Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

|| MASON’s POV ||

The hall went dead quiet for half a second and then it exploded.

Gasps went through the air like sparks thrown into dry grass. Chairs scraped loudly and someone actually choked on their drink. Voices rose everywhere... shocked, angry, and confused. I heard my name whispered like a curse and a prayer at the same time but I didn’t care.. not one bit.

I stood there, tall and unmoving, my hand still raised from where I had pointed at the girl sitting right next to me.. the same girl whose eyes had gone wide with pure terror the second my words left my mouth.

My mate.

She looked like I had just sentenced her to death. Her face drained of color, her lips trembled like she was searching for an escape route that wasn’t there. The smell of her fear found its way into my nostrils sharply with the panicked scent of her wolf curling deep inside her. I didn’t turn away from her.

Around me, even my own escort shifted uneasily. The men who had ridden with me from my pack, warriors who had followed my orders into blood and fire, stared at me like they were seeing me for the first time.

I hadn’t told them. I hadn’t told anyone. This wasn’t a decision. It was instinct, truth, and fate slamming into my chest the moment I stepped into this cursed hall.

I slowly turned my head back toward the crowd, my gaze sweeping over their stunned faces and that was when Jax Ironfur moved. My Beta.. my head of royal guard and the only one brave... or foolish... enough to question me in public.

He stepped closer and leaned in just enough to whisper, his voice low and respectful.

“My King… are you certain of what you’re saying?” His eyes flicked briefly toward the wine goblets scattered across the tables. “Or has the wine gotten to you tonight?”

I smiled and I raised my voice so everyone could hear.

“I am sober.”

The room fell silent again.

“I did not come here for wine,” I continued coldly. “I did not come here for Volkan’s hospitality either.” My eyes snapped to the Alpha on the throne. “I came because I sensed her.”

A ripple moved through the hall for the second time that night.

“I felt her even before I crossed your borders,” I said. “Her scent.. and her presence.. it pulled at me like a chain around my chest.”

I turned back to her. Ashvara. Her name echoed in my mind even before someone whispered it aloud.

Astar was on his feet now. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched so hard his knuckles had gone white. He tried to speak calmly but I could hear the rage under it.

“This must be a mistake,” he said. “That girl is nothing. She's an omega and she belongs to Silverfang.”

Beside him, Isolde... his precious mistress... rose with fake grace, her lips curling in a practiced look of concern.

“Your Majesty,” she said sweetly, “you have been misled. That girl is dangerous.”

I turned my gaze to her slowly.

“Dangerous how?”

“She killed a boy,” Isolde said smoothly. “A young wolf and she’s been awaiting punishment for her crimes.”

Ashvara flinched like she’d been struck and my wolf snarled inwardly.

“Killed a boy?” I repeated. “Strong words.”

Astar nodded quickly.

“There are… true accusations.”

I took one step forward and the floor seemed to tremble under my boots.

“Then bring me witnesses.”

Silence followed but I waited and still got nothing. No one moved.. no one spoke and people who had been so loud moments ago suddenly found the floor very interesting.

“Interesting.” I scoffed.

I raised my hand with power humming under my skin. The Alpha King’s authority was not just a title.. it was law and it was magic older than packs and borders.

“I invoke my right,” I said, my voice filling the hall, “to absorb all accusations laid against Ashvara of Silverfang.”

A visible wave of energy rolled through the room. Ashvara gasped softly and Astar’s eyes widened.

“You can’t...”

“I just did.”

Isolde snapped.

“She’s a murderer! You can’t take her side just because...”

“Enough,” I growled.

She lost her temper then.

“You’re blinded by lust!” she shouted. “She’s nothing but a cursed omega...”

Steel sang from its sheath as Jax had his hand on his silver sword in an instant, stepping toward the throne.

“Careful now,” he warned, his voice deadly calm.

The hall erupted again, but this time in fear. Astar stiffened and Isolde went pale.

“We apologize,” Astar said quickly, bowing his head dropping to his knees and Isolde followed, shaking. “Forgive us, Alpha King.”

Around them, the entire Silverfang Pack dropped to their knees, mirroring their Alpha and Luna.

I held their silence for a long moment and then I said, “Apology accepted.”

Jax hesitated.

“My King...”

“Stand down,” I ordered.

He obeyed immediately and I turned away from the throne.

“Prepare to leave,” I told him. “Tonight.”

Jax blinked.

“Tonight?”

“Yes. Gather the men. We ride now.”

I walked toward Ashvara. She hadn’t moved.. she looked frozen in place, as if she breathed wrong, and the world would shatter again. I stopped in front of her.

“Come with me.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, wide and glossy and she nodded.

---

The carriage was quiet as the horses moved steadily beneath the night sky, their hooves muffled by the road. Inside, Ashvara sat stiffly across from me, her hands folded tightly in her lap. She hadn’t said a single word since we left and I watched her carefully.

She smelled of fear.. deep bone-shaking fear and not just hers... her wolf’s too.

I softened my voice.

“You’re safe now.”

She didn’t answer.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you again,” I said. “You don’t need to be afraid.”

Still nothing.

I sighed quietly.

“I know this is a lot. It’s not every day an Alpha King walks in and turns your life upside down.”

Her fingers twitched but she still didn't say a thing and I studied her face then. She was beautiful in a quiet way with soft eyes.. delicate features.. too delicate for the hell she had clearly lived through.

My jaw tightened.

Astar.. The thought of him made my blood burn. He had always hated me but always smiled too politely, bowed too deeply, and thought I didn't know. He wanted my crown.. I knew it

I shifted slightly, distracted by my thoughts then...

I caught movement.. just at the corner of my eye and I smelled it a second later.

Steel.

My head snapped toward her.

“Ashvara...”

Too late.. Pain flashed across my cheek as the cold blade of a knife cut into my skin.

Her eyes weren’t afraid anymore.. they were fierce as she lunged for the carriage door, shoved it open, and jumped from the moving vehicle!