Elara Vance POV:
In the days that followed, a quiet rhythm settled over our lives. I cleaned the small cabin until it shone, placing a jar of wildflowers on the windowsill to bring a bit of color to the spartan room. It started to feel less like a shelter and more like a home.
Kaelan was a silent but steady presence. He would leave at dawn to hunt, always returning with enough fresh meat to keep us fed. We didn't talk much, but we moved around each other with an easy, unspoken understanding.
One afternoon, he returned from the hunt to find me standing by the door, my arms crossed, a worried frown on my face.
"Faye sent a messenger," I told him, my voice tight. "She demands we present ourselves at the Vance house to receive our 'pack tribute'."
Kaelan's eyes, usually so calm, flashed with a cold light. He knew as well as I did this wasn't about tribute. It was about humiliation.
"Do we have to go?" I asked, dread coiling in my stomach. "You know they're just planning to make a scene."
He set down the rabbits he'd caught and looked at me, his expression firm. "We are mates. We will face our pack responsibilities together. We'll go." His confidence was a balm to my own fear.
The living room at the Vance house was set up like a stage for a public execution. Faye and Clara sat like queens on the sofa, with a handful of other pack members gathered to watch the show.
"Oh, look who decided to show up," Clara chirped, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I was beginning to think you were too ashamed to leave your little hovel in the woods."
Faye gestured to a pack warrior, who brought forward a heavy, iron-bound chest and dropped it on the floor with a loud thud.
"As per pack tradition," Faye announced, her voice dripping with false authority, "newly bonded pairs must offer a tribute to their Alpha to show their loyalty and earn their place."
This was a lie. It was a blatant shakedown, a rule she had invented on the spot to extort and shame us.
I felt my body tremble with rage. Lyra snarled in my mind, wanting to be let out, to rip the smug looks off their faces. I was about to scream at them when Kaelan placed a firm hand on my shoulder, a silent command to be still.
He stepped forward, his gaze level and calm. "What is the tribute?"
Clara answered, practically shouting. "Given your… combined status, you will provide double the standard hunter's share to the pack stores each month. And Kaelan will turn over half of any earnings he makes. For the pack's protection, of course."
The other pack members shifted uncomfortably, whispering amongst themselves. The terms were impossibly harsh, designed to bleed us dry.
Faye stared at me, a cruel, triumphant smile on her face. This was her victory lap, her way of showing me the price of choosing a 'worthless' Omega.
My control was slipping. But before I could lunge, my own voice surprised me. It was clear and strong, ringing through the tense silence.
I didn't look at Faye or Clara. I looked at Kaelan, my mate, and my voice filled with a pride I didn't know I possessed.
"My mate, Kaelan," I began, my words slow and deliberate, "may not hold a high rank in your eyes. But he possesses a wealth you could never comprehend."
Clara laughed her ugly, barking laugh. "Wealth? Do you mean that collapsing shack you call a home?"
I shook my head, a small, confident smile touching my lips. "No. I mean his spirit. He has a spirit that is loyal, and kind, and respectful. That is more valuable than any Alpha title or piece of land."
I finally turned my gaze to Faye, my eyes hard as stone. "The Moon Goddess chooses our mates based on the strength of our souls, not the rank of our wolves. By demanding this tribute, are you questioning her divine wisdom?"
The accusation hung in the air. To question the Goddess was heresy. Faye's face turned a blotchy, ugly red.
I felt Kaelan stiffen beside me. I risked a glance at him and saw pure shock on his face. His carefully constructed mask had slipped. He had expected me to be ashamed of him, I realized—perhaps everyone had. Instead, here I was, in front of everyone, declaring his soul priceless.
Before Faye could recover, Kaelan took my hand, his grip firm and warm. "Our tribute is our loyalty to the Goddess," he said, his voice a low growl. "We're leaving."
He pulled me toward the door, and we walked out into the bright afternoon sun, leaving a room full of stunned silence behind us. He didn't let go of my hand. For the first time, I knew his touch wasn't just for show. It was real.
