The Promise He Broke Beneath The Moon

The guards did not take me to the boundary cells. Not immediately.

"Move your feet, trash," the scarred guard snapped, yanking the iron chain attached to my cuffs.

"My room," I gasped, the fever of my heat burning my throat. "Alpha Kael said to stay in my room."

"Alpha Kael isn't giving the orders tonight," the second guard laughed, shoving me forward.

My knees hit the frozen dirt. The vanilla scent of my heat clouded my vision, but the freezing wind ripped through my thin clothes, shocking me awake.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, struggling to stand.

"To the festival," the scarred guard replied. "Lady Mara requested your presence."

"I am unranked. I am not allowed in the square."

"You will be wherever the future Luna tells you to be."

They hauled me up by my arms and dragged me into the glaring light of the central courtyard. The Full Moon Mating Festival raged around us. Drums pounded in a relentless rhythm. Massive bonfires roared, sending sparks into the black sky.

They threw me into the back of the dense crowd.

"Keep her right here," the scarred guard said, his hand resting on his silver blade. "If she steps out of line, break her legs."

"Understood," the other guard grunted.

I leaned against a cold stone pillar to keep from collapsing. My skin burned. I stared at the grand dais at the far end of the square.

*Please, Kael. Tell me the broadcast was a lie. Tell me you are playing them.*

Elder Jorah raised his wooden staff, striking the stone floor. "Silence!"

The cheers died down. The drums stopped.

"Tonight, the Blood Moon Pack secures its future," Jorah announced, his voice carrying easily over the quieted crowd. "Alpha Kael, step forward."

Kael walked to the edge of the dais. He wore the ceremonial black tunic of an Alpha heir. His posture was perfectly rigid.

"Have you made your choice?" Jorah asked him.

"I have," Kael replied.

Alpha Thorne stepped up beside the elder. "Does she possess the noble blood required to lead our forces?"

"She does," Kael answered, staring straight ahead.

Nobles in velvet cloaks murmured in the front rows.

"It has to be Mara," a high-ranking Beta whispered to the woman beside him. "The Laurent wealth is the only thing keeping our borders funded."

"If he picks a low-ranking bitch, the council will strip his Alpha command tomorrow," the woman whispered back.

I swayed, biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste copper. The pain kept me grounded.

"Then descend," Alpha Thorne commanded. "Claim your Luna."

Kael stepped down the stone stairs. The crowd parted immediately, creating a wide, clear path through the center of the square.

Mara stood at the end of the aisle. She wore a crimson dress that dragged across the dirt. Her chin tilted up in absolute triumph.

But Kael did not walk straight to her. He veered left.

My heart slammed against my ribs. He was heading toward the outer edge. Toward the shadows. Toward me.

"He is going the wrong way," the Beta woman muttered.

Kael’s gray eyes scanned the faces in the dark and finally locked onto mine.

*You promised,* I mouthed. My throat felt too dry to speak the words aloud.

He stopped three feet away from me. The vanilla scent of my heat flared, reaching him. His nostrils flared. His fists clenched tight at his sides.

"You shouldn't be here," Kael said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper only I could hear.

"They dragged me out," I replied, my voice shaking. "You broadcasted her name."

"I had to."

"You promised you would come to my room."

"The elders forced my hand, Lila. Jorah threatened to exile me tonight if I refused the match."

"Then let them exile you!" I pleaded. "Leave with me."

"I will not survive as a rogue. Neither will you."

"We could try."

"No."

Mara pushed through the crowd, her heavy dress sweeping the ground. "What is this?"

"Nothing," Kael said, taking a quick step back from me.

"It does not look like nothing," Mara sneered, coming to a halt beside him. "It looks like you are talking to a prisoner."

"She is just a servant," Kael said evenly.

"Then why are you looking at her like that?" Mara demanded.

"Like what?"

"Like you pity her." Mara turned her sharp glare to the guards holding my chains. "Get this filth out of my sight. Take her to the boundary cells immediately."

"Wait," Kael said.

Mara whipped around. "Wait? For what? Are you challenging my order, Kael?"

"She hasn't committed a crime."

"Her existence is an insult to me," Mara snapped. "If you want my family's backing, she rots in the cells. Choose right now. The mutt, or your crown."

Silence blanketed the courtyard. Every eye watched the Alpha heir.

Alpha Thorne shouted from the dais. "Kael! End this spectacle!"

Kael looked at me. His jaw locked so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. The twelve-year-old boy who gave me his boots was gone. Only a terrified, ambitious Alpha remained.

"I am sorry," he whispered.

He turned away.

"Kael!" I screamed.

He did not stop. He walked straight to the center of the square.

"Smart boy," Mara said, following him into the firelight. Her voice rang with satisfaction.

"Let us finish this," Kael muttered, refusing to look back at the shadows.

"Ask me properly," she demanded.

Kael faced the crowd. "Mara Laurent, will you accept my mark?"

"Yes," Mara answered loudly.

She tilted her head to the side, exposing the pale skin of her neck.

Kael leaned down. His fangs extended. He sank his teeth into her mating gland.

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers. The drums started pounding again, louder than before.

I stood completely still. The heat burning in my veins turned to solid ice.

The wooden wolf in my pocket felt like a heavy stone.

*Forever.*

He lied.

"Show is over, mutt," the scarred guard sneered, grabbing the back of my shirt. "Time for the cells."

I did not fight him. I let him drag me backward, away from the light, away from the roaring bonfires.

My eyes stayed fixed on Kael. He pulled back from Mara's neck, wiping a single drop of blood from his chin. He finally looked up, watching the guards haul me into the darkness.

He did nothing to stop them.

"Throw her in the pit," the second guard laughed as we reached the heavy iron gates of the boundary cells.

They shoved me hard. I tumbled down the damp stone steps, scraping my knees before hitting the cold floor of the underground cell.

The heavy iron door slammed shut. The lock engaged with a loud, final clang.

I lay in the dark, my body shivering violently as the heat fever spiked again, unsuppressed by the freezing air.

Then, a low growl rumbled from the corner of the pitch-black room.

"You smell like vanilla," a deep, raspy voice murmured. "And betrayal."

I scrambled backward until my spine hit the iron door.

"Who is there?" I asked.

Two glowing golden eyes opened in the shadows.

"Someone who hates the Thorne family as much as you do," the voice replied.