Chapter 5 Eyes of Fire, Blood of Flame.

Days after the inspection, I was certain that Julise didn't know what she was saying when she said that the Beta knew. I'd half expected to be dragged out at dawn and executed in public for all to see, but here I was-heading to a banquet.

The Bloodmoon Banquet wasn't optional. Every servant in the palace was pulled in, and thanks to Julise, I'd been reassigned to serve wine in the main hall.

"Better the hall than the dungeons," she muttered, adjusting my collar. "Just stay quiet. Don't stare. And whatever you do, don't drop anything."

Easy to say when you weren't walking into a room full of killers dressed like they ruled it.

The banquet hall was massive-stone walls draped in blood-red banners, chandeliers dripping gold and firelight, and long tables filled with nobles talking too loud and drinking too much. The air stank of perfume, roasted meat, and power.

I kept my eyes low and the tray steady. One wrong move and I'd be dragged out by my hair.

They didn't care about girls like me. Especially not here.

Especially not if they knew what I was.

I passed the first two tables without incident. But at the third, halfway through pouring wine for a sneering noble with rings on every finger-I felt it.

Like the room exhaled. Like every thread in my body pulled tight.

I straightened slowly, the tray still in my hands.

He was here.

I didn't see him first. I felt him. Like a spark catching dry grass.

Then I turned.

And there he was.

Ryden Fall.

Alpha of the Narcolantis wolves

The man everyone feared. The man whose family wiped mine off the map.

His gaze found mine across the room. He sat at the head of the high table, draped in black and blood-red, surrounded by generals, diplomats, and wolves baring teeth behind polite smiles.

But he wasn't smiling.

He was staring.

At me.

And for one horrifying second, I stared back.

Nana Fiona's voice surged in my head, sharper than ever.

"Never trust a Vale. Their dynasty was built on dragon bones. Your blood is their power."

She told me how the Vale family framed our kind. How they painted dragonborns as monsters- unnatural, dangerous, rebellious. They feared our power. So they turned the kingdoms against us. Hunted us down. Burned our nests. Buried the truth.

My family didn't die in some forgotten war.

They were wiped out.

Systematically. Quietly. By people like him.

By him.

I looked away quickly, heart slamming. My hands were damp, my breath shallow. Keep moving. Don't shake. Don't let them smell it on you.

But I couldn't shake the feeling-his eyes still on me, like heat crawling down my back.

I moved faster, ducking around nobles, using the crowd to breathe. I turned toward the musicians' platform, trying to lose the weight of him in the noise.

But when I glanced at the high table again-

He wasn't there.

Then I heard him. Just behind me.

"You're not from around here." His voice wasn't loud. But it cut clean.

I flinched. Turned.

He stood too close. Eyes steady. Holding a goblet he hadn't touched.

Everything about him was still. Controlled. Dangerous.

"My lord?" I said, trying to sound smaller than I felt. Less like I wanted him dead and more like I didn't want to be dead.

He didn't answer right away.

His eyes swept over me. And then-he inhaled.

"You smell... off."

My blood iced.

He tilted his head. "Not like the kitchens. Not like the others."

I didn't move. Didn't breathe.

If he knew-

If he even suspected- "What's your name?" he asked.

I opened my mouth.

But Julise's voice cracked through the tension like a whip. "Mira! The roast-come now!"

I didn't wait.

I turned and walked away, fast. Not running. Just fast enough to feel my heart slam against my ribs.

Behind the curtain, Julise grabbed my arm. "He talked to you?" I nodded once.

She let out a breath like a curse. "Shit. He felt it, didn't he?"

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know what to say.

Because yes, he felt something.

So did I.

And that was the worst part.

For all the hate curled in my gut, for all the stories Nana Fiona drilled into me about fire and betrayal and bloodlines-

When he looked at me, I didn't feel hate.

I felt heat.

Confusion.

A pull I couldn't explain.

And if he kept looking...

He'd figure it out.

Not just who I was. But what I was.

And worse-so would I.

Ryden

The moment she walked into the room, she stole my attention. It wasn't just how she looked, with her gold eyes that told stories of dragon ancestors-it was something else. I don't usually get distracted by females, but with her, I couldn't look away.

There was a tension around her, like she was holding something back. I could feel it in the way she moved-careful, guarded. It made me want to know more.

But when our eyes met, I felt a pull, and I didn't care about dragon ancestors anymore. It was like she was daring me to see what she was hiding.

Normally, I don't get involved like this. I keep my distance.

But with her, I wanted to get rid of all the distance.