Chapter 5 The Confrontation
Luna’s POV
I stand panting, watching the two of them face off. Two Alphas.
Kael laughs like he heard the world’s biggest joke. A shiver runs down my spine. He’s cold, methodical, unafraid.
“What are you to do if I touch her, Alpha Rowan?” He asks, bearing a smile that is more threat than welcome.
“You dare not,” Rowan growls, and his voice reverberates through the entire forest.
No one moves. Not even I, whose body does not obey my will for this time. Watching two Alphas fight is like a death sentence, for their claws would surely turn upon you. Yet no one here holds the power to interrupt.
“She is my property. Sold to me. Bound to me.” Karl’s voice is sharp and warning.
“She belongs with the Nightfang Pack,” Rowan claims, and my heart skips a beat. Almost there. Almost like he means to say something else: she belongs with me.
But Kael is arrogant and throws his head back. His laughter again. Daring to invoke Rowan’s ire. I have seen no one else do that before.
“Now you dare to covet what is mine, Alpha Rowan. Do you forget our deal?” Kael snorts. He beckons for the guards, a wordless order they must understand, for instantly they move into formation.
Calla screams as she is dragged away, and I force myself to move, reaching for her. But the guards block me.
My chest begins to ache, and I stumble, falling on my knees. The pain means little. My body is too weak to hold on. I try to raise my arms. They twitch, barely.
A whimper leaves my throat, enough to stir the hearts of the two Alphas.
They both rush towards me, but I am already falling. The edges of my vision turns black, my only view is of the clear sky, before it blurs into nothing.
I hear Kael say something, and Rowan’s unyielding voice follows. But I cannot process it.
I fall, my heart continues to ache, and everything disappears.
I sit up with a start, gasping for breath.
My eyes focus, and the blurry shapes transform into somewhere… unfamiliar.
A bedroom.
A sense of awe and confusion fills me.
The lights are warm.
I look around in wonder, still seated on the most comfortable bed. My fingers brush the soft furs of the blanket.
A woody scent with hints of cinnamon wafts through the air.
No one is around.
I move to stand, my feet touch the cold floor and I almost retreat back into the bed.
A mistake, I think, almost murmuring to myself.
My place is not here, in such splendor. I have never slept in such a room before. At the Moonveil pack, a floor with threadbare blankets, shared with several other maids. Here, a prison, a muzzle, and my body aching from powers I do not understand.
But before I can move the door is flung open.
Two pairs of intense eyes meet mine and suddenly my body freezes.
“She has woken,” Rowan says.
“Send for the doctor,” Kael orders.
Both of them step through the door. My body trembled, facing the two of them again.
As they advance, I retreat, until the edge of the bed presses deep into my lower back. I raise my hands to defend myself, flinching as they near.
“D-Do not,” I start to speak, but I choke on the words. My voice is hoarse, and I begin to cough.
Suddenly an arm wraps around my waist and I am forced to sit atop the bed again.
“Drink.”
A glass is shoved against my mouth, Kael’s voice forceful and unkind.
I obey, gulping down mouthfuls until my stomach feels full.
I clear my throat, coughing lightly.
Rowan speaks, “Now that we have cleared all misunderstandings, Kael. She will return to the Nightfang Pack with me.”
“She stays here, in the Ironfang Pack.” Kael replies, mockery on the tip of his tongue. “I have heard the truth. You rejected her. She is now mine to keep.”
Rowan turns to glare at Kael, whose lips curl into a sneer.
“She was sold without consent.”
“Take that up with them, not my pack, Rowan,” Kael does not relent. “She is mine.”
I open my mouth to speak but Kael casts me a glance that makes all the words shrivel up before it can leave my lips.
A warning, I think; I do not dare to defy.
“Another deal then,” Rowan states.
“What more could I want from your pack?“ Kael’s blue eyes are sharp, icy enough to cut.
“Territories. Gold. More resources,” Rowan wagers. “What you have always wanted.”
Kael falls silent, and so does my mind.
He is willing to give up his pack’s resources… for me?
My heart trembles, my fingers twitch.
I ache to hear Kael respond in the affirmative.
But he only laughs, mocking truly.
It pierces even I, the bystander to such a conversation.
“You simply wish to keep her for her powers. Now that you know what she is capable of, hmm?” Kael smirks wider, tilting his head. Almost, I see the gleam in his eyes… murderous, waiting for a chance to show itself. But he contains it, just barely.
Rowan stiffens.
“Whatever powers you think she has are not worth it,” He states as though Kael is an idiot. “She is fit to be kept behind closed doors, to bear my children. Though I have rejected her, our compatibility would make for good heirs. Nothing more.”
I gasp. His words are a far cry from what I expect.
My face heats up with shame, embarrassment. My jaw clenches against the waves of emotion that crash into my chest.
So this is the true motive.
Alpha Rowan, I think with regret and anger, you are no better than the rest of them. To be taken as a broodmare, a damnable existence.
I cannot bear this.
Once again, I speak out of turn.
“I wish to stay,” I say, abruptly cutting off any more words. Silence fills the room, and the two Alphas level their gaze upon me.
…
