Chapter 4: The Weight of Silver and Bone

Keiran 

Walking through the hallways of the Blackwood estate felt like walking through a graveyard where I was the only ghost still breathing. 

Every stone, every rug, and every scent brought back a sharp memory of pain. 

Five years ago, I had scurried through these halls like a frightened mouse, keeping my head down so I wouldn't be tripped or spat on.

Now, I walked down the center of the hall. My boots made a heavy, rhythmic thud on the floor. I didn't look down. I looked straight ahead through the eye-holes of my bone mask.

I saw a group of warriors standing by the kitchen. These were the same men who used to call me "The Pack Burden." 

When they saw me coming, they didn't laugh. They didn't move to block my path. Instead, they went silent. They pressed their backs against the wall to let me pass.

I could feel their hearts beating fast thump-thump, thump-thump. The sound of pure terror.

I stopped right in front of a large warrior named Jax. He was the one who had once broken my arm for "walking too slowly." I leaned in close. He smelled like sweat and fear.

"Is there a problem, Jax?" I asked. My voice was that chilling, melodic rasp that sounded like it came from the bottom of a well.

"N-no, Ma'am," he stuttered, his eyes wide. He didn't recognize me, but his animal instincts told him I could end his life before he could even blink.

"Good," I whispered. I reached out and adjusted his collar with a gloved hand. I let my cold fingers brush his neck. He shivered so hard his teeth chattered.

 "Make sure it stays that way."

I walked away, feeling a tiny spark of satisfaction. This was the psychological torture I had planned. I didn't need to lay a finger on them. My presence was enough to haunt them. I was the shadow they couldn't run from.

I turned the corner toward the South Wing. This was where the "high-ranking" females lived. Suddenly, I smelled something familiar. It was the scent of expensive perfume and bitter jealousy.

Elara.

She was standing there, dressed in a fancy silk robe. 

She was the woman Theron had supposedly marked the same night he rejected me. She was the one who was supposed to be his Queen. But as I looked at her, I realized something was very wrong.

Elara didn't look happy. She looked thin and tired. Her eyes were red like she had been crying. And the most shocking part? I used my vampire sight to look at her neck.

There was no mark.

The skin on her neck was smooth. There was no jagged scar from an Alpha’s bite. There was no bond scent between her and Theron.

"Who are you?" Elara hissed, her voice full of poison. "You think you can just walk around here like you own the place? I am Alpha's mate!"

I stopped and tilted my head. I walked slowly around her, like a predator circling a wounded bird. 

"The Alpha’s mate?" I asked. "That’s a very big lie for such a small woman."

Elara’s face went pale. "What did you say?"

"I can smell it," I said, leaning in. "Or rather, I can't smell it. There is no bond on you. 

Theron hasn't touched you in years, has he? You live in this wing all by yourself, pretending to be a Queen while he stays locked in his study crying over a girl who is 'dead'."

"Shut up!" she screamed, reaching out to slap me.

I caught her wrist in mid-air. I didn't even have to try. To my hybrid eyes, she was moving in slow motion. 

I squeezed her wrist just enough to make her gasp.

"You were the one who helped Silas humiliate me," I whispered, though she didn't know it was me. 

"You stood there and laughed while he told the pack he was marking you. But it was all a show, wasn't it?"

I felt a wave of confusion hit me. My memory was so clear I remembered the pain of seeing him bite her. 

But looking at her now, it was clear that it never happened. Was my memory a lie? Had the Witch or Silas messed with my head?

"Let me go, you freak!" Elara sobbed.

I shoved her back. She fell onto a velvet sofa, looking pathetic. "Don't get in my way again," I warned. "I’m not a girl you can bully anymore."

I left her there and headed toward the training grounds. I needed to move. I needed to bleed the anger out of my system.

The training grounds were full of warriors. Theron was there, standing on a wooden platform, watching his men. 

He looked like a king, but his eyes were still hollow. When he saw me approaching, he straightened up. I could feel his gaze burning into me.

"The Huntress joins us," Theron called out.

 "Perhaps you can show my men what a real mercenary can do?"

I stepped onto the dirt. "I think your men are too soft for what I can show them, Alpha."

"Hey!" The lead Enforcer, a giant named Kael, stepped forward. He was Theron’s best fighter. 

"I don't care how much the Alpha pays you. You're just a girl in a fancy mask. I bet I can pin you in ten seconds."

The other warriors laughed. I felt the Hybrid’s Curse throb in my veins. It wanted blood.

"Ten seconds?" I asked. I didn't wait for him to move.

I used my hybrid speed. To the wolves, I simply disappeared. 

I was a blur of black silk and shadow. Before Kael could even raise his fists, I was behind him. I kicked the back of his knees, and as he fell, I grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the dirt.

He tried to shift, his fur starting to sprout, but I was faster. I jumped on his back and pressed a silver-tipped dagger to his throat.

"One second," I whispered into his ear. "You're dead."

The laughter stopped instantly. The silence was so heavy you could hear the wind in the trees. Kael stayed frozen, his eyes wide with shock.