United under A Shared Blood And Moonlight

Chapter 3

beating heart

My legs buckled when Marcus said those words about Alpha Caelum's wedding. I grabbed the doorframe to keep from falling as my heart broke into a million pieces.

"Wedding?" I whispered, looking at Caelum's face. "You're getting married?"

The look in his eyes was pure pain, like someone had just stabbed him in the chest. But he didn't deny it.

"Seraphina," he started to say, but I cut him off.

"Get away from me!" I screamed, backing into the house. "All of you, just leave!"

Mom rushed over and put her arms around me, but I could barely feel her touch. Everything felt numb and cold. How could this be happening? How could I find my mate and lose him in the same day?

"Everyone out!" Mom yelled at Caelum and his soldiers. "You've done enough damage!"

But Caelum stepped forward instead of leaving. His face was hard and determined, like he'd made some kind of choice.

"No," he said firmly. "I need to talk to Seraphina. Alone."

"Absolutely not," Mom snapped. "You've hurt her enough."

"She's my mate," Caelum said, and his voice was so strong that it made the walls shake. "I have the right to speak with her."

My heart jumped when he called me his mate, even though I was angry and hurt. Part of me still wanted to run to him and forget about everything else.

"Your mate?" Marcus said from behind him, sounding shocked. "Alpha, that's impossible. You're marrying Luna Elira in two weeks."

"I know what I'm marrying," Caelum growled without taking his eyes off me. "But this doesn't change what she is to me."

The other soldiers started whispering among themselves. I could hear words like "scandal" and "impossible" and "what will the pack say?"

Mom held me tighter. "Sera, you don't have to talk to him if you don't want to."

But I did want to. Even though he'd just broken my heart, I needed to understand what was happening. I needed to know why fate would be so evil as to give me a mate who belonged to someone else.

"Five minutes," I said, wiping the tears from my face. "That's all."

Mom looked like she wanted to argue, but she could see I'd made up my mind. She kissed my forehead and walked to the kitchen, giving us space but staying close enough to help if I needed her.

Caelum's troops moved back too, but I could see them watching through the broken doorway.

"Talk," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Explain to me how you can be my mate when you're marrying someone else in two weeks."

Caelum ran his hands through his hair, looking more upset than I'd ever seen anyone look.

"It's complicated," he said.

"Try me."

"The marriage to Elira was planned when we were children. It's a political union between our packs. I've never had a choice in the matter."

"But you're the Alpha," I said. "Can't you just say no?"

His laugh was sour and angry. "Being Alpha means putting the pack's needs before your own. Always. This marriage will bring peace between two powerful territories and avoid a war that could kill thousands of wolves."

I felt my anger starting to fade, replaced by something worse - understanding. He wasn't marrying Elira because he wanted to. He was doing it to save lives.

"So where does that leave me?" I asked quietly.

Caelum stepped closer, and I could smell his scent - pine trees and rain and something wild that made my wolf purr inside me.

"It leaves you with a choice," he said. "You can stay here in this village and say we never met. Live a normal life, find a nice Beta to marry, have normal children."

"Or?"

"Or you can come with me to my pack lands. Be near me, even if we can't be together the way we want to be."

My mouth fell open. "You want me to come live in your pack and watch you be married to another woman?"

"I want you where I can protect you," he said furiously. "Your smell is unlike anything I've ever experienced. When word gets about what you are, every unmated Alpha in the region is going to

come for you. Some of them won't take no for an answer."

A chill ran down my spine. I remembered the men who had circled our house earlier, the hunger in their eyes.

"What am I exactly?" I asked. "Everyone keeps acting like I'm some kind of freak."

Caelum's eyes got very serious. "You're what we call a moon-blessed omega. Your DNA is special, ancient. There haven't been any like you for over a hundred years."

"What does that mean?"

"It means your smell can drive any Alpha to madness. It means any children you have will be incredibly strong. And it means you're going to be hunted by wolves who want to use you for their own gain."

My legs felt weak again. "I just wanted to find my mate and be happy. I didn't ask for any of this."

Caelum reached out like he wanted to touch my face, but stopped himself. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I can keep you safe if you come with me. My pack is the strongest in the area. No one would dare try to take you from there."

"Except you're going to be married to someone else," I said, tears starting again. "How is that protecting me? How is watching you with another woman going to make me feel safe?"

"Because even if I can't claim you publicly, you'll still be mine," he said intensely. "My wolf has picked you. That tie doesn't just disappear because of some political marriage."

I stared at him, not believing what I was hearing. "You want me to be your secret? Your secret mistress while you play happy family with your wife?"

"I want you to be alive," he said desperately. "And if this is the only way I can keep you safe, then yes. I want you to be my secret."

The front door suddenly burst open again, and a woman with long black hair and cold blue eyes walked in like she owned the place. She was beautiful in a sharp, dangerous way, and she wore expensive clothes that screamed money and power.

"Caelum," she said in a voice like honey mixed with poison, "what's taking so long? We have important things to talk about our wedding."

My heart stopped. This had to be Elira Voss, his fiancée.

She looked at me with those cold eyes and smiled like a hunter who'd found easy prey.

"And you must be the little omega who's been causing all this fuss," she said sweetly. "How... quaint."

Caelum stepped protectively in front of me. "Elira, what are you doing here?"

"I came to meet my future husband's new pet," she said, walking closer. "I wanted to see what all the excitement was about."

She stopped right in front of me and breathed in deeply.

"Oh my," she said, her smile getting bigger and scarier. "You really are special, aren't you? I can see why Caelum is so... distracted."