Omega of Two Packs のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

Ashton's POVThe air in the northern woods tasted like metal and old frost. My hand pressed against my ribs as I tried to breathe, but my heart was beating fast and loud in my chest. The forest felt wrong tonight. "Damn."Being out here wasn't a choice. No smart wolf would walk near the border when the sky looked torn open like a wound. But back at the packhouse in Noctaryn, my little sister El was burning up with a fever that normal medicine couldn’t fix.She was getting worse, and the only thing that could help her was the silver-veined moon herb. That herb only grew deep in the damp part of the pine forest. Above the trees, the moon hung low and red. It cast a dark red light over everything, and the clouds hung low.“Found you.” I pulled the herbs out and tucked them into the inside pocket of my tunic. “Hold on a little longer, El.”The herb was believed to cure almost all disease. Mama had used it once when I was sick with a deadly fever and I was cured in a few days. Before I

Ashton's POVMorning came like a punishment. I didn't wait for the stranger to wake up, I left. Crossed the border back into Noctaryn territory with my boots soaked through and my heart beating too fast for someone walking so slowly.The herb was still safe. I checked it twice. Pressed my hand to my chest and felt the small bundle through the fabric.The mist was thick enough to hide in, and I stayed low along the tree line until the stone walls of Moon Citadel came into view. From a distance it looked the same as always... grey towers cutting into a grey sky, smoke rising from the kitchen chimneys, the distant sound of horns marking the morning watch change.I slipped through the servant's entrance by the east wall. I had barely cleared the threshold when the whispers started."He broke curfew on Blood Moon night.""Smells like Solis."I kept my head down and my pace steady. I almost made it to the servant quarters unnoticed. But Darian stepped out from the training yard entrance li

Ashton’s POV The doors to the royal chambers clicked shut. The loud shouts of the council elders got cut off, and silence hit me hard.I stood frozen in the middle of the big room. Everything was silver and black. The air smelled cold and strong. It was Xander’s smell. This room was made for a king. I looked wrong here in my dirty, mud-stained boots.“Boy,” a guard had said when they dragged me here. “You just changed everything.”I didn’t know what to say. My hands still shook from the tray falling in the hall.“Stop shaking,” another guard muttered. “You’re lucky you’re not dead.”The doors were thick. Now I was alone with him.“Is this some kind of joke?” I whispered to myself.Then I heard the sound of boots on stone. “Look at me,” a voice said.I flinched. Alpha Xander stepped closer. Any second now he’d see the truth. He’d realize he ruined his kingdom’s future for a low-born servant. He’d throw me out. Or worse.Instead, his big hands came up and held my face. His touch was wa

Xander’s POVHis words broke something in me.For a second the whole bathhouse went still, like the air had been pulled out of the room. I just stood there and watched him break down in front of me.Then he fell forward and hit me.His forehead slammed into the center of my chest and the heat of him followed right after. Wet, sharp, and fast. His fingers dug into the muscles of my back like he was drowning.I couldn’t think past the sound of him.“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know."My hand came up on its own. I ran it through his hair, damp and dark and shaking under my palm, and pressed it flat between his shoulder blades to keep him from falling any further.He didn’t answer. He only pressed closer and shook harder, and his sobs tore out of him in broken pieces that made my jaw ache.I slid one arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders and lifted him. He was too light for how much weight he was carrying. I carried him out of the steam and out of the bathhouse without

Ashton POVLady Brenda didn’t flinch. If anything, her cruel smile got wider. Her eyes dragged over me where I was still half in Xander’s arms, my face burning, my shirt wrinkled."Three seconds?" she purred. "My, my. The Moon King is dramatic tonight." She stepped fully into the moonlight. Silver dress. Diamond pins in her hair. The kind of woman the court spent years polishing to be queen.Her gaze flicked to my bare feet, to the servant’s tunic I hadn’t changed out of.Xander’s arm tightened around my waist. "Two," he said. Low. Brenda laughed. "The high houses will hear about this by dawn, Xander. You can threaten me all you want. But you can’t threaten all of them.""One." His voice didn’t rise. It got quieter. Brenda looked at me with cold eyes. "We’ll see how long he wants you when the court is done with you, servant."She turned and walked away. The clack of her heels on stone was the only sound left.The second she was gone, Xander let out a breath. His hand came up to