8- The Missed Arrow

"Who the fuck gave you permission to sneak inside my study without my permission?" Alpha Vance growled at me. His golden eyes burned dangerously as he looked at the royal decree in my hand. 

In lightning speed, he crossed the distance between us, slammed me against the wall, his hand gripping my throat to choke the life out of me. His thumb pressed hard against my windpipe, taking me off-guard. 

"Give me one reason not to

kill you right here, right now, runt. You dared to sneak inside my private study, touch my belongings, and read what belonged to me. So, pray, give me one reason to spare your life." His voice was dark, raspy, and I looked straight into his eyes. 

He took me off guard. And he mistook my astonishment for my weakness. The silver in my eyes made itself known as I held the hand holding my throat. Instead of pushing him away, I pulled him closer. 

"Kill me, My Lord. Kill me if you can." I purred, my lips stretching in a dark, twisted smile, and his eyes narrowed at my challenge. 

"Are you challenging me, runt?" He growled, anger clear as day in his voice, and I laughed despite being held in a choking hold

by him. 

"Take it however you please, My Lord. But accept the truth. You can't kill me. Even when you badly wish to kill me, you can't. Want to give it a shot?" I provoked him, and the molten lava inside his eyes flared. 

Instantly, I felt his thumb pressing harder against my windpipe. The wolf inside of me growled in visible fury. But despite all his efforts, he couldn't kill me. He couldn't press my windpipe further. The secret scent he inhaled on our first meeting won't let him kill me. If anything, it would press the remorse deep in his chest for hurting me. 

"Never mind, My Lord. You won't be able to." I said, easily removing his hand from my throat and pushing him away. 

"You fucking little—" 

"It's not the time for pleasantries, My Lord. We have pressing matters to discuss. Your Lycan King is planning a funeral pyre for you beside mine." I said, and Alpha Vance looked at me with a narrowed, confused gaze. 

"What do you mean?" 

"In the next three weeks, Tristan is organizing a 'Blood Stone Altar' to check if there are any forbidden bloodlines, banished races, or wolves with hidden powers," I revealed to him, and he raised his eyebrows at me, a mocking smile forming on his face. 

"That's terrible news for the power-stealer. Won't they kill you after catching you because nothing can save you from the Blood Stone Altar? By the way, thrall, which category do you belong to? A forbidden bloodline, a descendant of a banished race, or someone who has hidden powers?" He mocked me, and I mirrored his smile, taking a step forward, unclipping the collar from my neck, shocking him. 

His eyes widened when I easily removed the enchanting silver collar. He didn't see it coming when I put the collar around his neck, tugging on it so that Alpha Vance stumbled towards me. His eyes burned with pain and fury. The enchanting silver burned his skin. I could already see the redness forming on the skin that came in contact with the collar. 

"How fucking dare you—" 

"Shush, My Lord. The silver will burn you more if you keep shaking. Now be my good little boy and listen to me carefully." I ordered him, and the power oozing out of my core enthralled him. But the Alpha inside him was resisting the submission. 

"You fucking runt—" 

"Kaelen," I reminded him, tugging on the collar again, making him wince in pain. "Remember, we are in the privacy of your study, my Lord. Call me by my name." 

When he glared at me, I only smiled wider. 

'I love the way he glares; he'd be a fun submissive.' My wolf purred inside me, and my smirk deepened. 

That he would be. A submissive who had always been in the illusion of power. A submissive who had always been the one in control over others. A submissive who refused to be a submissive. 

"If you think I'd be the only one to die at that altar, think once again, My Lord. The royal decree clearly states that the Master of such servants shall be killed too. Now imagine how it would look. The strongest, scariest, and most feared Alpha, who is also the King's right hand, will be executed in front of everyone. That would be a shameful death, My Lord." I mocked him, and his eyes flared in rage. 

"No one can kill me!" He roared, pushing me away with a force that shocked me. 

Even after being drained by me, collared in silver, pain coursing down his veins, enchanted silver reducing his powers, Alpha Vance managed to push an Eclipse wolf away. His strength always impressed me. 

And in no time, he snapped the enchanted silver collar in two. His hands burned red from where he held the collar to break it. His neck glowed crimson, his skin breaking slightly. And a weird, unexplainable guilt gripped my heart. 

Hurting him made something inside me twist painfully. 

"Said by every proud man before being killed mercilessly, my Lord. Now, if we are done with your childish power plays, we need to make a plan to fool the Blood Stone altar. We need to blind the altar before stepping our foot in Tristan's capital." I said, and Alpha Vance clenched his jaw. 

It was almost like he was reluctant to obey me. 

"You can't blind a sacred altar. You can't fool it when it's guarded by the Moon Goddess herself." Alpha Vance spoke, almost like he was questioning my intelligence. 

"We have to, if you don't wish to have your grave beside mine in the coming month, My Lord." I hissed back, and he glared at me but kept quiet. 

"We'll talk about this in my chambers. Now, there's a meeting that I need to attend. So, you'd better be on your best behavior in front of everyone. Hand me my coat." He ordered me, and I arched an eyebrow at him. 

"You weren't wearing one before. Why need a cardigan now, My Lord? Is it to hide your incompetence in front of a scentless thrall?" I teased him, and he was shooting daggers at me. 

"The enchanted silver you dared to put around me leaves a permanent mark on the skin. I can't have other Alphas and mages see one around my neck." He growled at me, clearly unhappy with tasting his own medicine. 

"Aw, the big bad Alpha didn't like being paid in his own currency, huh? My Lord, if you really wish to get rid of the embarrassing mark around your neck, you don't need a cardigan; all you need to do is ask me. I mean, request me." I said, patting his head, letting out a cheeky smile, and he glared at me. 

When he didn't request me, I felt my smile widen. Too proud for his own good. 

Shaking my head, I moved closer to him, pressing my lips against his burnt neck. He hissed for a second before his Alpha power erupted from my core, turned into magic, and cured the marks around his neck. 

Alpha Vance stood there frozen, taken aback for a second when I kissed his burns. But that was where the catastrophe began because, in the daze of my powers, he failed to see an arrow advancing towards him at lightning speed through his window.