Mate

AKIRA’S POV

A strange tingle flared deep in my chest the moment his skin left mine. My lungs burned as I crashed to the stone floor, coughing violently and clutching my bruised neck. I ignored the warmth, brushing it off as nothing more than a rush of adrenaline.

Kradamian stumbled back a step, his chest heaving as if he were the one who had just been deprived of air. His dark eyes locked onto mine, completely intense and filled with an expression that I could not understand.

I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cower. He was responsible for the death of my mother. I would never bow to him! Never!

I forced myself to sit up, coughing violently as I continued to rub my neck.

“What's the matter?” I spat, my voice raw but entirely sharp. “Couldn’t suddenly kill a wolfless girl?”

“Shut your mouth, you insolent woman!” Lady Veticia’s voice boomed through the hall, cutting me off. “You have said and done enough.”

While still trying to catch my breath, my eyes moved to Veticia. Two guards were currently helping her up from the floor. Just looking at her fake, trembling posture made my blood boil.

Earlier, when she had reached out to touch me, my fingers had barely grazed her hand in rejection. Yet, she had thrown herself backward onto the carpet as though a high-ranking warrior had struck her. It was a complete lie, a calculated act, and I did not understand why a woman of her status would stoop so low to frame a captive.

“And you should find a better hobby than staging falls,” I fired back, still trying to catch my breath. “I barely touched you, and you know it.”

Veticia gasped, clutching her chest as she turned her eyes toward the surrounding guards, playing the victim perfectly. “How can you stand there and lie against me? Everyone saw what you did. First, you disrespected the Alpha, and when I tried to help you, you assaulted me.” She looked at Kradamian, her expression instantly hardening into something ruthless. “Can’t you see what this girl is doing? Strike her head off, Kradamian. Execute her now, or she executes us.”

I waited for Kradamian to draw his blade. Killing me was much better than staying alive in the enemy pack. Besides, I had no reason to want to continue living.

“No,” his cold voice came, overriding her demand without any hesitation. I noticed how unsettled he looked. Even his breathing had become really heavy, like he was fighting an invisible weight. “Death is too easy for the disrespect she has displayed. She stays alive.”

Before Veticia could argue, the iron doors of the throne room swung open.

I turned my head as a woman walked into the hall. She was overly dressed in silks and bright jewels. Her cleavage spilled over the tight corset wrapped around her waist.

She looked like someone who tried far too hard to impress the court.

The guards immediately lowered their heads.

“Lady Barbara,” one of them greeted.

Completely ignoring them, she glided straight toward Kradamian. Without a hint of hesitation, she placed her hand over his chest in an intimate, possessive way and pulled him in for a very irritating, noisy kiss.

A wave of intense disgust rose in my throat just watching the display.

A few seconds later, the woman turned her head, looking down at me with mild amusement. “Who is this pathetic girl?” She leaned a fraction closer and sniffed the air, her lips curling into a deep sneer. “She doesn’t even have a wolf. Who is she?”

Kradamian’s jaw tightened. He pulled away from her touch, his posture turning rigid. “A tribute from Nightveil. Now a wolfless servant in this pack.”

I scoffed loudly from the floor, unable to restrain myself. “Better to be a wolfless servant than to be any of you.”

The woman’s eyes snapped down to me, her smug smile vanishing instantly. She clearly hated disrespect. Her voice rose to a sharp, angry pitch. “What? How dare you speak when masters are talking? You are a captive in chains, yet you carry a tongue that…”

Kradamian didn't let her finish.

“Get this stray out of my sight,” Kradamian commanded, his voice tight. “Give her as many chores as humanly possible, and make sure she finishes them all before the sun rises.”

“No,” Veticia interrupted, stepping back into the conversation with a cold smile. “Why not give her to Barbara. Let her serve the future Luna as her personal slave?”

My chest tightened with fury, and before I could react, Kradamian glanced down at me, his dark eyes testing my silence. “Fine. She belongs to Barbara’s quarters. Now get her out of here.”

Before the guards could grab my arms, Barbara stepped in front of me, unclasped a silver bracelet from her wrist, and let it drop. It hit the stone floor right in front of my face with a loud clatter.

“Since you are now my servant, you might as well start here.” Her voice dripped with malice. “Pick it up, little tribute.”

My blood ran hot. Every instinct I had yelled at me to spit in her face and slap the jewelry away. But I froze, forcing the anger down into the dark corners of my mind. They would force me either way.

Swallowing my pride, I slowly stretched my hand out toward the silver bracelet on the floor.

Just as my fingers brushed the metal, Barbara’s heel came crashing down onto my fingers, grinding them against the unforgiving stone floor with enough force to make the small bones in my hand pop painfully.

A sharp gasp escaped my lips as white-hot agony shot through my arm, forcing tears into my eyes.

Before I could even react, another sound echoed across the room.

It wasn’t mine.

A deep, pained grunt tore from Kradamian’s throat.

Every person in the hall froze.

I looked up through my blurred vision just in time to see him stagger back a step, his hand flying to his own as though it had been crushed beneath Barbara’s heel instead of mine. His jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles beneath his skin visibly flexed, and his breathing became uneven as confusion flashed across his face.

Barbara immediately lifted her foot from my hand, her confident expression collapsing into bewilderment.

“My… my Alpha?” Uncertainty filled her words.

No one answered her.

The guards stood rooted to their positions, exchanging uneasy glances, while the silence that settled over the throne room became almost unbearable.

Kradamian slowly lowered his hand and turned it over, staring at his uninjured palm as though expecting to find broken bones beneath the skin.

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

Across the hall, Veticia had gone completely still.

The colour drained from her face as her gaze shifted from my injured hand to Kradamian’s, then back to me again.

Her lips parted slightly.

“No…” she whispered, the word barely audible. For the first time since I had entered the palace, this vile woman looked genuinely horrified.

I frowned, my own heart pounding wildly inside my chest.

My fingers were the ones Barbara had nearly crushed, yet Kradamian looked as though he had suffered the injury himself.

He slowly raised his head until our eyes met again. The fury that had burned there moments ago was gone, replaced by confusion, disbelief, and something that looked disturbingly close to fear.

I tightened my injured hand against my chest, unable to tear my gaze away from him.

Why did he react to my pain?

And why was everyone else suddenly looking at him as though something impossible had just happened?

“Change of orders,” Kradamian growled, his voice trembling slightly as he rubbed his uninjured hand. “Take her to my wing instead.”

Kradamian’s words struck harder than any weapon.

Veticia whipped around to stare at him, the horror on her face deepening.

Even the guards hesitated, exchanging uncertain glances as though they had heard him incorrectly.

“Did you not hear me?” Kradamian’s voice cracked through the silence like thunder. “Take the stray to my wing.”