CHAPTER 3

Sylvia

The guards moved toward me with their hands already reaching for their weapons. I could not move because my body was still shaking from whatever had just happened with the bond. 

Five of them came at once and their faces showed they would enjoy hurting me before the execution because that was what wolves did when they got the chance to punish humans legally.

But Rowan moved faster than I thought anyone could move and suddenly, he was standing between me and the guards. 

His back blocked my view, but I could feel the power rolling off him in waves that made the air itself feel dangerous.

"Move aside, Rowan." The lead guard said, but his voice shook a little and I could smell his fear which was strange because I should not have been able to smell emotions at all.

"No." Rowan’s voice was low and that one word carried more threat than any weapon could.

"The King gave an order." Another guard chipped in, trying to sound brave, but took a step back when Rowan looked at him.

"I heard him," Rowan said and his voice was so calm it made everything scarier. "But you will not touch her."

The guards looked at each other and then at King Lucian who had turned red with anger. 

The King's hands were clenched into fists and his whole body shook with rage that someone would dare disobey him in his own hall during the most important ceremony of the decade.

"You dare defy me," Lucian’s voice was quiet, which was way worse than yelling. "Guards. Restrain them both, since the executioner seems to have forgotten his place"

This time, twenty guards came forward and they had weapons drawn and ready. They surrounded us in a circle and I could see no way out.

My heart pounded so hard, I thought it might explode. Some guards had shifted partially with claws out and fangs showing, and others held silver chains that would burn even a powerful wolf.

"Please do not hurt him because of me." I whispered, my entire body trembling, but nobody heard me over the sound of growling guards.

The first guard lunged at Rowan and what happened next made everyone in the hall step back in shock. 

Rowan did not even move his feet, but his hand shot out and caught the guard by the throat. He threw him across the room like he weighed nothing. 

The guard hit the wall with a crack and slid down unconscious. A low gasp escaped my lips and I instantly covered my mouth with both hands.

Three more guards attacked at the same time, and Rowan moved like water between them. 

One punch sent a guard flying into a table that shattered under the impact and an elbow to another's face dropped him instantly.

The third got kicked so hard, he flew backward into four other guards and knocked them all down like bowling pins.

"What is he?" Someone whispered and I wondered the same thing. 

It was no secret that wolves were strong, but Rowan’s strength was on another level. Witnessing it in real time was terrifying.

More guards tried to attack, and Rowan fought them all without breaking a sweat. He grabbed one guard's sword and snapped it in half with his bare hands, and then used the pieces to block attacks from two others. 

A guard tried to wrap silver chains around him, but he caught the chains and pulled so hard the guard went flying. The chains did not even burn his skin which should have been impossible.

The markings on his arms started glowing brighter, and the air around him got so cold that frost formed on the stone floor. 

When five guards rushed him at once, he did something I could not understand. Shadows seemed to rise from the ground and wrap around the guards' legs and they fell, screaming about the cold burning them.

"Enough," Rowan finally said, his voice echoing with power that made everyone, including the other Alphas, take steps back. 

"I could kill every guard in this room without effort, but I have no interest in meaningless slaughter, so stop sending them to die."

The remaining guards looked relieved when King Lucian raised his hand to call them off. They backed away quickly and some helped their injured friends who were groaning on the floor. 

I counted at least fifteen guards down and Rowan had not even moved from his spot in front of me.

"Fine," Lucian said and his smile was the kind that made my stomach turn. "Take the little slave if you want her so badly, but we both know how this ends,"

Rowan went completely still and I could feel his anger through the bond like ice in my veins.

"She will die just like the others," Lucian continued and his laugh was cruel and mocking. 

"You remember, do you not? Helena lasted three weeks and Miranda made it a whole month before the curse took her. What's the last one's name again?”

Lucian flicked his fingers, as if trying to remember. “Oh yes, Cara who died screaming after only ten days."

"Stop." Rowan’s voice was deadly quiet, but I did not miss the anguish beneath.

"The curse I put on you ensures that any mate you claim dies slowly and painfully," Lucian said, looking at me with fake pity. 

"This little human will not last a week. She is already weak and fragile and the curse will eat her alive from the inside while you watch helplessly."

I did not understand what they were talking about, but the fear coming through the bond from Rowan told me it was true. 

He was cursed and his mates died. Now I was going to die too, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

For some reason, anger burned through my veins and my hands slowly clenched into fists. The Alpha King did this to Rowan. He cursed him.

I was a human, but I had lived with wolves for a long time and I knew how important the mate bond was. I had a fair idea of how much pain losing a mate caused. 

The fact that Rowan had to go through such unbearable pain again and again was heartbreaking.

"You cursed him." I said without thinking and immediately slapped my hand over my mouth, because I had just spoken without permission.

Lucian's eyes flashed with fury that I dared speak, but his smile got wider. "Yes, years ago, when he refused to bow to me. I cursed him to watch everyone he could ever love die in agony and now you get to experience it firsthand, little slave."

The hall erupted in murmurs and whispers as wolves discussed this revelation. Some looked at Rowan with pity and others with fear. Many looked at me like I was already dead.

"The curse cannot be broken," Lucian added and his voice carried the satisfaction of someone who had already won. 

"I made sure of that when I bound it with blood magic and ancient words. I could not undo it now if I wanted to, which I definitely do not." He shrugged, that sinister smile spreading across his lips.

Rowan turned to me and his ice blue eyes held so much pain that I wanted to cry. 

Through the bond, I felt his guilt and anger and underneath it all, a desperate need to protect me even though we both now knew it was hopeless.

"We need to leave." He whispered to me, his voice was rough with emotion.

Before I could respond, he grabbed my hand and the lightning feeling shot through me again but stronger this time. 

The world blurred as he pulled me with him and we moved so fast that everything became streaks of color. 

I heard shouts behind us, Lucian's mocking laughter and the shocked voices of hundreds of wolves, but it all faded as Rowan crashed through the great hall doors with me in his arms and we fled into the night.