Chapter 6 No.6

Kaden POV

I descended the grand staircase, each step heavy with the weight of a brewing storm. The crowd parted before me like the Red Sea, their murmurs dying out as they sensed the lethal chill radiating from their Alpha.

But my eyes were not on them. They were fixed on the woman in red.

Aline was still spinning in Deric Sullivan's arms. The crimson silk of her dress flared out, a violent splash of color against the monochrome elegance of the hall. It looked like fresh blood. My blood.

Deric leaned down, whispering something that made her head tilt back. And then, I saw it.

A smile.

It wasn't the polite, tight-lipped expression she had worn for the last three years of our miserable marriage. It was radiant, genuine, and blindingly bright. It transformed her face, erasing the gaunt hollows of her cheeks that my mother had so gleefully described.

My wolf roared in my head, a sound of pure, unadulterated fury. She smiles for him? After killing our pup?

The betrayal tasted like ash in my mouth. She wasn't grieving. She wasn't rotting in her room, begging the Moon Goddess for forgiveness. She was here, in the heart of my territory, flaunting her freedom in the arms of a rival Alpha.

"I can't believe she's doing this to you," Cori whispered, her voice trembling as she clung to my arm. We reached the edge of the dance floor, the music swelling around us. "On your night, Kaden. After everything... after the pup..."

Her words were precision strikes, targeting the rawest wounds in my soul. The mention of the child-the heir she had supposedly discarded just a week ago-turned my vision red.

"She has no shame," I growled, my voice low and dangerous.

"She wants to hurt you," Cori murmured, pressing her soft body against my side, her scent of vanilla and artificial sweetness trying to mask the rage rolling off me. "Don't let her see that it's working. Dance with me. Show her she means nothing."

I didn't look at Cori, but I pulled her onto the obsidian floor. My hand splayed across her back, claiming her, but my gaze remained locked on Aline like a predator stalking prey.

The orchestra transitioned into the Dance of Allegiance, a traditional rhythm where pack members rotated partners to show unity. I watched as Aline moved from Deric to an Elder, and then to a visiting Beta. To each of them, she offered that same polite, graceful nod. That same soft curve of her lips.

"Look how easily she gives her smiles away," Cori cooed, her head resting against my chest, her eyes following my line of sight. "It's as if... as if his presence is healing the very soul you thought was broken."

Healing her?

The thought snapped the last tether of my restraint. No. Deric Sullivan wasn't healing her. He was stealing what was mine. Even if I didn't want her, even if I rejected her, she was still my mate. Her smiles, her scent, her body-they were fated to me. Seeing her distribute them so freely to these lesser males was an insult to the Moon Goddess herself.

I was about to tear away from Cori and storm across the floor when the music shifted abruptly. The heavy drums of the ritual began.

"A swap!" The Master of Ceremonies' voice boomed, not just through the speakers, but echoing in the Mind-Link of every wolf in the room. As the Moon Goddess wills!

Two blinding spotlights cut through the dim ambiance of the hall.

The first beam of light crashed down on the far side of the room, illuminating Aline. She froze, her hand still resting on Deric's shoulder, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights.

The second beam hit me.

The silence in the Grand Hall was deafening. The air crackled with ozone and static electricity. Fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.

According to the ancient laws of the Gala, the chosen pairs must dance. To refuse was to insult the pack's traditions.

Cori stiffened in my arms, sensing the shift. Slowly, I untangled myself from her grip. My eyes met Aline's across the expanse of the floor. I saw the color drain from her face, saw the way her breath hitched.

Good. She should be afraid.

I adjusted my cuffs, the movement sharp and predatory. I didn't walk toward her; I prowled. The crowd scrambled to get out of my way, leaving a clear path between the Alpha and his estranged, traitorous mate.

I was going to dance with her. And I was going to make sure she remembered exactly who held the leash.