Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Asilent answer, Impossibly
Rosaline wheezes, gurgling, blood streaking down her chin. The elders swarm, shouting over each other.
“It’s poison p>
“By the Goddess, someone fetch a healer-
“What was in the soup p>
Camilla shoots to her feet so suddenly her chair topples behind her. “THIS–THIS IS HER FAULT!” she screams, finger stabbing the air toward me. “SHE’S TRYING TO FRAME ME! SHE FORCED THE GIRL–SHE FORCED p>
I raise a brow.
“Luna Camilla … sweetheart.” I step away from the table, walking over to her shaking figure. “Why would I poison a soup your maid cooked p>
Her lips tremble. “B–because you–you’re p>
Ser than
you?
Because your plan fell apart?
“Hmm?” I lean in slightly, lowering my voice to silk. “Say it. Because I’m
Because your own maid chose loyalty over her life p>
Her face reddens. “Shut up p>
I shrug. “Just trying to understand p>
I turn back at her and crouch beside Rosaline. Blood coats her hands. She looks at me through half–lidded eyes, terrified, suffering.
“Poor girl,” I murmur coldly. “So loyal she’d drink poison for you p>
Camilla shakes her head violently. Everyone around us is so fixed on either running away and throwing their own soup or trying to call for a healer to notice the two of us. “I didn’t–I WOULD NEVER p>
“Really?” I rise to my feet and tilt my head. “Because she was in charge of the soup. You assigned her to it. Correct p>
“Did you give her any … special instructions, Luna p>
The hall chills. Every pair of eyes turns to Camilla.
She looks trapped right now. “It’s not–I–This is p>
Her mouth falls open but no sound comes out.
I add, purred and poisonous, “Unless the person who ordered the soup… wanted someone very important dead tonight p>
Her knees buckle just slightly.
Alaric lets out a low growl behind me–deep, approving, and oh–so definitely hungry.
I feel it in my spine. I glance at him over my shoulder and there it is. His eyes drag over me like he wants to pin me against the table and kiss the smirk off my face all while the panic swerve around us.
His lips curve and I could’ve sworn he’s mouthing,
‘Keep going p>
And I intend to.
Chapter 38
I turn back to tamilla, stepping close enough that she staggers back.
Tell me, Camilla.” I whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear, “are you still not hungry?
Camilla’s eyes go wide before she snaps— way too fast to be believable.
“You fucking bitch!” she stainiers, pointing at Rosaline as if the poor girl isn’t choking on her own tongue on the dam floor. “She’s faking it! This stupid maid–she does this for attention all the time”
Rosaline releases a quitural noise, drool and foam sliding from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes roll back, terrified and pleading–straight at Camilla.
n hits me
She’s really going to throw her girl under the bus. Just like that.
Even I didn’t think she’d go that low.
“Oh?” I tilt my head. “So the soup magically seasoned itself with poison? Impressive kitchen p>
She blanches.
And then–because of course she would–she flees. The heels, the perfume, the panic. She bolts out of the dining hall like someone blew a whistle.
Good riddance.
A sudden sigh leaves my lips. The dining hall is chaos. Chairs screech. Wolves shout. Servants hide behind pillars like they’re suddenly part of the architecture.
Except one man.
Alaric.
He doesn’t even look up.
He sits at the head of the table, slicing into his steak as if he’s the only one in the world eating dinner instead of witnessing a murder attempt. His movements are as calm as a predator–as if violence isn’t two steps away but living in his pocket.
My skin prickles. He is unfairly calm.
What a monster he’s become.
Beta Cassian drops to his knees beside Rosaline, panic all over his face. “Someone call the pack physician!” he yells at the elders.
One of them–grey hair, judgemental eyebrows, and no common sense–barks, “And who are you to give orders in the King’s dining hall, boy p>
“Call the damn physician!” I snap.
Everyone freezes.
The elder’s head swivels to me with the audacity of a man who has no survival instinct. His mouth opens–probably to scold me, maybe to insult me-
But then his gaze flicks upward.
Toward Alaric. His King.
Chapters
Alaric doesn’t stop cutting his steak.
Doesn’t look up
Doesn’t speak.
He just raises one eyebrow, barely, like a warning, Say it, I dare you.
The elder goes pale so fast I almost feel bad.
Almost.
He clamps his mouth shut, spins around, and herds the others out of the room to call the physician.
And then suddenly it’s just the three of us.
Me.
Cassian.
Alaric–still eating, because of course he is.
Rosaline jerks again, body bowing off the ground. Cassian tries to hold her shoulders down.
“She’s burning up,” he pants. “Her pulse is erratic–it’s like her body’s shutting down p>
I kneel beside her, my heart slamming against my ribs. The smell hits first–burnt herbs, bile, something metallic. Her skin is clammy, too hot.
Shit, I didn’t think Camilla would pour enough dose to actually kill. Was she really planning to kill the envoy?
“Rosaline,” I whisper. “Hey. Look at me p>
She can’t.
Her eyes are gone again–only the whites showing. I press my hand to her sternum, trying to steady her breathing, trying to do something, anything-
And then-
Light explodes.
Not around us.
From me.
A soft hum first, under my palm–static blooming beneath the skin. I quickly jerk, trying to pull my hand away, but it won’t move. It’s fucking stuck. The glow gets brighter, spreading up my arm, warming the cold dining hall air.
“What the-” Beta Cassian chokes. “Sorin–what is that p>
“I–I don’t know!” I try again to lift my hand. Still stuck. “Shit–Cassian, get back–something’s wrong-
He doesn’t move as he stares at the light bleeding out of Rosaline’s chest under my touch.
The air grows thick, humming. My pulse stutters. My vision sways for a second–like someone is pulling energy straight out
of me.
My breath catches when Rosaline’s convulsions suddenly… stop.
Chapter 3
Just step
Hier whole body goes slack. Her chest rises and falls in slow, even breaths.
She’s unconscious–but alive.
Cassian looks at her with wide eyes then he looks at me. Then back at the fading glow around my hand.
His voice drops to a whisper so soft I barely catch it.
You’re the saint p>
My stomach drops.
“No,” I breathe. “No, that–that can’t be p>
But the light is still fading from my fingertips.
I can’t be whatever he’s calling because Ariel-
Ariel is supposed to be the saint.
Cassian swallows hard. “Sorin… I’ve only seen that once. In an archived record. The divine touch–only the Moon Goddess‘ chosen can p>
“Stop,” I whisper, but my voice shakes.
Because I know he’s right.
Because everything inside me suddenly feels like it’s shifting, rearranging, waking up.
I look up, instinctively–Alaric hasn’t noticed.
He’s still cutting his steak.
Thank the Goddess.
“I’m… the saint p>
Chapter 59
Rosaline lies limp on the floor.
My hand is still hovering uselessly above her, fingers faintly tingling, like the last threads of that glow are still buried under my skin. I keep staring at them, expecting the light to flare again, It doesn’t. Thank the fucking Goddess.
Cassian’s eyes, though–those are still bright. Too bright. Too aware.
“You’re the saint,” he repeats, thick with something halfway between awe and oh–shit–this–changes–everything.
I nearly choke on my own breath.
“No,” I hiss. “No, don’t–just keep your voice down p>
But the envoy is already shifting onto his knees, moving as though he’s about to stand and go straight to the King.
Straight to Alaric.
“No,” I snap again, grabbing his wrist without thinking. “Cassian, stop–don’t you dare tell him p>
That’s when I make my mistake.
I touch him.
He freezes, not because of me–but because the room suddenly goes silent.
Like the air itself got sucked out.
I don’t turn.
I don’t have to.
I can feel Alaric’s eyes land on the exact place our skin touches, a spotlight burning through my bones.
Cassian swallows.
“Oh, shit,” he whispers under his breath. “Sorin p>
Too late.
A chair scrapes violently against marble.
And then-
“Remove
your hand from her p>
Alaric’s voice is deep. Too deep. Rough, as if he swallowed gravel and rage.
I finally look up.
A
His amber eyes are glowing–glowing–and not normal–wolf–glowing. This is feral–Lycan–king–who–will–bury–bodies glowing. The temperature in the entire dining hall plummets. Wonderful. Fantastic. Goddess bless my timing.
“Your Majesty-” Cassian starts, already lifting his hands in surrender. He doesn’t get to finish.
Alaric blurs and in one second he’s behind the table, the next his hand is locked around Cassian’s throat, slamming him so hard into the stone wall that dust rains from the ceiling.
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Chapter 39
Finstinctively flincfi.
Cassian’s feet don’t even touch the floor.
“Alaric!” I shout, surging forward. My heart feels like it jumps straight into my throat. Alaric doesn’t even hear me.
His voice is a low, deadly growl. “Is this part of your duty as an envoy? Letting your filthy hands on what belongs to me? ”
I freeze.
Not because of the threat–Alaric being violent is practically background noise at this point.
It’s the word.
Belongs.
Like I’m a sword. Or a throne. Or a fucking decorative vase. What the hell?
Cassian, the lunatic, actually laughs–choked and strained as Alaric squeezes harder.
“Your Majesty,” he rasps out, lips curling in the most suicidal smirk I’ve ever seen. “She grabbed me p>
Alaric squeezes harder.
“And you didn’t pull away p>
“I wasn’t aware touching the King’s woman was punishable by death,” Cassian taunts.
Oh for the love of–WHY is he poking the bear?
Alaric’s eyes flare brighter, jaw ticking. The veins in his forearm bulge with how tightly he’s holding Cassian against the wall.
“You should be grateful I haven’t ripped your throat out,” Alaric snarls. “Envoy or not, I will bury your corpse so deep the worms feel honored to taste you p>
Cassian actually winks at me.
“Your King seems… attached p>
I groan. “Cassian, shut up p>
Alaric’s head snaps toward me.
“Sorin,” he says, not taking his eyes off Cassian, “step back p>
“No,” I hiss. “Put him down p>
“He touched you p>
“I touched him!” I pull again, uselessly. “And not like that p>
Cassian makes a strangled cough–laugh that’s probably going to get him murdered faster. “She was rather insistent, actually p>
“Cassian, shut the hell up!” I snap.
Alaric’s head tilts, slow and dangerous. “Insistent p>
Goddess take the wheel because Cassian nods.
Chapter 59
Fucking nods p>
“Attractive woman, your Majesty,” he rasps. “Ilard not to respond when she p>
1 slap his shoulder so hard my palm stings.
“What are you even saying?! Alaric, drop him p>
He doesn’t.
He just stares down at me from his impossible height, muscles tight, shoulders drawn back even with the dozens of elders watching.
He looks like a goddamn storm about to split the world open.
“You grabbed him,” he says, voice low, almost accusing.
“He was about to stand and run his mouth!” I fire back. “I stopped him, that’s all! ”
His eyes flick to Cassian’s wrist–about to reach for me.
“Do not touch her,” Alaric growls, digging his fingers harder into Cassian’s throat. “Not her hair, not her hand–don’t even breathe next to her unless I allow it p>
Cassian wheezes. “That’s… a little extreme… Your Majesty p>
Alaric steps closer, crowding me and Cassian both against the wall. I can feel his heat, his anger, the way his muscles bunch under his shirt. The scent of cedar and cold air rolls over me, thick and sharp enough to make my pulse spike.
“Extreme?” Alaric mutters. “You want to see extreme p>
“Alaric.” I shove at his arm, trying to pry his fingers off Cassian’s neck. “Let him go p>
He doesn’t budge.
Not even a little.
His skin is hot–feverish. His wolf is clawing under the surface, pressing against his skin like it wants out.
I push harder. “Alaric, I mean it!” my face literally onto his side right now. His breath grazes my cheek. “Do you think this is a joke p>
“I think you’re being dramatic p>
His eyes narrow, sweeping my face with a heat that tightens everything inside me. “You pulled another man p>
“I stopped him from telling you something p>
“What thing p>
Of course he focuses on that.
Cassian is about to open his mouth.
I kick him in the shin before he can say a single syllable.
He yelps.
Alaric slowly turns his head toward Cassian. “If you make another sound, I will end your envoy career and your bloodline in
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Chapter 59
the same breath p>
Cassian shuts up.
Smart.
Alaric’s attention returns to me, fury simmering hot beneath the surface. “Tell me what he was going to say p>
My pulse jumps.
I can still feel the phantom warmth on my palm from Rosaline’s chest. The fading, impossible light that came from me- me–and not the woman Wade paraded around as “the saint p>
I swallow hard.
“I… can’t,” I whisper, barely audible.
His brows pull together. “Can’t–or won’t p>
My throat tightens.
He watches me too closely. Too sharply. Like he can hear the lie forming before I even breathe it.
“I said I can’t,” I repeat, softer.
He lowers his face to mine–close enough that I feel the heat of him everywhere, close enough that my own breath stutters.
“Then I will get it out of him,” he says, voice a promise carved in stone.
Cassian tenses.
I grab Alaric’s forearm instantly. “No. Don’t touch him p>
His gaze drops immediately to where my fingers wrap his skin.
Then slowly lift back to my eyes.
His voice is dangerously calm. “You do not tell me who I can and cannot kill p>
“He’s the envoy,” I hiss, looking over to Cassian who seems to be losing his breath already. This can’t fucking go on. “Killing him starts a political war p>
He grunts. “Then I’ll make it look like an accident p>
“Alaric, stop!” I scream, but it’s weak–like trying to shove back a freight train with my bare hands.
He doesn’t.
Cassian’s throat is disappearing under the curve of Alaric’s hand, and the air… fuck, the air is burning my lungs just watching him. His amber eyes are molten, wild, and… oh god, he doesn’t even see me yet.
“Alaric!” I yell again, palms hitting his chest. He doesn’t even flinch. I lunge, and the veins in his neck pulse like lightning strikes.
“Stop it!” I’m clawing at him, screaming, shoving, tears stinging my eyes. “You’re going to kill him p>
“Don’t. Touch. Him.” His voice is low, rumbling, and it makes the air vibrate. Every ounce of him screams predator. I freeze for a second, because holy hell, he’s so big, so impossibly hot and terrifying that I want to vomit and melt at the same time. But Cassian… he’s gasping, his hands scraping at Alaric’s arm, trying to pry air into his lungs.
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Chapter 39
And then, Cole fucking Archer finally appears our of nowhere. My gaze lands onto his hand. Ire a syringe. My momach drops.
“What the hell p>
“This is the only way to slow him!” Cole says. His calm voice doesn’t fit the chaos. “Nothing else works in this state p>
I look at him like he’s insane. “You can’t just inject him! He’ll–hell p>
“He’ll kill the envoy if you don’t move!” Cole snaps.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I can’t just step aside. I can’t let him inject Alaric with something, turn him weak and vulnerable. Not like this. Not when he’s already… like this.
I lunge forward. My body collides with his back just as Cole jabs the syringe upward. Metal pierces my skin, cold fire ripping through my muscles. I scream–no, I roar–but the world tilts, and my arms wrap around Alaric instinctively. I hug him tight, hoping… praying… to something divine that this will work.
And somehow, it does.
Thank the Goddess.
Alaric freezes. His eyes flicker–crimson, molten gold, human–a storm raging and dying in one breath. He sees me. Me. His mouth opens, groaning low, and he finally lets go of Cassian.
Cassian collapses to the floor, coughing, scraping for air like a drowned man. I stumble backward, still hugging Alaric’s broad back. I feel my legs give way, my body screaming under whatever the syringe did to me. But he’s steady, holding me like I’m weightless.
His hands grip my arms. His body, warm, tense, alive… and terrifying. “No, no. Sorin–Sorin, wake up.” He pushes the hair off my face as I slowly lose consciousness.
I manage a shaky laugh. “You’re… back.” My voice is breathless, raspy, and I can barely hold my eyes open.
He shifts, wrapping me in an iron–strong hold. The room tilts. My fingers brush against his jaw, tracing the sharp line of his face. His hair smells like smoke and raw power, and the pulse of him against me is maddening.
And then… darkness swallows me.
I feel myself slip. My fingers slide from his chest. My knees buckle. My vision fades to black, but in that last, precious sliver of consciousness, I touch his cheek and smile.
“You’re back…” I whisper.
And then nothing.
The
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