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, maliciously attacked the vampire delegation. Because of that, my close friend Valerius was ambushed by Rogues on his way back and badly wounded. He’s been lying in Moonlight Spring ever since, barely hanging on to life by the essence of his soul.
• I clenched my fists tight.
• I thought someone capable of doing something like that would be some ambitious, ruthless woman.
• But what I saw was just a pale-faced Omega.
• The scent of wolfbane drifted off her—she’d just been drinking Moonfire wine.
• Ha, Shadowfen’s way of hospitality sure is “special.”
• Kane stood in front of her like a beast guarding its food.
• His fake “protecting my woman” act made me sick.
• An Alpha who had to bow down to the vampires and apologize, letting his mate take the fall and rot in jail—what right did he have to put on that show in front of me?
• “Kael, this is Shadowfen territory, not some place for you to run wild,” Kane said, his voice dripping with that typical Alpha command. “Lyra is my mate. Even if she’s in the wrong, it’s none of your business.”
• Mate?
• I almost laughed out loud.
• “Your mate?” I sneered at him. “The one who shamed you so bad you had to grovel to the vampires and apologize? Alpha Kane, you’ve got some seriously weird taste.”
• His face turned ashen.
• Good.
• I grabbed a glass of red wine from the table nearby.
• “Valerius is lying in Moonlight Spring because of you,” I said, staring straight at Lyra, each word sharp as a knife, “still barely alive, clinging to life essence. And here you are, dressed up fancy, attending a banquet. You think you deserve that?”
• Before I finished, I flicked my wrist, splashing the wine right in her face.
• I wanted her to taste what public humiliation feels like—just like Valerius did.
• But a hand shot out like lightning, grabbing my wrist.
• Kane.
• Wine spilled all over the floor.
• “Enough!” Kane growled, eyes blazing with fury. “I told you, she’s mine!”
• I tried to pull free, but Kane’s grip was like iron—unmovable. As a fellow Alpha, his strength was no joke.
• Two powerful Alphas, locked in a standoff over a worthless Omega, right in the middle of the banquet hall.
• The guests around us watched with hungry eyes, their faces lit up with excitement, like they were watching a show.
• Pathetic.
• Is this what passes for high-class wolf society?
• A bunch of cowards who only know how to watch the drama and suck up to the powerful.
• Just then, the Omega who had been silent all along suddenly moved.
• She shoved Kane, who was blocking her, so fast it caught me off guard for a split second.
• Then, she raised her hand.
• Smack!
• A sharp, loud slap landed right across my face.
• Burning pain exploded on my cheek. I turned my head, stunned, feeling the clear imprint of five fingers.
• Me—Kael, a member of the Silvermoon Lycan royal family—just got slapped in public by a weak little Omega who’d just downed some wolf poison liquor?
• I glared at her, furious.
• Her eyes were ice-cold and sharp as knives.
• “First, I’m not someone you can humiliate however you want. Cut the crap with your stinking bullshit.”
• “Second, if your friend got hurt, go find whoever did it. Don’t run around biting everyone like some spoiled little brat.”
• “Third, I don’t care if you’re Silvermoon or whatever. If you dare throw anything at me again, next time I won’t just slap you.”
• With that, she didn’t look at me anymore, didn’t even glance at the furious Kane or any of the faces sneering around us.
• She turned and walked out of the banquet hall, step by step.
• I froze where I stood, the sting on my cheek still burning, but inside, a storm of mixed feelings churned.
• She wasn’t the vicious woman I’d imagined.
• Kane’s roar dragged me back to reality—he was clearly furious because of me showing up and what Lyra did.
• But I didn’t care about him anymore.
• I stared in the direction Lyra had disappeared, frowning deep.
• Something about this whole thing wasn’t what I thought it was.