The shards of the mirror glittered at Kieran’s feet like the remnants of a soul too broken to mend.
Heart thudding so violently it threatened to crack his ribs.
"Autumn!!!" His soul was calling out to that name.
All around him, heads were finally turning. Murmurs swelled. Faces finally saw him.Though they did not quite understand.
Before anyone could take a step or part their smug lips...
" Alpha...Alpha Kieran...My Lord!" a shrill voice came running towards them all.
A maid in a wrinkled apron burst through the crowd, panting, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. "It’s the girl...Autumn! She...hurt herself....she collapsed! She’s lost consciousness! There was blood!Healer Mango had to take her to the infirmary just now!"
Kieran’s vision tunneled.
"What?" His voice burst forth. Disbelieving.
His wolf yelped and then howled. " Must go! She needs us! Must go now! "
"I don’t know what it was...but she is not waking up! Healer Mango tried to restrain her with her magic but it didn’t quite work. Alpha I don’t..."
Then stuttered back to life with a vengeance.
He could barely breathe.
Every cell in his body screamed to run. To shift. His wolf was clawing at his chest.Almost on the verge of rebelling.To rip through stone and bodies until he reached her.
But then his eyes... fell on the congregation.
His gaze locked onto Velor’s smirk. Roanoke’s cold, indifferent sip of wine. The Elders watching him like vultures. The Council enforcers lingering at the edges, ready to pounce on weakness.
Roanoke’s arms crossed, barely masking his glee.
The others were silent.
If he reacted,they would see it as a crack in his armor. They would smell the desperation on him.
Kieran clenched his jaw so tight, he thought it might snap.
Kieran took a deep, shuddering breath...inhale, exhale, don’t fucking lose it...and forced his feet to still.
His fingers twitched at his sides, aching to wrap around a throat, to break some bones, to kill...
Instead, he turned to the maid, his voice eerily calm. "Tell Mango to ensure she gets the best care. I have my guests to attend. I will be there... when I am done."
The maid hesitated, wide eyed. "But Alpha, she..."
"Go." The command left no room for argument.
But then his voice cracked as he added, "Just ask Mango...tell her...I mean...just don’t let her slip."
The maid bowed deeply, tears in her eyes. "I will...Yes, Alpha."
Kieran stared after her for a beat... then turned around and walked back towards the feast.
It might have been Velor.
Kieran grabbed the nearest bottle of whiskey and a glass. His hands shook as he poured...fuck, fuck, fuck...then downed it in one burning gulp.
"Congratulations, Alpha Kieran. A union of great power. May your bond strengthen the realms."
Kieran nodded absently. The sound around him had dulled to a distant ringing.
"Ah, the Blackmoon King himself," an Elder crooned, shaking his hand. "You have tamed the wildest flames, haven’t you? She will make a beautiful Queen."
Kieran’s jaw tightened.Instead, he nodded again. "Thank you."
The next Elder brought up a gift box inlaid with sapphires. "To honor the sacred bond. May your seed be strong and your wolves pure."
Kieran blinked. Did the fucker just talk about his seed?
He forced a smirk. "Appreciated. Truly."
More came. And more. Like locusts, they buzzed and clapped and said things that made his stomach churn. The hall reeked.
"Make way, make way!" Roanoke’s booming voice cut through the crowd.
Kieran’s eyes darkened.
The bastard walked up with that self satisfied smirk, dragging Lyla along.Roanoke strutted up the edge of the stage, clapped Kieran on the back like they were drinking buddies, and barked a laugh. "That is no way to greet your guests, Alpha! Standing around like someone died."
He turned, chuckling at his own joke. "Geez, you kids need to be taught everything!"
Then, without warning, he grabbed Lyla’s arms and wrapped them around Kieran’s. "There," Roanoke said with a grin. "That’s how you host a party."
Kieran’s entire body stiffened.
Lyla’s fingers trembled slightly where they held his arm, but she did not move away. Did not dare as her father glared.
More guests poured forward, their attention now fully on the "happy couple." More congratulations. More blessings.Kieran let it happen.
Let the hands shake his.
Let the women kiss his cheeks.
Let the Elders toast him.But inside?
"To the happy couple!" someone slurred, raising a glass. Velor’s voice slithered across the room, mocking. "Trouble in paradise, Blackmoon?"
Kieran did not look up. His grip on the glass tightened until it cracked.
"I should rip his tongue out." He didn’t care.
"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. "FUCK YOU, VELOR!"
He hurled the goblet across the stone. It shattered near the musicians, who startled but kept playing...their smiles stiff, their eyes glassy.
Then came some lesser Alphas, Beta heirs.
But Kieran just stared straight ahead, his soul collapsing in on itself, second by second.
"Autumn is hurt. Autumn is alone."
Then he noticed some movement.
A flicker at the edge of the crowd.
Kieran’s gaze sharpened.His eyes stopped on a lad.
One of the Curzon boys...the ones Autumn had fought for, bled for, saved just days ago. The kid was slipping through the crowd, silent as a shadow, his small frame weaving toward the infirmary.
Kieran’s breath caught.
Small, pale, eyes wide with too much pain for someone that young.
Kieran watched as the boy looked around once more... then slipped away, like smoke.
For one moment, he felt happy...that Autumn wasn’t alone completely,she had people who cared...but then his eyes fell on Roanoke. He was turned around, drinking and smiling, chatting with someone.
Roanoke was capable of anything... what if...
Kieran could no longer sit back to debate the possibilities.