The Alpha Burned His Own MoonChapter 3

"Rest assured, Alpha King," Balthazar sneered,

"Every dark witch has nine lives and does not perish so easily."

Drawing a silver ritual dagger, the High Priest drove it mercilessly through my core.

A blood-curdling howl ripped from my chest as the agonizing shock shattered my human form.

The silver forced my bones to twist and expand, throwing me into my primal sacred aspect—

A white nine-tailed wolf, though so drenched in blood and grime that it could not be recognized.

Samantha recoiled for a split second before a gloating grin spread across her lips.

She had them hurl me into a heavy iron cage.

……

I drifted in and out of darkness, lost in the fever of burning wounds.

When sensation slowly crawled back into my numbed limbs, a soothing coolness touched my gashed shoulder.

"I wanted to believe you, Snow," Cedric’s voice murmured in the gloom.

"It is just that your nature is too dangerous for our kind."

He was tending to my wounds just as he had done long ago.

"When I first found you freezing in the snowdrifts, I bandaged your paws like this."

Back then, gravely weakened from sealing the monsters, I collapsed in the freezing wastes.

The young Cedric had stumbled upon me, wrapping his own fur cloak around my shivering frame and smuggling me into the royal pavilion.

To repay his compassion, I stayed.

Orphaned, surrounded by treacherous regents and vicious rival alphas, he was a lonely, powerless heir.

Seeing his sorrow, I often took the guise of a soft-spoken pack maiden, hunting beside him and teaching him the ancient ways of the wild.

"You stood beside me through every war," Cedric whispered into the dark.

"I know in my heart you loved me once. But as Alpha King, my duty to the pack comes before all else."

"Heal Shane, and I will grant you exile. You may run free in the outer wastes."

That night, a nightmare bled into my fitful slumber.

Inside the Great Hall of Skulls, dozens of pack elders knelt before Cedric’s throne, their voices heavy with fear.

"Alpha King! The blood-red comet encroaches upon the Moon Goddess's constellation!"

"An omen of death and rot! That white-furred witch cannot be kept alive!"

The hall rumbled with unanimous roars.

"Our lands wither! Our pups are born weak! The Alpha heir lies at death’s door!"

"We implore the Alpha King to execute the witch under the full moon to cleanse our territory!"

Cedric sat upon the throne, his knuckles white against the armrests.

Suddenly, Samantha rushed from behind the heavy furs, throwing herself at his feet in tears.

"Cedric! Shane has been comatose for a fortnight! If you hesitate any longer, our pup will take his last breath!"

Cedric closed his eyes, his hesitation burning away into ruthless resolve.

"Summon High Priest Balthazar. Prepare the sacrificial altar for tomorrow night."

I woke with a violent gasp.

I was no longer in the iron cage.

My limbs were stretched wide, bound to iron rings set into the Bloodstone Altar.

Samantha caught my waking gaze and signaled to Balthazar.

The High Priest chanted a sharper incantation. Blinding agony ripped through my skull.

"Cedric," I rasped through bloody teeth.

"If you intend to slaughter me, end it swiftly."

Samantha bounded up the altar steps, striking my face twice with the back of her ringed hand.

"Insolent beast! How dare you speak to the Alpha King with such disrespect!"

Cedric stepped between us, pulling her back.

"Stay clear, Samantha. Her witchcraft is unpredictable."

He turned to me, his golden eyes cold as midwinter frost.

"Snow, this is your final opportunity. Will you save Shane?"

"If you heal him, I may yet spare your life."

Swallowing the metallic tang in my mouth, I looked at him with burning contempt.

"I search my soul and know I never harmed a single pup in this territory."

"Yet for her lies, you pierced my core and murdered my unborn child."

"And now you demand that I save a soul whose mortal thread is cut? Never."

Samantha shrieked, clutching Cedric’s chest.

"Did you hear her, Cedric?! She curses our child to die!"

Cedric’s eyes darkened into pitch.

"High Priest, you spoke of another method to save my heir."

Balthazar and Samantha exchanged a triumphant glance.

"Alpha King, the sacred texts speak of the Nine Faces of the Moon," Balthazar said smoothly.

"The primordial white wolf embodies nine aspects of the goddess."

"If we sever one of her tails, it can call the heir’s soul back to his vessel."

"However, severing a tail means stripping away one life and all the memories."

Cedric did not hesitate for a heartbeat.

"Carry out the ritual."