Chapter 1 Will You Die to Save Them

W-Where are you taking me?!"

Althea's hands scraped against the cold stone wall as she tried to grab onto anything. But she was too weak, too small. The two men dragging her barely felt her resistance. They hauled her like she weighed nothing.

She didn't know how long she'd been locked in that dark dungeon Luna Meena had thrown her into. Time blurred as everyone above scrambled to flee after her father's message arrived telling the entire pack to escape immediately. His attempt to overthrow the Alpha King had failed.And now the wrath of the Realm of the Moon was coming for them.

"Please..." she whispered as they pulled her up the stairway. Her eyes burned from the sudden brightness at the surface.

The world above was chaos. Torches blazed. Fire spread across the cottages. Screams and cries ripped through the night.

Althea's eyes widened in horror. Blood soaked the ground and bodies lay everywhere. Her father's pack was being wiped out.

Her heart sank. Her breath stopped.

She didn't ask the men anything else because the answer was already in front of her. She knew the moment she saw the destruction that their pack had fallen. Her father wasn't becoming the new Alpha King. He was now a traitor.

And she... she was being dragged to die because she carried his blood.

Althea squeezed her eyes shut as her shoulders slumped. Luna Meena hadn't taken her with them. They escaped without her. Left her here to face the Alpha King's fury alone.

They abandoned her.

And now she would walk toward the end she didn't deserve.

But when they dragged her into the grand hall, what she saw made her blood run cold.

Everyone was there... Luna Meena, her father's other mistresses, her half-siblings and even the servants who abandoned her.

All on their knees. Heads bowed.

Waiting.

Then... a scream. THUD.

Her half-brother's body crashed beside her, a pool of blood spreading like ink across the marble floor. Althea choked back a scream.

A familiar man stepped forward, face blank, blade dripping. He wiped the sword on her brother's sleeve without a second glance.

"Anyone else care to run and escape?" he asked, calm as if talking about the weather.

No one moved. No one breathed. Then his gaze landed on her. He wasn't just a guard based on his silver-trimmed armor and the force of his presence. He was, in no doubt, one of the Alpha King's most trusted warriors.

'Gamma Simon.' Althea quietly thought. She recognized him because he once visited their pack to personally deliver a message from the Alpha King last week.

"That one's human," he said, eyeing Althea. "No need for silver." A guard reached to shackle her anyway.

"Move, traitor-blood," the guard snapped, shoving her forward.

Althea stumbled. Her eyes lifted, just for a second, and met the guard's gaze. His sick thought hit her like a slap. 'She's the most beautiful of Alpha Cain's daughters. Killing her would be a waste... I will love to take her to my bed first. I wonder how she tastes when I-'

She quickly looked away, her stomach twisting.

Whether a gift or curse... she hated this ability to hear and read people's thoughts through eye contact. It had saved her life more than once but some truths were too disgusting to bear.

"You know the law," Gamma Simon looked around at the kneeling pack inside the hall and said coldly. "Alpha Cain committed treason and his bloodline must pay."

"If the rest of the pack bends the knee, they might be spared. But the traitor's family..." he let the silence drag, "...their fate belongs to the Alpha King."

Everyone knew what that meant. The Alpha King was ruthless and there was only one fate waiting for Cain's bloodline... DEATH.

Just then...

"The Alpha King approaches."

Silence fell like a hammer.

Althea's head snapped up, and there he was. Gavriel Kingsley, the Alpha King of the Moon Continent.

He stepped into the hall like a storm wearing a man's shape. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Every line of him radiated authority. His sharp, predatory gray eyes swept over the room, missing nothing.

Althea swallowed hard. He hadn't spoken a single word, but the weight of his presence crashed down on everyone the moment he entered. His power didn't need an announcement. It filled the air on its own.

Althea's breath caught as her eyes met his, just for a moment-

But there was nothing... She read nor heard nothing in those intimidating eyes of his.

Her gift, the one that always worked, failed for the first time.

'Why can't I read him?' she thought, heart pounding. Realizing she stared far too long, she quickly looked down.

"They are all here, Alpha King," Gamma Simon reported. "Except for Alpha Cain, his son Rett, and his Beta Lucio."

Still, Gavriel said nothing. He walked slowly, cold eyes scanning each face, each trembling child, each sobbing woman. Then he stopped in front of Luna Meena.

The woman quickly bowed her head, hitting the floor.

"Please, Alpha King!" Luna Meena cried. "We didn't know anything about Alpha Cain's betrayal. Please, have mercy! We'll do anything! Spare us!"

Silence.

Then his voice, deep and cold, filled the hall, "Will you die to save them?"

Gasps echoed then there was stillness while Luna Meena's face went pale.

"The punishment for treason is death to the traitor's bloodline," Gavriel said. "But I will grant mercy. If one of you takes responsibility."

He stared at Luna Meena. "One life for the rest. Yours."

Luna Meena hesitated. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Althea didn't need to hear her thoughts to know what she was thinking. But she did anyway...

'Why should I die? I'm the Luna. Noble. Important. That weak girl should be the one. Let her die!'

Then the words left Luna Meena's mouth, sharp and full of venom.

"Take her!" she screamed, pointing at Althea. "Alpha Cain will be devastated if she dies!"

Her voice cracked with desperation. "Even if he's in hiding, killing his favorite daughter will break him! She's nothing, just a weak human born from a slave! No one will raise another rebellion for her death. But Alpha Cain? He'll suffer. He cherishes that bastard more than anyone!"

Althea stood frozen as all eyes turned to her.

"Take her life instead! She was Cain's favorite! The reason he lost his mind! Kill her and end this!"