Chapter 18 Chapter 18
Anya’s POV
Alpha Zakarius rose slowly from his seat, his drunken gaze fixed on me. He looked as if he hadn't just seen a ghost, but a feast laid out just for him. His eyes raked over every inch of me, a low whistle escaping his lips.
"Well, well... the human girl," he drawled, his voice a low, carrying whisper that sliced through the dead silence of the tavern.
A wave of animosity hit me from every corner of the room. The serving wenches and omegas—the pack's servants—frowned, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear and resentment.
But the high-ranking she-wolves, the ones seated at the tables of honor, were worse. They didn't just frown; they raised delicate eyebrows, their glares a silent, venomous question: What is that doing here?
Zakarius tore his gaze from me and grinned at Alpha Kai, his voice booming with drunken confidence. "Is she going to warm my bed tonight, brother? A gift for your guest?"
Alpha Kai's face was unreadable. He didn't answer Zakarius. He reached me in two long strides, and for the second time today, he shrugged off his heavy outer coat and wrapped it tightly around me, shielding my chest from the room's predatory stares.
Then he leaned in, his voice a low, furious growl meant only for my ears. "Why are you dressed like that?"
Like it was my fault? I thought hysterically. He was the one who sent the tailor! He was the one who insisted on these styles!
I didn't dare answer. I just lowered my head, my face burning with a shame so deep it stung, and let him grip my arm and steer me through the silent, staring crowd toward his table.
The raucous party had turned into a tribunal. And I was the heretic, tied to the stake, that everyone wanted to see burn.
I was forced to sit on the bench next to Alpha Kai, close enough that our thighs brushed.
Across the heavy oak table, the disgusting, drunken Alpha Zakarius leered at me, his eyes practically undressing me right through Kai's coat.
He slammed his tankard down, splashing ale. "Brother," he boomed, "you never answered my question. Is this pretty little thing going to warm my bed tonight?"
He leaned forward, his voice like a lecherous whisper that everyone could hear. "We all know she's just a human servant. Surely you can... share... a little with your brother?"
The tavern was silent, waiting.
Kai didn't look at Zakarius. He calmly poured himself a cup of wine, his movements deceptively slow. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously, lethally quiet.
"She is not for sharing, brother."
His gaze lifted, cold and flat. "I have dozens of human servants you can 'use.' There are plenty of omega she-wolves in the kennels, if you prefer something... wilder. But my human..." He paused, his eyes finding mine for a split second, "is not a sex slave. She is my personal servant."
Zakarius stared at him for a moment, and then he threw his head back and roared with laughter.
"'Personal' servant?" he bellowed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's rich! Does that mean she's already warming your bed, then? Or... not yet?"
His pack, sensing the mockery, joined in, their coarse, drunken laughter echoing the insult throughout the now-silent tavern.
The coarse, mocking laughter of Zakarius's pack filled the tavern.
Alpha Kai didn't laugh. He didn't even smile. The amusement in his eyes died instantly, replaced by a flat, cold void that was more terrifying than any rage. The temperature around our table seemed to drop.
Zakarius, too drunk to notice the shift, leaned forward again, his grin widening. "What's wrong, brother? Cat got your tongue? Or has this little pet got it?" He then made the fatal mistake. He lunged his hand across the table, his fingers aiming to grab my arm.
He never made it.
In a blur of motion so fast I barely registered it, Kai was on his feet. He didn't just block the hand; he caught it, slamming Zakarius's wrist down onto the solid oak table.
The sound of bone impacting wood echoed through the tavern, silencing every whisper. Zakarius roared in pain and fury, shoving the heavy table back, sending ale and food crashing to the floor.
"YOU DARE STRIKE ME?!" he bellowed, his other fist ready.
"You dare touch what is mine?" Kai growled back, his voice a low, animalistic rumble.
The two Alphas collided in the center of the room. It wasn't a duel; it was a brutal, bare-knuckled brawl. Fists met jaw.
They crashed into a support beam, the wood splintering under their combined force. The entire tavern was on its feet, a mix of terrified gasps and drunken cheers.
"Alphas, stop!" Beta Miguel screams. He signaled to Zakarius's own Beta, a mountain of a man who looked just as horrified.
The two second-in-commands moved in unison, a dangerous but necessary act. Miguel grabbed Kai from behind, trying to pin his arms. "Alpha, no! He is drunk! This is beneath you!"
Zakarius's Beta was rougher, tackling his own leader around the waist. "Alpha Zakarius! You are a guest here! Do not shame the Moon Hunters!"
It took the strength of both Betas to finally haul the two snarling Alphas apart. Kai was breathing heavily, his eyes still locked on Zakarius, a promise of murder in them.
Miguel stepped between them. "Alphas, please. You have both had... too much ale," he said, forcing a strained calm into his voice. "The night is late. It is time to rest."
Zakarius, clutching his clearly broken wrist, was swaying on his feet, his eyes still wild with drunken rage and bravado. He pointed a shaky, uninjured finger at Kai.
"Fine... fine," he slurred, a sloppy, arrogant grin spreading across his face. "We'll settle this. If I can beat you... she's mine."
He laughed, as if he'd just had the most brilliant idea in the world.
"If not... she's yours."