Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Alpha Darius

“Why would anyone try to poison you? It doesn't make sense," My Beta, Ragnak said, baffled.

He sat near the fireplace across from my bedchamber, one ankle resting over his knee, though the tension in his face betrayed his attempt at ease.

I dipped the quill into ink and continued writing, letting the silence stretch for a moment before answering.

“Well, they weren't as pleased when I became Alpha.”

A faint smirk touched my mouth as I signed the letter.

Ragnak snorted softly. “That much is obvious. But to attempt it here? In Alpha Theron’s hall?”

His eyes narrowed. “I still can’t believe he allowed it, knowing exactly what you’d do if you ever discovered the truth.”

I folded the letter and set it aside.

“It may not have been done with his knowledge.”

“But you would have sensed it, wouldn’t you?” he pressed. “ The poison. Wolfsbane.”

I looked up at him.

“It had no scent,” I said. “At least none that I could detect.”

Even as I spoke, the thought slid coldly through my mind.

What if I had drunk it?

Would it have killed me? A small silence fell in the room.

“Why did you save her? She almost killed you." I heard him say.

He leaned back in his chair, studying me with amusement.

I knew the moment she stepped into the hall.

A scent had drifted through the banquet hall. Soft, delicate, and impossible to ignore.

Lavender and lightning.

The moment it reached me, my wolf lunged violently inside me that my grip had tightened around the arm of my chair.

Mate.

The word had hit me like a blow.

My wolf surged forward, wild and urgent, nearly tearing control from me.

A servant?

My mate?

It was impossible.

Yet the scent grew stronger as she came closer, and my wolf had grown more frantic with every step she took toward me.

"Mate," he snarled again, possessive and relentless.

I had forced him down with everything in me.

But something was strange. She had little to no wolf blood smell. I couldn't perceive any aura coming from her.

I was going to reject her.

I would reject her.

My wolf howled in protest but I dismissed him.

There was no way I could make her my Luna.

I was going to reject her, despite my wolf.

"You can't reject her. Mine” my wolf growled in the back of my head.

“She's an Omega” I had told him but there was no reasoning with him at that point. All he wanted was to claim her while I needed to concentrate.

And despite myself, despite the impossibility, I had looked at her when she came to serve me.

I had noticed the way her hand shook.

The way she kept her eyes down.

The way fear seemed to cling to her even before the accusation came.

And then she was accused of poisoning me.

I had watched her panic, and saw the fear in her eyes. It didn't look like guilt, but something much more vulnerable.

I couldn't watch her die in my presence.

"I couldn't let them kill her.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I realized it.

A low chuckle came from across the room.

"Of course not, “ he said. " She's your mate.”

He continued, watching me earnestly. "But she doesn't know. She has no wolf and she can’t feel the mate bond.”

" I know, “ I said, rising up from the chair.

There was a brief silence and the fire crackled between us, filling the silence.

"Then reject her.”

My gaze snapped at him. He held it without flinching.

"Choose someone else tonight. A proper Luna who is respectable and strong. Someone the pack will accept."

He paused, then added the part he knew I wouldn't like. “She's not any of this. She's a servant. An Omega"

A low growl rippled from my chest before I could stop it.

“Watch your word." I gritted my teeth.

Ragnak raised his brow in disbelief " Don't tell me you're growing attached?“

I exhaled, running my fingers through my hair.

Attached?

No

Not that.

"She's in the dungeon, helpless and who knows what they will do to her." I turned to Ragnak who looked like he couldn't believe his ears.

I turned away from him and crossed to the far wall, bracing one hand against the cold stone.

“I can’t help it,” I said, my voice rougher now. “She’s my mate.”

The confession tasted like defeat.

I slammed my fist hard against the wall, the force enough to crack its plaster. I barely felt it.

I couldn't stop thinking about her. My wolf couldn't stop yearning for her since he had perceived her scent. He prowled restlessly inside me, demanding, and furious at every second of distance between us.

He wanted her.

And worse, some part of me understood why.

"Hmmm," Ragnak said slowly, something curling at the corner of his mouth. “The mighty and powerful Darius."

I exhaled. This was unlike me.

“But you have to pick a chosen mate. It's the tradition" 

“I don't need to.” I frowned. Damn the tradition.

"You can't break the tradition that has existed for ages, Darius. Not when power is tied to them and alliances are involved. You'd be calling for a war.”

I said nothing. Because he wasn’t wrong.

That only irritated me more.

Ragnak studied me for a long moment before speaking again.

“If you won’t reject her, then what?” he asked. “You’ll name her Luna? Present a wolfless Omega to the pack and expect them to kneel?”

The question struck where it was meant to.

I had no answer for it.

Not one I was willing to give.

Finally, I looked at him. “I’m not attending the mating ceremony.”

His expression darkened at once. “Darius—”

“I won’t give whoever planned the poison another chance to finish the job.”

“That may be true,” he said sharply, “but if you fail to appear tonight, it will be taken as an insult.”

“Then let them be insulted.”

He opened his mouth again, but I cut him off with a single look.

“You’ll represent me,” I said.

Ragnak stared at me.“No.”

“Yes.”

His jaw hardened. “This is a ceremony of union, not a council dinner.”

“It is a command.”

The words landed like iron between us.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the fire.

Then, slowly, Ragnak bowed his head.

“Yes, Alpha.”

He turned and headed for the door, though not before casting one last glance over his shoulder a mixture of disbelief and warning.

The room became quiet.

I stood by the window, staring out in the dim moonlight when it struck me.

Sweet lavender and lightning scent.

My wolf surged forward in excitement, attempting to take over me but I remained in control.

“Mate."

He howled restlessly. The scent was coming from within the woods.

I had never perceived anything so intoxicating, soft and strong at the same time. It's almost driving me nuts.

She smelled like the most wonderful thing in the world.

I wanted her. My wolf yearned for her.

Our mate.

She was supposed to be in the dungeon. How did she escape?

The scent was drifting farther away from me and I didn't need a seer to know she was running away.