Chapter 42 FOURTY two
The one’s POV
The house buzzed with the low hum of anticipation, the kind that made my skin crawl. Werewolves—pathetic wolves, all of them—milled around the grand hall downstairs like sheep pretending to be predators. Crystal chandeliers glittered overhead, casting fractured light across black suits, shimmering gowns, and forced smiles. The mating ball. The night every unmated wolf over eighteen pretended the Moon Goddess had a personal plan for their lonely, howling hearts.
I adjusted the cuff of my all-black suit as I descended the staircase, each step deliberate. Black shirt, black tie, black shoes polished to a lethal shine. No color. No hope. Just mourning attire for what this night represented: another chain the pack would try to wrap around me.
My thoughts drifted to blood again—how satisfying it would be to paint these pristine marble floors red, to watch their shocked faces twist as life drained out. But patience. Plans like mine required precision, not impulse.
I scanned the crowd. There he was. Alpha Darius. The man who called himself my father. Broad-shouldered, silver streaking his dark hair, wearing that smug, paternal smile he reserved for public appearances. He moved toward me like he owned the air I breathed.
“Koda,” he greeted, voice warm for the audience. “I see you’re ready for tonight.”
I forced the corners of my mouth up. “Father.”
He chuckled, eyes raking over my outfit. “All black? Are you expecting a mate… or a funeral?”
I met his gaze evenly. “I expect nothing but the second.”
His smile faltered for half a heartbeat. “What?”
“I mean,” I continued smoothly, stepping past him, “I can’t wait to find my mate. That’s if I’m given one.”
He recovered quickly, the politician’s mask sliding back into place. “We’ll be hopeful. The Moon Goddess provides. You’ll get one.”
Hopefully the whole place blows up, I thought, werewolves and their pathetic mates bonding in flames.
A pack elder approached him then—some urgent murmur about border patrols—and I seized the distraction. I slipped away, melting into the crowd like smoke.
The air grew thicker near the staircase, scented with perfume, nerves, and barely restrained wolf musk. I paused to breathe through my mouth, hating how it clung to me. Then I saw her.
Harper.
She glided down the stairs like she belonged in moonlight. Her dress was deep emerald, hugging her curves before flowing into a soft train. Dark hair cascaded in loose waves, catching the light. For a moment—just one treacherous second—something stirred in my chest. Not the mate bond. Never that. Just… appreciation. She looked like a weapon wrapped in silk.
My thoughts shattered when someone collided with my shoulder.
Drink sloshed. Cold liquid soaked through my sleeve and chest.
“Koda! It is you!” A high-pitched voice squealed. “You’re here! I haven’t seen you in school for so long.”
I looked down. Molly. One of the pack’s endless giggling omegas. Blonde curls, wide blue eyes, now wide with fake innocence. She clutched an empty champagne flute like a trophy.
I frowned. “Molly.”
“Don’t you remember me?” she pouted, batting lashes.
I glanced at the spreading stain on my shirt. “Oh, I remember.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for spilling on you!” she chirped, not sounding sorry at all.
My vision edged red. Literally. My wolf surged forward, eyes igniting crimson behind my human pupils. The glow reflected in her face, turning her excitement to terror.
“You will be sorry,” I said, voice low, lethal.
She gasped, stumbling back a step.
“Koda.”
The voice cut through the haze like cool water. Harper stood beside me now, close enough that I caught the faint scent of jasmine and storm on her skin. Her green eyes flicked from my glowing ones to Molly’s frozen expression.
“Everything okay here?” Harper asked, tone light but edged with warning.
Molly stammered something incoherent and fled into the crowd.
I let the red fade from my eyes, exhaling slowly. Control. Always control.
Harper tilted her head, studying me. “You look ready to murder someone.”
“Observant,” I muttered.
She smiled—small, knowing. “It’s a mating ball, Koda. Try not to scare off every eligible female before the moon even rises.”
“I’m not here to find a mate.”
Her brow arched. “Then why dress up?”
“To blend in.” I gestured at the sea of hopeful faces. “Until I don’t have to.”
She stepped closer, voice dropping. “You’ve been distant lately. Even for you. What’s going on?”
I considered lying. But Harper had always seen through bullshit. She wasn’t like the others—blindly loyal, blindly obedient. She questioned. She pushed.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I said.
“Liar.” She touched my arm—the wet sleeve—and her fingers lingered a second too long. “You’re shaking.”
Adrenaline. Rage. The wolf clawing inside. Not fear.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Her eyes searched mine. “Talk to me. Before whatever plan you’re cooking explodes in your face.”
I almost laughed. If only she knew how literal that was.
Instead, I leaned in, voice barely above a whisper. “Stay away from me tonight, Harper. Things are going to get… messy.”
Her lips parted. Surprise. Curiosity. Something dangerously close to concern.
Before she could respond, the pack horns sounded—deep, resonant, calling everyone to the central courtyard for the Moon Goddess’s blessing. The ritual would begin soon. The shifting. The claiming. The bullshit.
I pulled away. “Go enjoy your night.”
“Koda—”
But I was already moving, weaving through bodies toward the shadowed edges of the hall. My hand slipped into my pocket, fingers closing around the small vial hidden there. Silver nitrate mixed with wolfsbane extract. Colorless. Odorless. Lethal in the right dose when introduced to the pack’s ceremonial wine.
One sip. One toast to unity. One domino to topple them all.
I glanced back once. Harper stood where I’d left her, watching me disappear into the crowd. Her expression was unreadable—worry, suspicion, maybe even hurt.
Good.
Let her hate me.
It would make what came next easier.
The courtyard doors opened. Moonlight spilled in, silver and cold. Wolves surged forward, eager, desperate.
I stayed in the shadows, waiting.
Soon.
Very soon.
The blood I’d imagined earlier wouldn’t just be fantasy.
It would be real.
And when the screaming started, when the pack realized their perfect night had turned into a slaughter, they’d look for someone to blame.
They’d look for me.
Let them.
I was done being Koda, the Alpha’s disappointing son.
Tonight, I became something else entirely.
The end of their world.