The Promise He Broke Beneath The Moon

"Clean it up."

Kael’s voice vibrated through the stone floor, heavy and unfamiliar.

I knelt among the shattered silver and spilled wine. The air in the corridor suddenly felt thick, pressing down on my lungs. Kael stepped out of the council room, his frame rigid. The scent of pine and ozone rolled off him in suffocating waves. He had turned eighteen today. His Alpha power was fully awakened, and it demanded submission.

Elder Jorah followed him out, boots crunching on broken glass. "Your eighteenth birthday brings the full weight of your Alpha blood, Kael. Do not waste it on distractions."

"I know my duties, Elder," Kael said.

"A pureblood mate secures your inheritance," Jorah pressed, ignoring me completely. "Binding yourself to a low-ranking Omega will strip you of your title. The noble circle will not tolerate weak blood in the lineage."

Alpha Thorne appeared in the doorway, his massive arms crossed. "Mara Laurent is the choice. It is settled."

"It is," Kael agreed.

My hands shook. A shard of silver sliced my palm, but I didn't flinch.

Kael’s boots shifted on the stone, stepping around the puddle of dark wine. He didn't offer me a hand. He didn't even look down.

"Get this mess out of the hall, Omega," Kael ordered.

He walked away. Elder Jorah and Alpha Thorne followed, leaving me alone in the shadows.

The next morning, the courtyard buzzed with cruel whispers.

"Look at her," Mara’s voice rang out, loud enough for the gathering crowd to hear.

I kept my head down, scrubbing mud off the training mats.

"I heard she threw herself at Alpha Kael in the council corridor," a male wolf sneered from the weapon racks.

"She dropped a tray just to make him look at her," Mara laughed. She marched over and kicked a pile of dirty training towels onto my wet stones. "Wash these. Twice."

"I have other chores, Mara," I said.

"You do what I say!" Mara shouted. She grabbed my collar, hauling me to my feet. "You think you can seduce him? He is a fully awakened Alpha. You are a dirty, unranked mistake."

"Let me go," I said, shoving her arm away.

Mara backhanded me. The crack echoed across the yard. Pain flared across my cheek, hot and sharp.

"Listen to me, mutt," Mara hissed, leaning in close. "Kael belongs to me. If you even look at him during the full moon feast tonight, I will have the guards throw you in the boundary cells."

Elder Jorah watched from the balcony above. He didn't intervene. He gave Mara a curt nod of approval.

A sudden wave of heat rolled through my stomach. I swayed, my knees trembling.

"Aww, is the little Omega feeling faint?" Tamsin mocked, stepping up beside Mara.

"She's sick. Keep her away from the food," another girl yelled.

I stumbled back, pressing a hand to my flushed neck. It wasn't a fever. The sweet, heavy scent of vanilla began to push through my pores. My heat was starting.

"I'll wash the towels," I muttered, grabbing the pile and hurrying away before they could catch my scent.

I locked the thin wooden door of my room in the servant quarters. My skin burned. I pulled the wooden wolf from my pocket and pressed it against my forehead.

*He promised. He wouldn't agree to the mating. He's just playing their game.*

A knock rattled the door hinges.

"Lila. Open up."

Kael.

I unlocked the latch. He slipped inside, closing the door fast. The small room instantly felt smaller. His Alpha aura was overwhelming, thick and dominant, making my wolf want to bare her neck.

"You smell different," he said instantly. His gray eyes darkened, tracking the flush on my neck.

"My heat is coming," I whispered. "Early."

He swore under his breath, pacing the narrow space. "You need to stay in here. Do not come to the feast tonight."

"Are you going to announce it?" I asked.

He stopped pacing. "The elders are threatening to strip my inheritance, Lila. They want me to challenge my father for the Alpha command, but I need the noble families' backing."

"So you're choosing the title over me."

"I am choosing survival!" he snapped. "If I lose my rank, I am nothing. I can't protect you if I'm exiled."

"You aren't protecting me now!" I yelled, pointing to the red mark on my cheek. "Mara hit me in front of the whole pack. She tells everyone I'm a whore trying to steal you."

Kael’s jaw clenched. He reached out, his fingers hovering over my bruised skin. "I will handle Mara."

"How? By making her your Luna tonight?"

"I need time," he pleaded, his voice dropping. "Just stay hidden. When your heat hits, I will sneak away. I'll come to you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "You'll come to me?"

"I'll claim you in secret," he promised, his eyes locking onto mine. "Once we are bound, the council can't undo it. But I have to play my part at the feast first."

"They will kill me if they find out we mated," I said.

"They won't find out. Not until I have the Alpha command." He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me flush against his chest. "Do you trust me, Lila?"

I looked up at the boy who gave me his boots ten years ago. The boy who was now a fully awakened Alpha, terrifying and powerful.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Stay in this room," he ordered. He kissed my forehead, turned, and left.

Hours passed. The sun set. The drums for the full moon feast began to beat in the distance.

My temperature spiked. Fire licked through my veins. The vanilla scent grew thick, suffocating the tiny room. I curled on my thin mattress, gripping the sheets.

Then, the pack link flared to life in my mind. A public broadcast from Alpha Thorne.

*“Wolves of the Blood Moon Pack. Tonight, we celebrate the awakening of my son, Kael. And we celebrate his chosen mate.”*

I squeezed the wooden wolf, shutting my eyes tightly. *Hurry, Kael. Come to me.*

*“Step forward, Mara Laurent,”* Kael’s voice echoed through the link. It sounded cold. Resolute. *“Accept my mark.”*

My eyes snapped open.

He wasn't coming. He was marking her in front of everyone.

Before I could process the betrayal, heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor outside my room.

The lock on my door shattered. Wood splintered inward.

Three of Mara’s personal guards shoved into my room, their yellow eyes fixed on my sweating, heat-drenched body.

"Well, well," the largest guard growled, pulling a pair of iron shackles from his belt. "The future Luna said you needed an escort to the boundary cells."