Chapter 5

Knox’s POV

“You don’t have to do this, Knox,” Lucas, my best friend and future beta, says.

My fingers clench into fists beside me. He doesn’t understand. He’s not the one who has to agree to everything his father commands or risk losing his position as heir.

The door to my room slowly creaks open. Lucas glares at the guard who’d forgotten to knock.

“Forgive my manners,” the teenager says hurriedly before stepping out and knocking this time.

Why Father insists on including kids in the pack’s forces will forever remain a mystery to me.

“Come in,” Lucas commands when the boy’s knock echoes through the room.

“They’ve cleaned the Moonstone Altar, Alpha Knox. The pack is gathered already, and the hunters are ready.”

In other words, it’s time for me to participate in this sick game the Moon Goddess calls destiny. With a wave of my hand, I dismiss him, sliding my hands casually into my pockets.

“Forcibly marking your mate has repercussions,” Lucas insists, worry evident in his tone.

“Whatever they are, they can’t be worse than the shame of refusing,” I seethe.

By the time we step outside, I can practically hear my heart threatening to pound out of my chest. The outer grounds are crowded with pack members gathering around. Some are laughing, while others eagerly await the hunters’ arrival.

I don’t approach the cells. Instead, I wait. Lucas stands beside me.

Duty, honor, loyalty.

Those words play on repeat in my mind, reminding me of the reasons my fate is already sealed. Soon, the crowd’s murmuring grows louder as guards haul Kestrel and Reid out of the underground cells.

A frown settles on my face the moment I notice how well Reid seems to be walking. Unless he possesses healing abilities like us, there’s no way his leg should be this fine after just one day.

My jaw tightens as I step forward slightly, studying Kestrel’s face. She looks paler than yesterday, and there’s a purplish bruise on her jaw. Her eyes appear slightly dazed and unfocused.

I fight the urge to ask what’s wrong with her. It’s none of my business. Nothing about her concerns me. She’s a traitor who deserves every bit of suffering coming her way.

“Take them to the stone,” I order, my gaze drifting back to Kestrel.

That’s when I notice it.

Her lips are coated in blue glitter. It’s almost imperceptible, but beneath the full moon, it’s as clear as day.

Something twists in my gut. Shit doesn’t look right, especially when I spot the same substance on Reid’s face.

“Stop!”

But it’s too late.

Reid jerks sharply to the left, knocking one of the guards off balance. He moves with unnatural speed.

Lucas charges at him as the other guards attempt to bring him down, but Reid kicks one of them, sending him crashing to the ground.

But he doesn’t just kick him. He does it with his broken leg before springing back up and sprinting towards the woods.

“Kestrel, run!” he shouts.

As if awakening from a deep slumber, Kestrel strikes the men surrounding her. She’s swifter than him, her fists colliding with her opponents’ faces before they can comprehend her next move. Like a trained snake, she slips from their grasp and races after Reid.

My instincts kick in, and I take off after her.

“Reid!” Kestrel screams, lunging after him.

But he doesn’t look back. He doesn’t wait for her. Her steps grow unsteady, as though her vision is blurred.

As the wind rushes past my ears, I hear the rising commotion behind me and know I can’t let them escape.

Reid, running as fast as lightning, the crazy bastard that he is, suddenly changes direction. He scales the platform and leaps off the side towards the north.

My voice rings out. “Guards! To the north perimeter!”

Kestrel bolts after him, but she’s not fast enough. I sprint after her, my wolf itching to surface, but I know that would be a mistake. He can’t control himself as well as I can.

I focus on Kestrel, on the way her scent grows stronger the closer I get. I seize her by the waist, my hands tightening firmly around her slender figure.

“Let me go!” She writhes in my grip.

You are such a wild thing.

“Fucking asshole!” she shrieks as I throw her over my shoulder. She weighs so little.

“Let me go! I don’t want this!”

The sheer agony in her cracked voice cuts straight through my chest, but I suppress that cursed feeling as quickly as it surfaces.

She means nothing to me.

“This is a punishment,” I growl, carrying her back. “You are not supposed to want it.”

Within a minute, I haul her onto the center of the grounds, ignoring her kicks and the warmth radiating from her body.

Her clammy skin trembles, and her eyes reveal the fear she’s tried so desperately to bury.

Lucas and some of the men return a while later, their breathing labored.

“Forgive our incompetence, Alpha Knox,” he says grimly, bowing his head in submission. “He’s gone. He took the northern cliffs. No one caught him. The others are still searching. We believe he jumped into the river.”

I grit my teeth and look up.

My father stands tall as always, cloaked in black and gold. His eyes meet mine, his expression impassive, but I can still see the perpetual disappointment in his gaze.

Axel and Zane scoff at my incompetence, but I say nothing.

They are two pussies in the bodies of men.

Father strides forward, and the crowd immediately falls silent. Hundreds of people drop to their knees in reverence.

Kestrel tugs at my grip. “Just kill me. Slit my throat.”

Tears glisten in her eyes now, but she’s asking the wrong man.

I wish she had never existed, but killing her would only ruin me.

“Arise,” the Alpha King commands, and everyone obeys.

Across from me, standing between Axel and Zane’s mother, is my mother. Her gaze is already fixed on me.

I look away, turning my attention to the Moonstone Altar. It’s been here for at least a century, a raised circular slab of rock polished by years of similar ceremonies. It’s the place where fated bonds are sealed in Ashen Ridge.

It’s where warriors are named and traitors are executed.

“Tonight, my son will fulfill one of his duties as heir to the throne,” Father announces confidently.

My grip on Kestrel tightens.

“Step forward, Enforcer Knox, son of Alpha Valen,” the pack’s beta calls.

As roughly as I can, I shove Kestrel forward. She stumbles towards the platform, her body sweating even more profusely.

Facing the crowd, I recite her judgment.

“You breached our borders with the intention of killing our men, women, and children. You are a traitor who doesn’t deserve to live. It is an act of mercy for the Alpha King to spare your life. But you will forever walk in the skin you hate, forced to live like one of us, a captive of Ashen Ridge.”

The pack erupts into cheers, everyone watching, waiting for me to seal my fate.

“Mark her,” the Alpha King commands.

Without hesitation, I steady myself, bare my teeth, and bite.

“AHHHHH!”

Her scream tears through the night like a blade.