Chapter 5

• Kael’s POV
• I stood at the entrance of the Shadowfen banquet hall, my eyes scanning the pack of werewolves inside.
• My gaze finally locked onto the woman standing beside Kane.
• Lyra.
• That’s her.
• Three years ago, this woman, driven by jealousy over the Alpha’s closeness with the vampire princess Livia, had maliciously attacked the vampire delegation. Because of that incident, my close friend Valerius was ambushed by Rogues on his way back and gravely wounded. He had been lying in Moonlight Spring ever since, barely hanging on to life through the last remnants of his soul essence.
• I clenched my fists tight.
• I had imagined someone capable of such cruelty to be ambitious and ruthless.
• But what I saw was only a pale-faced Omega.
• The faint scent of wolfbane clung to her. She had clearly been drinking Moonfire wine.
• Ha. Shadowfen’s idea of hospitality was truly “special.”
• Kane stood in front of her like a beast guarding its prey.
• His fake protecting my woman act made my stomach churn.
• An Alpha who had bowed to the vampires and apologized, allowing his mate to take the fall and rot in prison, had no right to put on such a display in front of me.
• “Kael, this is Shadowfen territory, not a place for you to run wild,” Kane said, his voice dripping with Alpha authority. “Lyra is my mate. Even if she’s in the wrong, it’s none of your business.”
• Mate?
• I nearly laughed.
• “Your mate?” I sneered. “The same woman who humiliated you so badly that you had to grovel before the vampires and apologize? Alpha Kane, you have some seriously questionable taste.”
• His face drained of color.
• Good.
• I grabbed a glass of red wine from a nearby table.
• “Valerius is lying in Moonlight Spring because of you,” I said, staring directly at Lyra. Each word cut like a blade. “He’s still barely alive, clinging to his life essence. And here you are, dressed up and attending a banquet. Do you really think you deserve that?”
• Before I could finish, I flicked my wrist and splashed the wine straight into her face.
• I wanted her to taste public humiliation, just as Valerius had.
• But a hand shot out and seized my wrist with lightning speed.
• Kane.
• The wine spilled across the floor.
• “Enough!” Kane growled, his eyes blazing with fury. “I told you, she’s mine!”
• I tried to pull free, but his grip was like iron, completely unyielding. As a fellow Alpha, his strength was nothing to underestimate.
• Two powerful Alphas stood locked in a standoff over a worthless Omega in the middle of the banquet hall.
• The guests surrounding us watched eagerly, their faces lit with excitement, as if this were nothing more than entertainment.
• Pathetic.
• Was this what passed for high-class wolf society?
• A crowd of cowards who only knew how to spectate drama and flatter the powerful.
• Just then, the Omega who had remained silent all this time suddenly moved.
• She shoved Kane aside so quickly that it caught me off guard for a split second.
• Then she raised her hand.
• Smack!
• A sharp, echoing slap landed squarely across my face.
• Burning pain exploded along my cheek. I turned my head in shock, feeling the unmistakable imprint of five fingers.
• Me—Kael of the Silvermoon Lycan royal family—had just been slapped in public by a frail Omega who had downed wolfbane-laced liquor?
• I glared at her, fury surging through me.
• Her eyes were ice-cold, sharp as blades.
• “First, I’m not someone you can humiliate whenever you feel like it. Cut the crap with your stinking bullshit.”
• “Second, if your friend got hurt, go find the person responsible. Don’t go around snapping at everyone like a spoiled brat.”
• “Third, I don’t care if you’re Silvermoon royalty or anything else. If you dare throw something at me again, next time I won’t just slap you.”
• After that, she didn’t spare me another glance. She ignored Kane’s furious expression and the sneering faces around us.
• She turned and walked out of the banquet hall, one steady step at a time.
• I stood frozen, my cheek still burning, while a storm of conflicting emotions churned inside me.
• She wasn’t the vicious woman I had imagined.
• Kane’s furious roar snapped me back to reality. He was enraged by my presence and by what Lyra had done.
• But I no longer cared about him.
• I stared in the direction Lyra had disappeared, my brows drawn together.
• Something about all of this didn’t add up.