- CHAPTER THREE -

SLOANE.

The morning sun did nothing to warm the stone walls of the Black Ridge ancestral court.

I stood near the perimeter of the Great Hall, wearing an ivory wool dress my mother's stylists had forced on me an hour ago. The room was packed with pureblood nobles, pack alpha reps, and high ranking enforcers attending the formal Pack Court, the morning assembly where pack business, territory disputes, and bloodlines were officially recorded.

Every gaze in the room felt like a physical weight on me.

"Look at her," a female wolf two rows over whispered, not even bothering to lower her voice. "A half blood stray living in the main house. Luna's mongrel daughter."

"I doubt she even has a wolf," her companion sneered, taking a slow sip of blood wine. "She smells like human dirt."

My hands clenched into tight fists inside my pockets, my fingernails digging into my palms. I held my chin up, staring straight ahead at the raised dais where my mother sat in a plush velvet chair beside an empty Alpha throne. My mother looked regal in her emerald dress, but the pale, rigid line of her neck told me she heard every single whisper echoing across the marble floor.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the rear archway.

The low hum of conversation died instantly. The room went dead silent as a wave of cold, crushing authority flooded the air. My quiet wolf bristled under my skin, my pulse jumped in my throat before I even turned around.

Alpha Raul stepped into the hall.

He wore a dark charcoal suit, tailored so sharply it emphasized the broad width of his shoulders and his dangerous build. His hair was neat, his sharp end jawline smooth, his green eyes scanning the crowd with a flat cold indifference.

He didn't walk toward his throne. He walked straight toward me.

The surrounding nobles parted like water, backing away to give him a wide berth. He stopped three inches from my side, his towering frame casting a dark shadow over me. His scent hit my lungs, instantly making my knees feel weak.

I kept my eyes fixed on the dais, refusing to look up at him.

"They're staring," I muttered under my breath, my voice flat.

"Let them," Raul said, his low baritone vibrating through my ribs. "You stand beside me."

Before I could pull away, his large hand settled squarely against the small of my back. His grip was warm, heavy and entirely unyielding as he guided me through the crowd toward the raised platform.

A collective gasp rippled through the hall. By placing his hand on me and forcing me to walk at his flank, he was publicly signaling to the entire pack that I was under the Alpha's direct protection, untouchable to anyone who valued their neck.

Elder Vane stepped into our path near the foot of the dais, his dark eyebrows furrowed, his bloated face flushed with indignation.

"Alpha Raul," Vane rasped, bowing his head slightly, though his greedy eyes darted to me with open disdain.

"Surely the court protocol does not allow a half blood non member to stand within the inner circle during the high proceedings."

Raul stopped. His hand stayed clamped on my back, his thumb pressing lightly into my spine through the wool. He looked down at the old elder, his eyes turning into two cold slits.

"My court, Elder Vane," Raul said, his voice dropping an octave, carrying a quiet, terrifying weight that made the old wolf flinch. "My house. My rules. If you have an objection to who stands at my flank, you can challenge the ruling on the sand."

Elder Vane's jaw worked silently. He swallowed hard, backed two paces away, and bowed his head lower. "Of course, Alpha."

Raul led me past him, steering me toward the quiet, curtained gallery behind the main throne before releasing his grip.

"Stay here," he ordered quietly. "Don't move until the court adjourns."

He turned and stepped out onto the dais, taking his seat on the heavy stone throne. My mother offered him a tight, grateful smile, but he barely acknowledged her, immediately opening the ledger to address a boundary dispute on the northern border.

Thirty minutes passed. The drone of property lines and pack taxes made my head ache.

I couldn't stand the suffocating air in the gallery any longer. I slipped out through a side archway, intending to find a quiet courtyard. I then stopped walking and took a few deep breaths, but the moment I turned the corner into a deserted stone corridor, a hand shot out from the gloom.

An arm wrapped around my waist, yanking me into a dark, narrow alcove used for storing ceremonial armor.

The door clicked shut.

My back hit the cold stone wall, a gasp tearing from my throat. Before I could strike out, a broad heavy body crowded mine, blocking out the light.

Raul.

He stood inches away, his hands planted flat against the stone on either side of my head, trapping me in his shadow. His green eyes burned down into mine with a dark heat that made my breath lock in my chest.

"I told you not to move," he growled, his voice a low, gravelly rasp near my ear.

"I don't take orders from you," I panted, my hands pressing flat against his broad chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath his suit. "And last night was a mistake."

He leaned in closer, his chin scraping against my cheek as his head dipped toward my neck. He took a slow, deep breath, inhaling the scent of my skin.

"No," he whispered, his full lips brushing the shell of my ear, sending a shiver straight down my spine. "It was a claim."

"You're my mother's husband," I hissed, pushing against his chest with all my strength, though he didn't budge an inch. "You're the Alpha of this pack, and she is your Luna. What you did at the club-"

"Your mother and I have an arrangement, little bird," Raul interrupted, his teeth lightly grazing my pulse point, making my knees buckle. "A legal paper to satisfy the elders. Nothing more. But you....you carry my mark on your skin."

My breath hitched. The bite marks on my neck from last night throbbed beneath my collar.

Before I could answer, quick, heavy footsteps echoed down the stone corridor outside the door.

Raul went instantly still.

He clamped a hand over my mouth, pressing my body flat against his, as two male voices stopped right outside our door. Just then, one stopped. "We can't talk here. Let's move."

"Sure."

Immediately as they left, Raul let go of my mouth. "Let's go back."

"Ugh...yeah, sure." I nodded dumbfoundedly. But as soon as he left, I stayed back thinking about the two male voices from earlier.

Something in my guts told me something was wrong. But I just couldn't put my finger on it.