Chapter 56 What Happened Beneath The Moonlight
Alpha Dawn's POV
The lingering shadow of Calandra's ultimatum, ten days until the Onyx Power consumed me, felt heavier than the very air I breathed. The liquor did little to cut through the cold, calculated anxiety that gripped my gut. My mate is among those final three nominated breeders. The words were a lifeline, but they also felt like a noose. If Calandra was wrong, I was a dead man walking.
I left the cabin, the Pack staff immediately falling into formation around me. Their silent presence was a familiar comfort, and like a wall of obedience that kept the chaos of the Pack at bay. The receiving chamber was a quiet wing of the Palace, and the walk was unnecessarily slow. Each footfall became a heavy beat in the oppressive silence.
A young guard, his scent barely past the sharpness of adolescence, led the way. He stopped at the first of three identical mahogany doors. The subtle difference in the wood grain was the only marker separating my fate from mere inconvenience.
"The first breeder, Alpha," the guard murmured, his head bowed.
I nodded once. The metallic scent of anticipation and cheap perfume was already leaking from beneath the door. I inhaled slowly, methodically searching for the phantom scent of a bond, the scent of the woman whose soul could hold my darkness.
Nothing. Only the stale air of desperation.
I pushed the door open without hesitation and stepped inside. The room was warm, softly lit by bedside lamps designed to flatter.
A blonde woman, whose name I already couldn't recall, was perched on the edge of the bed. She was wearing a flimsy nightgown, and the silk jacket she had draped over her shoulders was currently slipping, deliberately, revealing a generous swell of breast. Her eyes were wide and blue, and she smiled with predatory confidence.
"Alpha, you're here," she purred, her voice sounding like a low invitation. She lifted a hand and blew a seductive kiss across the room toward me. "I have been waiting for you."
I didn't move beyond the doorway. I let my gaze drift past her, to the expansive window that overlooked the southern courtyard.
Through the glass, the early night sky was clear and black, and there it was, the full moon. I could feel its insistent pull, the breeding fever beginning to rise within my veins.
My focus snapped back to the woman. She was still smiling, still flaunting her chest, clearly interpreting my silence as appreciative inspection.
Your mate is among those final three.
Calandra's voice echoed in my mind.
I felt nothing. No spark. No warmth. No anchor. Just a disappointing emptiness. This wolf was strong, certainly, but she was just another ambitious person, nothing more than a temporary distraction. A feelings of icy impatience hit me. I tilted my head, not in confusion, but in dismissal.
I turned away from her, my hand already reaching for the doorknob.
"Go home," I said over my shoulder, my voice flat and final, letting the weight of the Alpha command settle on her. "You are done here."
I heard the sharp, disappointed intake of breath behind me, but I didn't wait for her protest. I closed the door and signaled the guard to the next one.
The second room was next. The smell here was different, less perfume, more fear. A thin, reedy scent of pure terror was seeping through the door.
I opened the door.
A woman in a cheap, vibrant red nightgown sat huddled on the bed. She was dark-haired, with wide, scared eyes that refused to meet mine. She was cowering in fear, clutching the covers to her chest, her entire body shaking visibly.
I stepped fully into the room, letting the Alpha scent wash over her. It was a test of nerve, one she was failing completely. I studied her face, looking for the light of kinship, but I saw only the reflection of her own imminent pain.
And again, nothing. No bond. Only pity, a weakness I quickly suppressed. The Onyx Power was growing impatient; it demanded a partner, not a victim.
I turned away, the red gown blurring behind me.
"You are dismissed," I commanded, the words clipped. I left the room and walked to the final door.
My breathing had deepened, becoming ragged. This was it. The last chance. Failure here meant facing the Onyx Power alone, facing the irreversible corruption and madness it promised in ten days.
My hand hovered over the handle of the third door.
Then it hit me. Not a scent, not a sound, but a physical, undeniable force. A hard pull in my chest, like an invisible rope yanking my soul toward the space beyond the wood. It was an instant, violent confirmation that shattered all my prior skepticism. The Onyx Power stirred in its cage, not in rebellion, but in recognition.
I pried the door open and stepped into the room.
And there she was.
She was sitting on the center of the bed, not trying to seduce me or hide from me. She was wearing a beautiful dress. It made my jaw drop, momentarily arresting the Alpha in me. She was absolutely gorgeous, her silver eyes wide, her long brunette hair cascading over one shoulder.
The moment our eyes met, the invisible rope in my chest snapped taut, and I saw them. The strings. They were faint lines of power, flowing like streams of liquid moonlight from my chest to hers. The undeniable, unbreakable, pre-ordained mate bond there was.
I didn't need to speak. I didn't need to test. I crossed the room in three strides, shedding my clothes as I moved.
Hours later, the moon was high. The room was dark, save for the blue light pouring in from the window. The air was charged with the scent of sweat, musk, and release.
Bambi was collapsed in my arms, her silver eyes closed. The bond was complete, the transfer of the Onyx Power initiated. I lay on my back, watching the moonlight filter across the ceiling, my mind already running scenarios for the next ten days.
A moment later, she shifted. She slowly sat up on the bed, pulling the sheet modestly to her chest. I remained laid on the bed, propped up on one elbow, content to observe her. She was tracing patterns on the sheet, her face pale and hesitant in the moonlight.
"Dawn," she finally said, her voice barely a whisper, contained with weariness and a sudden, terrible fear. "I… I have to tell you something."
I waited, listening to the rapid pace of her heart against the silence of the room.
"I was mistaken. I am not who you think I am," she managed, her voice cracking. She didn't look at me, keeping her gaze fixed on the covers. "I know I was one of the breeders, and I know what that means now, but the truth is… I'm an Omega."
I watched the confession tear out of her, piece by piece, looking like an act of sheer, desperate courage.
"I only came towards the Palace because I was trying to run. I planned to leave the Pack and take a rogue life, but then I was grabbed by some guards and mistaken as some Bambi—the Bambi you expected. It was never my intention to deceive you, or anyone," she whispered, tears glistening on her cheeks. "I am not worthy of the bond, I know. I'm just an Omega servant. I should never have been here."
She looked up at me then, her eyes pleading, ready for the scorn, the rejection, the immediate and violent dismissal she had certainly earned.
I reached out slowly, ignoring the panic emanating from her. I gently took her chin and pulled her soft, freckled face closer. I didn't speak. I simply leaned in and kissed her forehead, a long, tender, utterly possessive press of my lips to her skin.
She gasped, not expecting the gentleness.
I sat up with her, pulling her close again, wrapping the sheet around her shoulders like a robe.
"Bambi," I whispered into the warmth of her hair, the new scent of our combined power already sweetening the Omega scent. "I was aware."
She pulled back, startled. "A\-aware? But… how?"
I smiled, "You think I would enter the breeding selection without running a background check on the final three? No. I knew the moment I was led to this wing that you were a servant, an Omega with a strange history and a lot of ambition."
I lifted a hand and let my thumb brush gently across the fresh, fiery mark of the bond on her neck. It was already a deep, bruised purple.
"I was aware, Bambi," I repeated, my voice dropping to a low, intimate command. "I smelt your rank when I walked in. The deception was yours, but the choice was always mine. And I chose you. Now, you're mine."