Chapter 3
"Take another sack," Elara announced, her voice echoing off the stone walls of the central storehouse. "No one in Alpha Kaelen’s pack will go hungry tonight."
A cheer erupted from the gathering of lower-class wolves.
I stood in the shadows of the arched doorway, my pen scratching rapidly across the pages of my pocket notebook.
"Luna," Torin, the head vault guard, whispered beside me. "She is emptying the third silo."
"I can count, Torin," I replied, noting the missing tonnage.
"Should I lock the gates?" he asked, his hand dropping to the iron ring of keys at his belt. "We need this grain to survive February."
"Leave the gates open."
"But Luna—"
"I am not the Luna anymore," I corrected. "She is."
Torin stared at me, his jaw tightening. "She gave away three months of reserves in an hour."
"Then note the shortage in the official log," I instructed, snapping the small leather book shut. "And make sure you spell her name correctly."
Across the courtyard, Elara spotted me. She dropped a burlap sack into a grateful elder’s arms and jogged over, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
"Seraphina!" she called out, stopping a few feet away. "Did you see? I’m doing what you asked. I’m managing the people."
"You are handing out winter rations in November," I stated.
"They were cold," she argued, crossing her arms. "Alpha Kaelen said a true leader shows compassion. I’m showing them they matter."
"You definitely showed them something," I agreed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you mad because they like me more than you?"
A sharp laugh escaped my throat. Torin flinched. Elara stepped back, her bravado faltering.
"I am thrilled for you, Elara," I told her. "You are doing an exceptional job. Keep distributing."
"I will," she shot back, lifting her chin. "I’ll feed the whole lower sector."
"Make sure you do."
I turned my back on the empty silos and walked away. Let her give it all away. Let Kaelen wake up to a starving territory. I was done fixing his mistakes.
The transition from afternoon to midnight brought a freezing rain that turned the northern woods into a black, slick nightmare.
I stood at the edge of the Blackwater River. The rushing current roared over jagged rocks, marking the absolute boundary of our lands.
Across the churning water lay the forbidden zone. The territory of Silas. The mateless Lycan King.
I pulled a heavy iron tube from the inside pocket of my wool coat. Inside rested the master defense blueprints for Kaelen’s entire territory. Every patrol route. Every blind spot. Five years of my strategic planning, rolled into a single parchment.
"Traitor," a voice hissed in my mind.
It wasn't Kaelen. It was the mate bond.
A violent spasm ripped through my chest. The mystical tether recognized my treason. It punished me instantly, squeezing my heart until my vision went white.
I collapsed.
My knees slammed into the freezing mud. Cold sweat instantly soaked through my shirt, plastering the fabric to my spine. I dug my fingers into the wet earth, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit.
"Submit," the bond demanded, sending a fresh wave of agony down my arms. "Return to your Alpha."
"Never," I gasped out loud.
My hands shook violently. I forced my numb fingers to unscrew the iron cap. I checked the wax seal on the blueprints one last time.
Perfectly intact.
I shoved the parchment back inside and twisted the cap tight.
The bond flared again, a searing white-hot pain behind my eyes. It demanded loyalty. It demanded I protect my husband’s borders.
I dragged myself forward through the muck. The freezing water lapped at my boots.
"Take it," I whispered to the dark river.
I thrust my arm forward and dropped the iron tube into the rushing current.
It sank instantly, swallowed by the black water, destined for the Lycan King’s shores.
The moment the metal disappeared beneath the surface, the agonizing pressure in my chest vanished. The bond’s punishment broke.
A rush of icy, clear air filled my lungs. I inhaled deeply, the most flawless breath I had taken in days. I didn't feel guilt. I didn't feel fear.
A pure, unadulterated urge to destroy everything Kaelen loved washed over me. I smiled, letting a dark chuckle slip past my lips while kneeling in the freezing mud.
"You find treason amusing?" a deep, gravelly voice asked.
The sound didn't come from across the river. It came from directly above me.
I froze.
A pair of massive black military boots stepped into my line of sight.
The air around me instantly turned to ice. A suffocating aura of pure dominance slammed down on my shoulders, pinning me to the mud. The scent of crushed pine needles and raw gunpowder flooded my senses, so intense it burned the back of my throat.
This wasn't an Alpha.
This was a monster.
Before I could scramble backward, a large hand clad in black leather clamped around my jaw.
The grip was unyielding. The leather creaked as thick fingers dug into my cheeks, forcing my head up.
I stared into eyes the color of liquid mercury.
"Well?" the Lycan King demanded, his thumb tracing the corner of my mouth. "Are you going to answer me, little wolf?"
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