Chapter 5 The Alpha's mask

Chapter Five: The Alpha's Mask

The rain fell in sheets over the Black fang Fortress, thunder rumbling like the growl of an ancient beast. It had been three days since the punishment, and still, whispers followed Liah wherever she went.

They called her marked. Cursed. Unnatural.

And worst of all - Selene's enemy.

The guards sneered when she passed. The servants avoided her eyes. Even the cook, who once gave her scraps, now turned her away.

And Kael?

He hadn't spoken to her since the healer's hut.

But that silence would break tonight.

---

In the Alpha's private chamber, Kael stood alone with the forbidden tome spread across his desk.

The pages had changed.

Last night, he had dared to drip his own blood onto the ancient rune in the center of the book - a key only Alpha blood could unlock.

And now... the truth was staring back at him.

"Bound-Blooded are not merely humans with power. They are remnants of the First Moon's Wrath - daughters of an exiled force that once sought to devour the Alpha line. Their return is a prophecy. And the Alpha who bonds with one... may be destroyed by her."

Kael's jaw tightened.

Liah wasn't cursed.

She was dangerous.

Deadly.

And he - the Alpha - was bound to her whether he liked it or not.

---

Selene found him standing by the fire, staring into the flames like a man unraveling.

"You haven't slept," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let me help you carry this burden."

He turned to her slowly.

And then - for the first time - he let her touch him.

"I accept you," he said, his voice hollow. "You will be my mate."

Selene blinked, shocked. "You... you mean it?"

He nodded.

And just like that, a public announcement was made.

---

The fortress buzzed with celebration.

Banners were hung. Warriors drank. Selene walked the halls like a queen already crowned.

But Liah... was crumbling.

She wasn't even allowed to serve in the hall that day. Instead, she was dragged outside to the training grounds.

There, Kael waited.

No warm glances. No protection. Nothing but cold, controlled rage in his eyes.

"You're to learn obedience," he said. "You'll train with the warriors now. They need to know how to break your kind."

Your kind?

Liah stared at him, stunned. "I don't understand. Why are you-?"

He shoved her to the ground.

"No questions," he growled. "You're not here to be understood."

Selene stood nearby, watching with a smirk as Liah was forced to run drills, dodge hits, and crawl through mud like an animal.

Every time she fell, Kael made her get back up.

Every time she bled, he told her she wasn't bleeding enough.

And still... the glow in her wrist never left.

It pulsed stronger with every drop of pain.

---

That night, Liah limped back to the servant's quarters, soaking wet, bones aching, heart torn.

She curled up in her blanket, face hidden.

Was he disgusted by her?

Had he truly chosen Selene?

Why did he save her before... only to destroy her now?

But somewhere in the forest, the wind carried a message only the moon could understand:

"The Alpha wears a mask... but even masks crack."

---

Secret Scene (Kael's POV):

Kael stood in the hidden chamber beneath the Elder's Hall - a place no one entered but the Alpha himself.

He dropped to one knee before a cracked mirror, where a glowing symbol etched itself across the glass.

Liah's mark.

His hand trembled as he reached toward it.

"I had no choice," he whispered. "I needed to make her hate me."

A voice echoed from the shadows - an ancient one.

"You cannot protect the girl and protect the pack. One must be sacrificed."

Kael closed his eyes.

"I won't let her be sacrificed," he growled. "Even if she ends up hating me fo