Chapter 5 A deal with the devil

The parchment burned in my trembling hands.

"My mother didn't leave me?" I whispered, tears blurring my sight as I stared at Elder Ruth.

"She was taken?"

"Marcus took her," Ruth said, her voice cutting through the quiet room.

"He wanted her Moonborn power to break the curse for himself. When she refused him, he locked her away. He let everyone believe she ran from the pack."

"Where is she?" Kane demanded, stepping off his desk. His frame shadowed both of us, his eyes sharp with danger.

"Where is Marcus holding her?"

"In the crypts in the Moonstone Altar," Ruth answered, looking up at the Alpha.

"In the heart of the Hollow. Marcus knows Elara is her daughter. He forged those letters to destroy her bond with Declan, drive her out of Moonhaven, and force her into the open."

I clutched the parchment to my chest, my blood running ice cold.

Everything I had known was a lie.

My home, my mate, my mother's disappearance all these done by Marcus Hale to steal power.

"I have to save her," I said, my voice shaking with sudden resolve as I looked up at Kane.

"I have to get her out."

Kane let out a laugh.

"You can barely stand, little healer. You're going to break into the Altar's crypts alone?"

"I don't expect to go alone," I said, stepping right up to his chest.

"You need my Moonborn blood to stop your Rage. I need your warriors and your strength to save my mother and clear my name. Help me."

Kane tilted his head, a smirk in his face.

He leaned down, his face dropping until his warm breath brushed against the shell of my ear.

"You're making a bargain with the devil, sweetheart," he purred, his voice dropping into a low dirty whisper.

"What makes you think you have anything I want?"

A bright blush exploded across my cheeks, heating my skin instantly.

."My touch," I managed to say, holding his intense gaze despite the heat in my face.

"My scent. You said it yourself I'm the only thing stopping you from turning into a mindless beast."

Kane's eyes darkened, turning gold. He reached out, his long fingers wrapping around my waist.

He pulled me flush against his hard body, burying his face into the sensitive curve of my neck.

He inhaled deeply, drawing my sweet, warm scent straight into his lungs.

I gasped aloud as his warm lips brushed against my sensitive pulse point.

"You smell so damn good when you're desperate," Kane growled softly against my skin, his filthy words making my breath hitch in my throat.

"Fine. A bargain. I help you find your mother, and I kill the bastard who framed you."

"And what do you get?" I whimpered, my hands instinctively gripping his shoulders to keep my balance as my body flushed against his.

"You," Kane whispered, his lips sliding up to my jawline, making my head spin.

"You stay right here at Fangrock. You share my room, you share my bed, be my luna and whenever the curse burns in my blood, you let me take whatever I need from you."

My face burned like fire. "Kane..."

"Say yes, Elara," he purred, his heavy hand sliding down my hip, his thumb pressing possessively into my skin through the fabric of my dress.

"Say yes, and I'll tear the valley apart for you."

"Yes," I breathed, unable to resist the intense heat snapping between us.

"I agree."

Elder Ruth offered a grim, approving nod before stepping back toward the door.

"The path is set. But remember, Alpha... Declan Ashford is losing his mind without his mate. A wounded Alpha with a broken bond is unpredictable."

With those final words, Ruth slipped out into the corridor, closing the door quietly behind her.

The room fell silent once again with high, suffocating tension.

Kane didn't let go of my waist. Instead, his grip tightened.

"You look flushed, little healer," Kane murmured, his dark amber eyes trailing down to my chest, which was heaving in shallow breaths.

"Is my agreement too much for you to handle?"

"You're... you're very crude," I mumbled, trying to pull back, but his arm was an iron bar around my waist.

"I'm an outlaw Alpha," Kane chuckled softly.

"I don't play sweet games like your little Silver Moon prince. When I want something, I claim it."

"I am not claimed," I snapped weakly, my cheeks blazing red.

"Not yet," Kane whispered, leaning down until his lips is an inch from mine.

"But you will be."

Before I could answer, a loud commotion broke out down in the courtyard below.

Shouts of alarm echoed off the walls, followed by the clashing of swords and the furious snarls of shifting wolves.

Kane instantly let go of my waist, his head snapping toward the window.

The playful, dirty tone vanished from his face, replaced by pure instinct.

He marched to the window and threw it open. Cold rain and wind whipped into the room as he looked down into the courtyard.

"What is it?" I asked, running to stand beside him.

Down in the muddy courtyard, dozens of Blood Fang warriors had surrounded a single figure on horseback.

The horse was white, and with mud from a desperate, wild ride through the mountains.

The rider threw off his cloak, revealing golden brown hair, sharp hazel eyes, and a face pale with rage and exhaustion.

My heart stopped dead in my chest.

Declan.

He sat atop the horse, his clothes soaked through, holding a long silver sword in his hand.

He looked wild, unhinged, his eyes bloodshot and dark with a unstable energy.

His wolf was right under his skin, clawing to get out.

"Kane Blackwood!" Declan's voice boomed across the courtyard.

The Blood Fang warriors raised their spears, growling, but Kane raised a single hand from the window, ordering his men to hold their ground.

Declan looked up, his furious gaze locking directly onto the window where I stood beside Kane.

When Declan saw me standing in the enemy Alpha's private quarters, wearing a torn dress, my hair wild, with Kane's form towering right behind me his face twisted in pure devastation.

"Elara!" Declan roared, his voice cracking with unbearable pain and desperation.

"Elara, come down!"

My fingers gripped at the window until my knuckles turned white.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't speak.

The sight of him, so broken and unraveled, sent a sharp pang through my chest, but the memory of his harsh rejection at the altar instantly turned my heart into ice.

Kane stepped right up behind me.

He wrapped one possessive arm around my waist, pulling my back against his chest for everyone in the courtyard to see.

He looked down at Declan with a triumphant smirk.

"You're on the wrong side of the river, Ashford," Kane called out,

"You threw her away. She doesn't belong to you

anymore."

"She is my mate!" Declan screamed, his hand trembling violently on his sword hilt, his wolf howling in agony inside his mind.

"I know the truth now!

Marcus lied to me!

The letters were forged!"

I gasped, my breath catching in my throat. He knows.

Declan pointed his blade directly at Kane's, tears mixing with the rain on his pale face.

"I was blind, Elara!" Declan begged, staring up at me with desperation in his eyes.

"Please! I was poisoned!

I'm begging you... come home!

I'll kneel before you!

I'll give you everything!"

I looked down at the man who had been my entire world since childhood.

The man who had broken my soul in front of his entire pack without giving me a single chance to defend myself.

I took a deep breath, shifted my weight, and leaned back into Kane's warm chest.

I met Declan's eyes with a cold stare.

"I don't have a home in Moonhaven," I said, my voice steady.

"And I am not your Luna."

Declan looked as if I had driven a dagger straight

through his heart.

He stumbled back on his saddle, choking on his own breaths as fresh agony broke across his face.

"No... Elara, please..." he choked out.

Kane leaned down right beside my neck, his lips brushing against my ear so close that Declan could see the intimacy of the act from below.

"Tell him who you belong to now, sweetheart," Kane purred softly.

Declan's eyes flared with pure, murderous insanity as he raised his sword high into the air.

"I will burn this fortress to ashes!" Declan screamed, his voice transforming into a terrifying Alpha roar as he spurred his horse forward, charging directly toward the inner doors.

"Give me back my female, or none of you leave this mountain alive!"