Elara POV
The morning light, filtered through the stained glass of the high windows, painted bruises of color on the stone floor. Every scrape of Darius's boots on the flagstones, every rustle of his vest, was a sound amplified in the vacuum between us. I dressed myself in a simple gray gown, smoothing out the wrinkles. I turned to face him and performed a perfect, deep curtsy. It was the standard greeting of a lowly Omega to an Alpha Heir.
Darius stopped buttoning his vest. He stared at my lowered head. "Elara," he called out, his tone unusually stiff. "If there is a specific mate you wish to bond with, tell me. I will use my power as the Alpha Heir to arrange it. We will part on good terms."
Parting on good terms. It was a dismissal wrapped in the guise of a kindness. I remembered the snowy night, the terrifying jaws of the rogue, and the gold coin that saved my life. I swallowed against the bitter constriction in my throat.
"Thank you, Alpha Heir," I smiled faintly. "I accept your arrangement."
Two days passed. Darius ordered the pack's craftsmen to forge a delicate silver necklace. It held a rare, glowing moonstone in the center. He placed it on my dressing table as a parting gift. Before I could even touch it, the door to my chamber burst open. Vivian stormed in, limping slightly. She had just returned from Blood Eclipse territory, her pride in shreds after Caleb had publicly rejected her. Her face was twisted in rage and humiliation. She saw the moonstone necklace, grabbed it, and hurled it against the stone wall. The gem struck the flagstones with a sharp crack, the impact scattering a constellation of glittering fragments across the floor.
Darius rushed into the room. I expected him to release his Alpha anger at the disrespect to his gift. Instead, he knelt on the cold floor. He gently took Vivian's injured foot into his lap and began to massage her ankle.
"Do not cry, Vivian," Darius said softly. "Caleb is just arrogant. You need to play hard to get. Show him you do not care."
I stood in the corner, invisible. I watched the man who had once shattered his brother's arm for me kneel at another's feet. Darius looked up at me. "Elara," he ordered. "Go to the kitchens. Prepare a basket with the finest cuts of fresh venison. It is Caleb's favorite. Vivian will deliver it to him as a peace offering."
I nodded and walked toward the door. As I stepped into the hallway, Vivian's sharp voice echoed from the room. "Why is she still here, Darius? She disgusts me."
"Patience, my sweet," Darius replied carelessly. "Once you agree to be my Luna, I will give you all the treasures in this castle. I will even give you Elara to do with as you please."
I stared at the basket, at the deep red of the meat that should have been mine. A slow, heavy cramp began to twist in my stomach, and the sixteen years of blind loyalty I had harbored felt suddenly like a frostbitten limb, numb and lost to me.
I walked down the grand stone stairs of the castle. The pack Warriors standing guard looked away, pretending I did not exist. They smelled the shift in the wind. They knew the Alpha Heir had abandoned me.
I packed the finest cuts of venison into a silver basket. I did not give it to Vivian. I walked out of the Silver Moon territory alone. Using the last of the coins Darius had ever given me, I paid a silent coachman to take me in a rickety carriage through the six grueling hours of treacherous, frozen pines that made up the neutral zone. By the time I reached the heavily fortified borders of the Blood Eclipse Pack, my entire body was stiff with cold.
A dozen heavily armed border guards surrounded the carriage instantly. After a harsh interrogation where I offered the basket as a tribute from a lowly Omega, they blindfolded me and marched me into a massive, imposing hall. Caleb, the Supreme Alpha, sat on a throne carved from black iron. He looked cold, terrifying, and utterly untouchable. When he saw me, he waved his hand. The heavily armed subordinates bowed and quickly left the hall, trembling in fear. Caleb leaned forward. His dark eyes locked onto mine, and his pupils slowly began to glow with a dangerous, golden light. His gaze was not that of a cold ruler, but of a wolf who had finally found his prey—or his salvation.
