still on my lips, I turned to Thorne and said, "Send word back to Blackfang."

"We're attending their feast."