Chapter 7

Sybil’s POV

I shouldn’t still be shaking. It’s been a full day since he severed the general’s head like it was nothing, and yet my hands won’t stop trembling. I keep seeing it, how clean the cut was, how the man’s eyes rolled once before stilling.

What I can’t stop remembering, though, is how the Alpha looked at me after.

As if death itself had found something it didn’t quite want to end.

The thought alone made my stomach clench in a way that wasn’t right. There’d been blood, and I’d been thinking of something else entirely. Sybil. I don’t know what’s happening to me anymore.

I hurried down the hall, my boot echoing on the cold stone, the summons still ringing in my head. The kitchen. I’d been called to the kitchen at dawn, and I was already late. The old woman in charge didn’t like me on a good day, today would be worse.

The moment I stepped in, steam and shouting swallowed me.

“You’re late again!” the kitchen mistress barked, her wooden spoon aimed like a spear. Her hair was grey and wild, her eyes sharp enough to skin a wolf. Two other girls, both younger and prettier, stood by the hearth and smirked at me like they’d been waiting for a show.

“I—there was no bell,” I muttered, tucking a loose strand behind my ear. “I didn’t hear—”

“You never hear.” She clucked her tongue, taking me in from head to toe. “And where’s your uniform?”

I blinked. “Uniform?”

“The one sent to your room last night! Don’t tell me you didn’t see it.”

“I—didn’t,” I stammered. Nothing really came to my room. “There was nothing—”

“Then you’ll face the Alpha half-dressed, and it won’t be me he blames.”

The woman huffed and turned away, muttering something about useless slaves and cursed eyes.

I bit my tongue. It wasn’t her words that burned, it was the reminder. The Alpha. Death. Whatever name fit him best, would be my master. One of the girls leaned close enough to whisper, “Maybe he’ll like you that way.”

The other giggled, soft and mean.

My wolf stirred, low in my chest. ‘Ignore them.’

“I’m trying,” I whispered back in my mind, even though she could hear my pulse stuttering.

‘You saw what he did yesterday. And you saw how he looked at you,’ she answered, voice edged with something I didn’t want to name. ‘Be careful, Sybil. Fear can sound a lot like wanting when you’re desperate to live.’

‘Who says I want him.’

‘I could feel it from the other day…you wanted him to—’

‘We’re not talking about that.’

‘But you have a mate.’

‘Ryder is not my mate.’

‘He is.’

I bit my lips. Even with what that coward does, she still forgave him. If only I could break the bond myself, I won't have to deal with the guilt of her nagging.

‘So you like being controlled by Alpha Kane?’ My words were a bite.

‘It is the same with the King of the Rogue, yet you want him.’

I hissed.

“Here! Take this to the Alpha.”

The kitchen mistress shoved a tray into my hands, heavy with metal dishes and the scent of meat and spice. “And taste it in front of him. If you die, then we’ll know it’s poisoned.”

What?!

My throat dried. “I have to—taste it?”

She gave me a flat look. “He needs a taster. You’ve been chosen. Be grateful you’re not on your back in the soldiers’ tents.”

Grateful. Right.

I nodded, lips pressed tight, and tried not to drop the tray as I left.

Taste the alpha’s food? As if being made to taste gave you rank. It was mercy in the shape of danger: a chance to be useful, and a near-guarantee of exposure if anything went wrong. I swallowed hard. My wolf sniffed at the idea and rolled her shoulders like a hound eager for a run.

‘You could die.’

‘We could die.’ I volleyed back.

She was silent for a while, ‘Find a way,’ she told me. ‘Find a way to test without dying.’

‘And how was I supposed to do that?’ It wasn't like I knew anything about medicine like my father did.

‘Find another person to taste it.’ She was thinking for some time. ‘A rabbit.’

‘Where would I get a rabbit?’ I whispered later, to myself and her.

There were hungry cats around the refuse piles; a quick, careful hand and some luck might get me what I needed. If I could feed the scraps to an animal first, see if it lived, that would give me time. My mind dragged a route across the camp in quick, efficient lines, guard rotations, the tent with the sleeping hounds, the moon’s arc, how I’d get a cat that would be available to taste the food. Or a rabbit like my wolf suggested.

The walk to his bedroom room was shorter than it should’ve been. The guards at the door didn’t speak; they just swung the doors open and let me inside.

He was there.

Sitting in on the chair with his long dark hair falling all over his shoulders, his head tilted slightly as though he’d already heard every thought I’d tried to bury.

I bowed low and set the tray down on the table near his bed. The memory of yesterday hit me like a strike—his arm, the flash of the blade, the head rolling. My spine went rigid. Shit.

He didn’t speak at first. Just watched me. That silence was very much unnerving. I could feel his gaze, heavy and exact, tracing my every motion.

“Are you not going to do your job?” His voice slid through the quiet, low and even. A command disguised as a question.

“I—what?” My voice came out thinner than I wanted. “My job?”

His brow lifted, the faintest motion, enough to make my stomach twist. “You were told to taste it.”

“Oh.”

My wolf muttered, ‘Move before he decides otherwise.’

I jumped slightly and fumbled for the spare spoon. The scent of the food rose up, rich and strong. My heart beat so hard it made the spoon tremble. I took one bite, then another, forcing myself to swallow. My tongue felt numb; my throat refused to work.

He watched me the entire time. Not blinking.

Like he could tell what it did to me, having his eyes on me, waiting for me to die.

When it was done, I set the spoon down and wiped my mouth with shaking fingers. Nothing burned, nothing twisted inside me. I exhaled, barely.

“It's fine.”

Dark eyes raked me.

I swallowed.

He began to eat.

I stood still, head bowed, every nerve in my body questioning what I was meant to do while he ate. I’d missed my chance to ask the kitchen lady and the Alpha wasn't merciful enough to send me out.

Slowly, I lifted my eyes through my lashes to his hands. His fingers were long and a little glimpse of his palm told me they were rough. Up, I trailed his arm, to his chest where his shirt‘s buttons gave way to skin, toned and my eyes traced the wolf head on his chest…

‘Death in skin,’ my wolf whispered. ‘He’s what waits at the end of every story.’

‘Then why do you keep looking at him?’ I thought back, bitter and breathless.

‘Because I want to understand him. Because some part of you thinks if we look long enough, we’ll learn how to survive him.’

He spoke again, pulling me from the spiral. “You’ll serve during the fête tonight.”

My gaze flicked up before I could stop it. “Serve?”

His eyes caught mine. “You’ll stand where I can see you.”

The way he said it made my pulse skip. Not quite a threat.

“I—yes, Alpha.”

He leaned back, a motion both lazy and deliberate, then gestured toward something draped across the far table.

“And you’ll be wearing that.”

My eyes followed the line of his hand. Black silk. Sheer, dark, cut to ribbons of light. A dress that wasn’t a dress at all.

My breath stilled.

He didn’t look away as he said, “Be on time, Sybil. I don’t like waiting.”

***

I was already dressed when Eris came for me.

The dress wasn’t really a dress; it felt more like a dare sewn from smoke and thread. My skin prickled under every shift of fabric. Whoever had chosen it knew exactly what it would do, how it would make me hesitate to breathe too deeply, how it would keep me aware of every inch of myself.

When we reached the outside, the wind really teased me with threat.

A large fire was at the far center and a few warriors were dancing around the fire. No one looked like they cared if a general had been killed by their Alpha. Do they know?

A girl shook her bare breasts at a warrior’s face, giggling.

“There. Go to him.”

I followed Eris’ gesture and there he was.

The King of Rogues.

The Butcher.

‘Death’ My wolf added.

He sat in the high-backed chair, one arm draped over the side, the other idly tracing the rim of a glass. His gaze found me and I tried my best to not look away.

I’d thought I was ready. I wasn’t.

Eris shifted behind me, as if to speak, but one glance from the Alpha silenced him. Then that gloved hand lifted, a single gesture, my breath hitched.

“Sit,” he said.

On his leg?

I obeyed and was immediately aware of his length beneath my ass. I sat up straighter, acutely sensing the vicious stares on me, then his words echoed at the back of my mind.

I had to behave, slowly I relaxed. The party began, the instrument went on laced with moans from the table around me.

My face heated as I tried to look away but then I felt Death’s finger on my thighs through the slits in my dress. My fingers moved to remove it but a grunt from him had me dropping my fingers in a matter of seconds.

“Please.” The words were low and choked out by me as I stared ahead.

“Behave.” He growled low behind my ears. His fingers picked on from where he left off and continued trailing into my dress, up to my undies. I stiffened a groan and his breath piqued.

He paused his finger and it almost seemed as though he was waiting for me to grasp my mind on what was about to happen. Having remembered his warning earlier, I relaxed, slowly as I met eyes with the soldiers staring intently at us.

They had girls beside them, but they didn’t pay attention to them, rather their eyes of scrutiny were focused on us. Focused on me. And my apprehension dawned on me.

I felt him move when he was sure I had fully understood the situation. This was the only way to save me so I moaned when his finger slipped into my fold.

My eyes met with the soldiers and I bucked on Death’s thighs, enjoying the thrilling way I felt with him getting directly under me.

I opened my leg granting him more access and he slipped in a second finger, then a third. My head flew back and I grabbed the edge of the chair for support, putting as much show for them to see.

This was what they wanted, I would give it to them, show all of them that I belonged to the rogue alpha. Him alone and not them.