Alpha Kael Vittori.
My muscles ached as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I squinted under the morning sunlight that filtered into the room. The bed was warm and comfyā bed? The last thing I remembered was lying on the cold ground close to the abandoned shack, how did I get here.
"Alpha! You're awake!" A sharp voice by my side called me and I instantly recognized my Beta's voice. "Thank the goddess!"
I welcomed the relief in his voice, but there was a deep unsettling feeling that pooled in the pit of my stomach that something was really wrong. My head ached slightly and I still felt a bit fuzzy, but I tried sitting up on the bed. When my eyes focused on Lysander, the look in his eyes was grave and in his eyes, deep concern was etched.
"Lysander... What happened? Our warriors?"
Flashes of that night surged into mind as I remembered how my pack was being ambushed by rogues. The attacks had been coordinated as if someone was controlling themā something that had never happened before. And there was their leader... There was something off about him when I first fought him, he felt really familiar... As if I knew him from somewhere. The way he moved and fought like the wind was similar to the way the house of Heracles fought. But why would they set an ambush on my pack to fight me? Was it because my family was the next in line to the throne?
"We lost Tempest and Talon," he hung his head low in reply and I fell silent. They were the top two warriors that protected the pack with all their lives. Good men.
I felt my anger rising little by little, but at the same time, my beast reared its head from the abyss of my mind. But this was not the time for it. They were going to get the honour they deserved, and I was going to hunt down every single one of those responsible for that ambush. I tried to stand on my feet when another image flashed in my mind...
A woman... an Omega? I could still remember the outline of her face⦠the fear in her eyes⦠And there was something else⦠I could tell she was my mate.
It shouldn't be possible. It couldn't. With prophecy of my curse being broken by my mate⦠she is supposed to be someone strong.
But her? An Omega? What could she possibly do? And not only that, she had murmured something to me before the juice of that herb made contact with my tongue. Her expression was one of pity...
"What about the woman? The Omega? She tended to my woundsā"
"Yes," Lysander let out a deep sigh, "She has been chained in the dungeons without food and water, Alpha."
It was like something snapped inside me and my anger roared. "Who gave that order? She saved me and she is supposed to be rewarded forā"
"Alpha... She..." It was as if he was hesitant about what he wanted to say, "She is not who you think she is. She... She isn't a good person."
"You're not the one to decide that!!" I gritted my teeth in response. "You of all people should know better than we should treat Omegas with respect! Yes, I'm aware she fled from her pack and got lost in our territory, but putting her in a dungeon is far too extreme! You may have been taking precautions from our last attack, butā"
"She killed your brother, Kael!" The pain in his voice made me freeze mid-sentence. It didn't even occur to me that Lysander used my first name for the first time without adding my title to it, something I always forced him to do.
"What. Did. You. Say?" My question was spaced and my voice was eerily calm.
"He was murdered... Two nights ago in his chambers with a ceremonial, she was the one who wielded it. She slit his throat with it."
It was like my whole world froze. Images flashed in my mindā Zen as a pup, trailing after me. His laughter. His fierce loyalty, even when others feared the beast within me. Gone... Snuffed outā¦
It sounded impossible and unthinkable. An Omega killing an Alpha? With the ceremonial knife? The sheer audacity⦠the sheer improbability. Yet⦠the timing. Her flight. Her presence near the border. The look in her eyes ā not just fear, but a deep, smoldering anger that I had glimpsed before she masked it with concern.
My beast surged, a red tide washing over my vision. That murderer!! The fury was all-consuming, obliterating the strange mate pull I felt towards her, killing all reason. Zen was dead. My brother. My blood. And she⦠she had been the one who put the knife in. The only weapon that could kill an Alpha.
She had touched me. She had played the healer while Zenās blood was still warm?
"Why wasn't I informed of this since? Why am I just hearing about this now?!!" I screamed so hard at my Beta and my wolf surfaced with a painful howl that shook the entire room, and I was sure all my pack members could feel the pain in it. My eyes shimmered with unshed tears and my heart threatened to rip out of my body. The pain was unbearable. The thought of my brother's murdered body was excruciating. "WHY LYSANDER, WHY??"
"You were unconscious for two days, Alpha," he said tiredly and slumped into his chair. "We don't know what herb she gave to you that sent you into such a deep sleep, but she was about to be executed for murdering one Alpha and trying to murder another. But she constantly assured us that it was just some sleeping herb and our Omegas confirmed it."
Two days? She sent me to sleep? What was her plan? Who was behind her actions? Did someone want my family erased from history? And to think she was my mate... The word seared something deep and vicious within me, a thick coil of hatred...
"What about the amā"
"We questioned her about the ambush, but it seems she has no Idea about it."
The room was silent for what seemed like minutes.
āBring her to me,ā I commanded with a voice that was not entirely my own. It echoed with my beastās hunger. āNow.ā
āKael, wait,ā Lysander pleaded, genuine fear in his eyes now. āAll other packs are here. Packs from other bordering territories. They heard the news and they are at the borders. They are demanding justice, and the Silvermane pack has already broken through the borders. They know we have her and they don't want to wait for interrogations. They want immediate justice. They are screaming for her to be burned alive.ā
āI said NOW, Lysander!ā My roar shook the room and the windows rattled. āBring me the Omega who murdered my brother! Do people want justice? They shall get justice!! The whole world would witness what it means to touch my family! They shall burn just like she would burn!ā
Lysander paled further but nodded curtly, recognizing the point of no return. He turned and hurried out, the heavy door thudding shut behind him.
She was going to pay! I was going to make her suffer! I was going to make her wish she wasn't born! She didn't know what was coming to her...
Something flared up inside me again. A memory... A memory of her touch, to remind me that she was still my mateā¦
I crushed it instantly. Mate or not, she killed my
only family left!
She killed Zen. She would burn!
And I, Kael Vittori, would light the pyre myself
Seraphina.The flames roared to life before my eyes, and I couldn't shrink away from it. The smell of the smoke choked. My eyes were burning and I was gasping for breath, but there was no clean air to breathe from. The silent tears were already pouring down my cheeks and I lowered my eyes to find the wielder of the fire. Him. My mate. Alpha Kael."Crown prince!" A sharp and loud voice yelled through the rowdy crowd.I was already weak. I had already lost hope. I was waiting to feel the fire burn, for the fumes to choke me to death. No one would believe me. No one would come to my rescue... Yet, Alpha Zen said whoever was responsible should be forgiven? Why was life so cruel? Why did I have to take the fall for what I knew nothing about?"STOP!!!" A voice bellowed from the crowd, and I tried my hardest to look at what was going on. Hope bloomed in my chest. Was I about to be saved?The crowd was parting suddenly, as if someone was pushing them harshly away. Alpha Kael paused and from
Seraphina.The cold of the dungeon had seeped so deep into my bones I wondered if Iād ever feel warmth again. Time lost meaning in the pitch black, measured only by the relentless drip⦠drip⦠drip⦠of water and the frantic pounding of my own heart. Exhaustion warred with terror, pulling me towards a numb oblivion I desperately fought.Then, the iron door screeched as it opened.Harsh torchlight blinded me. Rough hands hauled me up. My stiff, bound limbs screamed in protest. I didnāt struggle. What was the point? The faces of the warriors were grim, devoid of pity. They didnāt speak. They simply dragged me out of the cell, up the endless stone stairs.The noise hit me first. A low, ominous rumble, like distant thunder, growing louder with every step upward. It resolved into a roar as we emerged into the main courtyard.People. Hundreds of them. Pack members crammed together, shoulder to shoulder, their faces a blur of anger and hatred. They were chanting the moment they saw me. They wa
Alpha Kael Vittori.My muscles ached as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I squinted under the morning sunlight that filtered into the room. The bed was warm and comfyā bed? The last thing I remembered was lying on the cold ground close to the abandoned shack, how did I get here."Alpha! You're awake!" A sharp voice by my side called me and I instantly recognized my Beta's voice. "Thank the goddess!"I welcomed the relief in his voice, but there was a deep unsettling feeling that pooled in the pit of my stomach that something was really wrong. My head ached slightly and I still felt a bit fuzzy, but I tried sitting up on the bed. When my eyes focused on Lysander, the look in his eyes was grave and in his eyes, deep concern was etched."Lysander... What happened? Our warriors?"Flashes of that night surged into mind as I remembered how my pack was being ambushed by rogues. The attacks had been coordinated as if someone was controlling themā something that had never happened before. And
Seraphina."What is your name?" He asked again for the third time, "I would make sure you're greatly rewarded for this."I ignored him like I did before. I wanted to finish this off and be on my way to a place where I wouldn't be found. It wasn't up to an hour when I finished cleaning the cuts and wounds. I had to fight the urge to ask him what really happened that he had so many stab wounds, it wasn't in my place as an Omega to strike a conversation with an Alpha."I'm done, sir." I breathed out and he assessed his body before looking at me. A ghost of a smile formed on the face of his wolf."You have done wellā" he tilted his head to the side, a way of trying to ask me for my name, and I hesitated."You can address me as an Omega, sir." I bowed my head low, "My name is not useful and has never been useful."Besides, there was really no point. Soon, my name would be on the tip of the tongue of all werewolves in the worldā Seraphina, the Alpha's murderer.He chuckled under his breath
Seraphina.I waited for the hard impact against the asphalt below, but it never came. Instead, I fell into sacks of hay, which cushioned my fall. The pain from the earlier hit made me alert, and the first thing on my mind was survival. I tried so hard to pick myself off the sack and run for my life. I wouldn't be able to prove my innocence if I were dead."Look! She fell into a sack!āāWho put that there?""Forget about who put that there, but she is escaping! Seal the borders!!ā I painfully raised my head and saw the amount of people staring down at me with hateful eyes. Some people were already climbing over the balcony to jump down and catch me. I couldn't let that happen.As an Omega, I knew the layout of the pack like I knew how to eat. I slipped into and welcomed the darkness that hid me from the raging mob behind me. They would seal all the borders, but I already knew a way outāa way that was only known by Omegas."You can run, but you can't hide!!ā I heard them yelling at me f
Seraphina.A dark hooded figure dove out of the high window in a flash. I squinted my eyes, still trying to hold up my weak body. It felt like my life was slowly draining out of me, but I wasn't sure what was happening to me. I only knew I had to prepare a bath for the Alpha by this time of the night, and there was something about that figure that jumped out... It felt all too familiar, but still very strange."Alpha Zen? I'm coming in to prepare a bath, for you," I tapped softly on the door to announce my presence so he could open the door, but the door gave way under the palm of my fingers.That was strange. The Alpha always locked his room. My mind flashed back to the figure from earlier and my heart jumped to my throat. No, it wasn't possible. No one would dare! The Alpha was a strongā"Sera... Seraphina," I heard the low rasp of his voice call out for me. His voice was weak, and my wolf sensed a tinge of copper and iron mixed with wolfsbane in the air.I pushed the door open imme