Chapter 6 6

Elinor POV

The morning light bled through the heavy velvet curtains, casting long, fractured shadows across the cavernous room. I opened my eyes, and my heart instantly seized against my ribs.

Kaelen was already awake. He sat in a high-backed leather chair near the window, fully dressed in a crisp dark shirt, his massive frame perfectly still. His obsidian eyes were locked onto me, burning with that terrifying, predatory gold. He looked like an ancient beast studying a new, unpredictable prey that had wandered into his den.

"You didn't answer my question last night," his subterranean voice broke the heavy silence, vibrating in my chest. "Why bind yourself to a monster when you could have taken a lesser male and faded into the background?"

I pushed myself up against the carved mahogany headboard, pulling the heavy silk sheets over my chest. I abandoned the mask of a terrified Omega. If I was going to survive this dark alliance, I needed him to see exactly who I was.

"Fading into the background means remaining a victim," I said, my voice steady despite the suffocating weight of his Lycan aura. "If I married Matteo or Luca, I would forever be the pathetic, wolfless girl Braden Blackwood threw away. A laughingstock meant to be pitied and used."

I met his gaze, refusing to flinch. "But as your wife? I am the Lycan King's Luna. I am the stepmother to the coward who rejected me. I didn't choose you for love or a fairy-tale mate-bond, Kaelen. I chose you for power. It was the only way to ensure my survival."

Silence stretched between us, thick and dangerous. I could almost feel Fenrir, his ancient inner wolf, humming in the air-a dark, vibrating energy assessing my worth. Then, the corner of Kaelen's mouth twitched. It wasn't quite a smile, but it was a terrifying approximation of dark amusement.

"You have the teeth of a wolf, even without one," he murmured, the golden rings in his eyes flaring with cold approval.

"Then let me use them," I countered instantly, seizing the microscopic opening. I had earned his respect; now I needed his authority. "Braden didn't just humiliate me yesterday. He insulted your choice. He spat on the Blood Treaty and the honor of the Blackwood Pack."

Kaelen's eyes narrowed, the amusement vanishing into lethal stillness. "Tread carefully, little wolf."

"I am your Luna," I pressed on, my pulse hammering a frantic rhythm. "And as his new stepmother, it is my duty to teach him the respect he so clearly lacks. I am asking for your authorization to wage a war on him. Let me collect this debt of honor for our pack."

I expected anger. I expected the Lycan King to put me in my place for daring to threaten his heir. Instead, a cruel, satisfied gleam ignited in the depths of his dark eyes.

He stood up, crossing the room with that silent, terrifying grace until he was looming over the edge of the bed. The scent of sharp cedar and raw, unadulterated danger washed over me, making my head spin.

"He is your problem now, Luna," Kaelen commanded, his voice devoid of any paternal warmth. "Teach him. Break him. I don't care."

My breath hitched. The sheer, unfeeling brutality of his words sent a chill down my spine. "How can you say that?" I whispered, genuine shock piercing my calculated armor. "He is your heir. Your own blood."

Kaelen leaned down, his face mere inches from mine. The heat radiating from his massive body was scorching, and his eyes were bottomless pits of obsidian.

"He is not of my blood," he stated, the words dropping like an executioner's blade.

The revelation hit me with the force of a physical blow. Braden wasn't his son. The golden prince of the Blackwood Pack, the boy who had tormented me and nearly destroyed my life, was a fraud. And the Lycan King had just handed me the ultimate weapon to destroy him.

Kaelen straightened, his expression returning to an impenetrable mask of ancient authority. He turned toward the heavy oak door.

"Get dressed, Elinor," he ordered without looking back. "My mother expects us in the Great Hall for the midday meal. It is time to see if you can carry the weight of the crown you demanded."