Chapter 44
She led me down halls.
And so I found myself in the Beta’s private quarters.
My cheeks burned as I traced a finger over the carved headboard.
A sharp rap on the door jolted me from my thoughts.
I assumed the old matriarch had returned.
But the moment I pulled the door ajar, the air turned to ice.
Alex stood in the doorway.
His hair was disheveled.
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“Your Highness,” I said flatly. “To what do I owe this… intrusion?”
For an eternity, his grip lingered.
“Do you truly think marrying Mathew can protect you?”
Alex’s voice dropped to a menacing growl.
“Not everyone shares your suicidal urge to slaughter the chosen mate and raze her bloodline once the heat breaks.”
His eyes softened, losing their feral glow.
“If it’s status you seek,” he murmured, reaching out a hand that trembled ever so slightly, “I’ll make you my concubine. You’ll want for nothing.”
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I stared at him, mouth agape.
A gentle smile curved his lips.
“Last life,” he whispered,
“Sadina’s death was a curse I couldn’t bear. Her mate betrayed her, and I… I let my grief consume me.” His fingers brushed my cheek.
“This life, you kept your distance from Sadina and me. I’m glad you finally learned your place.”
“Swear you won’t challenge Sadina. ” He leaned in.
“After she whelps my heir, I’ll give you a pup.A chance to atone for the lives you cost us.”
The image of his pups–half mine, half his-
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sent a wave of revulsion through my veins.
Before I could snarl a response, he turned on his heel.
“Three days,” he tossed over his shoulder.
“My litter–bearer’s car will arrive at dawn. As for the Beta… consider your vow nullified.”
The moment the door slammed, I collapsed to my knees.
Images flashed through my mind: my twin pups wailing in the snow, his claws buried in my flank as he marked me as his property.
I thought I’d buried those memories of the past.
But here, in the present, his words had ripped open the old wounds.
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My nails gouged the stone, drawing blood that sizzled on the enchanted floor.
“Enjoy your final pleasures, Alex“,”
“For a beast who toys with fate, three days may as well be an eternity.”
The third moonrise splits the sky like a bleeding wound, casting eerie light over the dual weddings.
In the district, drums thunder and flutes wail.
Scarlet banners emblazoned with the howling wolf flutter from every turret.
But across the shadowed valley, the Beta’s stronghold lies silent as a tomb.
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No scent of spiced mead or wedding bread drifts on the wind.
When an Alpha scout returns.
“My lord,” he pants, dropping to one knee,
“the Beta’s… there are no preparations. No scent of a bride, no feasting tables set. It is as if..”
Alex raises a hand, silencing the scout.
A slow smile creeps across his face.
“Ah, Mathew,” he purrs, swirling the bloodwine in his goblet.
“I wronged the poor Beta. After tonight’s… festivities,”
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“I shall personally select a new Heatmate for him. One more… compliant.”
He tosses back the wine, red droplets staining his chin.
A primal thrum vibrates through his ribcage, a wild cadence he’s never known–not even the night Sadina was claimed by him the first night.
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