Chapter 415
four hundred and sateen
на
+15 Bonus
“There you are, Isabella,” Luna Lisa announced. Isabella excused herself, and I gave a stiff nod, watching through haze as she walked over and threw her arms around Luna Lisa. They held hands and headed downstairs together.
The moment her back was turned, I set the bowl down on the windowsill and bolted, pushing past two girls in the hallway, ignoring their surprised calls, and ducked into the nearest guest bathroom. Everything I’d just eaten came up in a painful surge.
I leaned against the porcelain, gasping for air as tears streamed down my cheeks.
He hadn’t just rejected me.
He was a monster. A patricidal killer.
And he was the man the moon goddesses had tied to my soul.
Charlie’s message came in when I had finally taken some medication for my headache, one I’d been ignoring since I returned home from the Alpha house.
Are you free this weekend? I’d love to grab dinner and talk.
Sure, I responded.
On Friday evening, he picked me up.
I chose a pastel sage green dress because it made me feel put together, then styled my hair in loose waves and applied enough makeup to hide the tiredness on my face.
Charlie looked happy when he saw me, his smile bright as he opened the car door. We went to The Moonstone Terrace, a high-end lounge on the upper border of the pack territory. Its outdoor terrace overlooked the pine valleys below.
Charlie sat across from me in our booth, reaching across the tablecloth to take my hand.
“I have to be honest with you, Emma. I know things have been chaotic lately, and I know you’ve had a lot on your mind. But I really am serious about you p>
He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
The moment his skin touched mine, pain shot through my chest.
Deep inside me, my wolf whimpered. The mate bond recoiled from Charlie’s touch, a painful reminder of what I was trying to escape.
I swallowed and gave Charlie a smile.
Props to him for at least not being overly pushy.
“I know you’re serious, but you have to give me some more time to get used to this,” I said.
He tried not to show it, but I saw the disappointment flash across his face.
Near the main entrance, I caught the flash of a reporter’s camera lens pointed toward the terrace. People were watching. They always were when the Alpha’s family was out.
I leaned across the table and pressed a lingering kiss to Charlie’s cheek.
3/4
four hurred and seventeen
+15 Bohus
Four hundred and seventeen
Alexander POV
I dragged the steel blade down the stone, the harsh shhhk-shhhk-shhhk echoing off the ceiling.
Over and over. Relentless.
My hands were steady, but inside, my blood was boiling.
It had been two weeks since I’d stepped out of the back of Emma’s car, where she turned me on and then insulted everything I was. Two weeks since she’d offered to pay me off with tokens, as if I were some stray dog she could toss scraps to in exchange for being her dirty little secret.
Keep me as a side piece.
The thought alone made my grip tighten on the hilt until the leather groaned.
She’d looked at me, a man bound to her by the sacred pull of the Moon, and decided I was only good enough for the dark.
“You’re going to grind that steel down to a toothpick if you keep at it, my Lord p>
I didn’t look up. Lucas leaned against the doorway of the armory, tossing a hunting knife into the air and catching it by the tip. His usual grin was muted as he watched me.
“Get out, Lucas,” I rasped.
“Just saying.” Lucas stepped back into the main room, where the hearth was dying down. “Usually, I’m the one punching holes in the wall and screaming at the trees. You’ve been stomping around here for days like someone set your coat on fire. It’s creeping everyone out p>
He wasn’t lying.
The entire camp had been walking on eggshells around me. Cherry had tried twice to bring up Emma’s name during the first few days after the fallout, asking what had happened. I’d turned on her with enough venom in my voice to send her backing out of my room without another word.
Kamala, who’d gone to visit a friend and had only returned two days ago, wasn’t there to back Cherry up, and she knew better than to push me while I was stewing.
I set down the whetstone and wiped the blade with a grease cloth.
It wasn’t just Emma’s pathetic offer eating away at me. It was the whole damn world closing in.
The council had given me four weeks to present hard evidence against my brother, and half that time had already slipped through my fingers.
And why?
Because Zachary was a coward.
For years, I’d sent letters, messengers, and used every channel available to reach my brother, begging for a face-to -face meeting to settle our father’s legacy without burning down the territory. But Zachary refused to acknowledge my existence. He hid behind the confines of his pack, playing noble ruler while leaving me to rot.
“Any word from the courier we sent to the eastern gate?” I called, wiping down a second dagger.
1/4
на
Four hated and seventeen
+15 Bonus
One of my guards stepped into the doorway, holding a leather scroll case. His eyes flicked toward Lucas before settling on me.
“The guards at the border post burned it in front of the messenger. They said Lord Zachary has issued a shoot-on- sight order for any rogue carrying your seal p>
A laugh escaped me p>
“Shoot on sight p>
“He’s a pink-cheeked little girl hiding behind his daddy’s old guards,” Lucas spat. “I’ve been telling you for months, Alexander, stop playing nice. Stop sending pretty letters. He isn’t going to talk to you because he knows he’s a fraud. Let me take six men, cross the southern border, and burn down one of his supply depots. Shake the place up. See if that coward doesn’t bring his head out to talk to you then p>
“If we attack their supply lines, the council will use it as an excuse against me,” I said, standing from the workbench. “I’m trying to reclaim a pack, Lucas, not destroy it p>
“Well, sitting here scraping steel isn’t reclaiming shit,” Lucas said. “You’re letting time run out p>
He was right. And that was what made my chest feel trapped in a vise.
I walked past them into the living area. Near the corner window, Cherry sat on a bench, staring at the screen of a tablet.
When she saw me, she tried to flip the tablet face down on her lap, but I caught the glow of photographs before the screen went dark.
“What is that p>
Cherry pulled the tablet against her chest.
“Nothing, Alexander. Just… pack news feeds. Chronicler updates p>
“Show me p>
“Alex, don’t p>
“Show me, Cherry p>
Reluctantly, she turned the screen around and tapped the glass.
A NEW CHAPTER: ALPHA CAMERON’S NIECE EMMA SPOTTED ON ROMANTIC DATE WITH FUTURE REGIONAL
ALPHA CHARLIE AT THE MOONSTONE TERRACE
Below the headline was a photograph.
Emma wore a sage green dress, her hair falling over one shoulder as she leaned across a table. Charlie stood across from her, smiling as he pressed his lips to her cheek while she held his hand.
I stared at the image. Rage flared in my chest.
The regional Alpha’s golden boy.
The same Charlie who’d arrived at the war academy years ago as a soft-handed kid. I’d taught him how to hold a sword, throw a punch, and survive an ambush. And now he was sitting in high-society lounges, holding the hand of my mate.
2/4
four nutma and seventeen
+15 Bonus
Worse, Charlie was Zachary’s ally.
Bima had turned down my bond, choosing instead to parade herself around with the son of the man who held my political neck in his hands.
My heart kept pounding until it ached.
Cherry seemed so concerned about me that she got up, held my hand, and led me to the hearth to sit beside me.
“The mate bond was a foolish distraction. I never needed it, and I damn sure don’t need it now p>
Kamala, who’d joined us, set down the bundle of dried mint she’d been sorting near the hearth.
“Careful, Alexander,” she said, her raspy voice cutting through the air. “Your pride is going to be the thing that buries you in these woods p>
“Pride?” I scoffed. “What in the hell does pride have to do with this, Kamala? I was ready to damn the consequences, announce our bond, and defend her name with my life, no matter how much blood it took! And what did she ask me to do p>
“Did you ever speak to her in plain terms? Did you assure her you’d be miserable without her? Did you beg her to stay p>
“You think that would have changed her mind? She wanted a dirty little secret to keep her warm when she got bored of playing high p>
Cherry didn’t interrupt.
“She’s young, Alexander, and she’s terrified,” Kamala said, though her gaze didn’t waver. “She comes from a sheltered home. You can’t expect a songbird to act like a hawk the moment you pull her from her cage p>
“She isn’t terrified. She’s selfish,” I rasped, turning my back on them. “If she wants a severance ritual, she can have it. She’s the only one holding onto it anyway. The moment she brings the ritual dagger, I’ll slice my palm without blinking p>
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Cherry had saved Emma’s number without my permission, thinking I wouldn’t see it. My fingers were cold as I typed a message to Emma’s number:
Stay in your shiny house with your golden-boy Alpha. Before you go further, do us the favor of severing the bond.
I hit send and shoved the phone back into my coat.
Kamala shook her head.
“All you’re doing is cutting off your own limbs to spite your shadow p>
“I don’t need a shadow,” I snapped, pulling my leather coat tight around my shoulders. “I need my territory p>
Cherry said, “Alex, she’s just trying to protect herself. She’s high-born and doesn’t know how to survive out here p>
“I don’t give a damn. You’d better stop trying to bring us together because you’re making things worse,” I snapped at her.
She sighed and walked away.
3/4
Cedella
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.