Maya's POV

I stood in the middle of Alpha Kael's ruined study, my heart hammering against my ribs. The air still smelled like his rage, and my blood.

I looked down at the floor. The spilled tea was a dark puddle on the black stone. I quickly grabbed a cloth and began to scrub. I had to hide the evidence. If anyone smelled the metallic tang of my blood in that tea, they would ask questions I couldn't answer.

"Treaty Bride." The words echoed in my head. Prince Victor Valerius was not just any vampire, he was a royal. He was a hunter. He was the man my father had warned me about before he disappeared. Victor hated hybrids. He called them "dirty mistakes."

I heard voices in the hallway. Heavy boots and the clanking of armor. The pack was moving. They were getting ready for a feast to welcome the Prince. In the Silver Peak Pack, we hated vampires, but we followed the laws. If a Prince came to visit, we had to feed him.

A small side door opened. It was Sela, my sister. Her face was tight with worry, and she was carrying a simple grey dress.

"Maya! Thank the spirits you're okay," she whispered, rushing to me.

She looked at the floor, then at my thumb. She saw the tiny cut.

"You gave him your blood again, didn't you?"

"I had to, Sela," I said, my voice shaking. "He was going to kill the guards. He was going to kill me."

Sela grabbed my hands, her eyes searching mine. "Maya, look at me. This has to stop. You are playing with fire. Kael isn't just a man anymore; he's a black hole. He's going to pull you in until there's nothing left of you."

"I can't just let him turn into a monster," I argued, pulling my hands away. "If he goes feral, the whole pack falls apart. The Vampire Council would use it as an excuse to wipe us out."

"And what happens when you run out of blood?" Sela hissed, her voice cracking with fear. "It's getting worse. The more he takes, the more he needs. You aren't healing him anymore, Maya. You're becoming his drug. His body is building a resistance to the drops. Soon, he will want the whole vein."

"I know the risks," I whispered, looking at the door.

"No, you don't!" Sela grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently. "The Blood Moon is coming. Your body is already starting to shift. If you keep giving him your essence, you are choosing the wolf side by accident. You won't have a choice left when the moon turns red. You'll be stuck as a servant to a madman forever."

"He called me his salvation, Sela. He looked at me like... like he actually saw me."

Sela let out a sad, bitter laugh. "He saw a bottle of medicine, Maya. Not a girl. Now, listen. The Vampire Prince is downstairs. He's asking for the 'servant girl' who cleans the Alpha's room. He's already poking around, looking for a reason to cause trouble."

My blood went cold. "He knows?"

"He suspects something," Sela said, handing me the dress. "Kael ordered you to stay here, but the Pack Council overrode him. They want all the omegas downstairs to serve the wine. If you don't show up, it will look suspicious. Put this on. Keep your head down. Do not look the Prince in the eyes. If he catches a whiff of what you are, not even Kael can save you."

The Great Hall was filled with the smell of roasted meat and expensive wine. Long wooden tables were packed with thirsty, loud werewolves. But at the very front, on a raised platform, sat the guests.

Alpha Kael sat in his large stone throne. He looked calm, but I could see the tension in his shoulders. His gold eyes were fixed on the man sitting to his right.

Prince Victor was beautiful in a way that hurt to look at. His hair was the color of moonlight, and his skin was as white as marble. He wore a suit of deep crimson silk. He wasn't eating. He just held a glass of wine, swirling it slowly.

"More wine, runt!" a guard barked at me.

I hurried forward, keeping my eyes on the floor. I held the heavy clay pitcher with shaking hands. I moved from table to table, filling cups. I tried to be invisible. I was just a shadow in a grey dress.

But as I moved closer to the head table, the air changed. It became heavy and cold. It felt like a thousand needles were pricking my skin. This was the "Vampire Pull." My own vampire blood was reacting to a royal. It wanted to bow. It wanted to scream.

I reached Kael's chair. I leaned forward to fill his cup. As I did, his hand shot out and gripped my wrist. It wasn't a mean grip, but it was possessive. He didn't even look at me; he kept staring at Victor.

"This is the girl," Victor said. His voice was like silk sliding over a blade. It was smooth, but it could cut you in half.

Kael's grip on my wrist tightened. "She is just a servant, Prince. She has nothing to do with our treaties."

"Is she?" Victor leaned forward. His ice-blue eyes locked onto me.

I felt a shock run through my body. It was like he was looking straight through my skin, seeing the dark, shimmering blood in my veins. My fangs ached. I bit my lip hard to keep them from sliding down.

"She has a very... interesting scent," Victor whispered. He stood up slowly. The entire hall went quiet. Even the loudest wolves stopped eating. "She smells like a wolf. But underneath... there is a hint of something sweet. Something royal."

Kael stood up too. He was much bigger than Victor, a wall of muscle and fur. "Sit down, Valerius. You are a guest in my home. Do not insult my people."

"I am not insulting her," Victor said, walking around the table. He moved so fast it looked like he was teleporting. Suddenly, he was standing right in front of me.

I couldn't help it. I looked up.

Maya's POV

Victor's eyes were glowing with a hungry light. He reached out a long, pale finger and brushed a strand of hair away from my neck. I felt a spark of dark magic.

"The Treaty of the Blood Moon says I may choose any bride from this pack to take back to the Kingdom," Victor said, his voice echoing so everyone could hear. "The Elders said I should choose a strong female. A warrior."

He leaned down, his lips touching my ear.

"But I think I want the runt," he whispered. "I want to see what happens when I peel back this grey skin and see what's hiding underneath."

"No!" Kael roared.

The Alpha's power exploded out of him. He grabbed Victor by the collar and slammed him against the stone wall. The wolves in the hall all stood up, growling. The vampire guards drew their silver swords.

"She is mine!" Kael shouted. His voice was the "Alpha Command." It was a magical force that made everyone in the room drop to their knees.

I fell to the floor, my hands over my ears. The power was too much.

Victor just laughed. Even with Kael's hand around his throat, he laughed. "You are feral, Kael. Your mind is breaking. You think she belongs to you? You're addicted to her. I can see the marks on your soul."

Victor looked down at me, a cruel smile on his face.

"Tell me, little hybrid," Victor said. He used the word. Hybrid. The room went silent. Every wolf in the hall stared at me. Their eyes went from confusion to pure hatred. To a wolf, a hybrid was a monster. A curse.

"Is it true?" Elias asked from the side, his face full of horror. "Maya... are you a leech?"

I couldn't speak. I looked at Kael. I expected him to throw me to the vampires. I expected him to kill me himself.

But Kael didn't let go of Victor. He looked down at me, and his eyes weren't black with madness. They were gold. They were clear.

"I don't care what she is," Kael said, his voice deep and steady. "She saved my life. She stays with the pack."

"Then you have broken the treaty," Victor said, his eyes turning red. "And the Vampire King will bring war to your mountains before the moon turns red."

Victor vanished in a cloud of black smoke, his guards following him.

The Great Hall was left in chaos. Wolves were shouting, demanding my death. They were calling me a spy. A demon.

Kael stepped down from the platform. He walked toward me. The wolves parted for him, terrified. He reached down and picked me up in his arms.

"She isn't a demon!" Kael shouted to the room. "And anyone who touches her will answer to me!"

He carried me out of the hall and back toward the stairs. I was shaking so hard I could barely breathe.

"Why did you do that?" I whispered against his chest. "They hate me now. They'll kill us both."

Kael didn't answer until we reached his room. He set me down and locked the door. He turned to me, his face full of a strange, hungry pain.

"I didn't do it for the pack, Maya," he said. He stepped close, his hand cupping my cheek. His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, pulling it down just enough to show the tips of my white fangs. "I did it because I can't live without you. And if the world wants to burn you, they have to go through me first."

He leaned in, his forehead resting against mine.

"But Victor wasn't lying," Kael whispered. "I can smell the other one on you now. The choice is starting, Maya. Your body is changing."

I looked in the mirror over his shoulder. My eyes, usually grey, were starting to glow with a faint, violet light.

The night was too quiet. After the chaos in the Great Hall, Kaelen had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep. The "Alpha Command" he had used took a lot of strength. I watched his chest rise and fall for a moment. He looked so peaceful, but I knew the peace wouldn't last. The pack wanted me dead, and the Prince wanted me as a trophy.

I couldn't stay in that room. My skin felt tight, and my heart was racing. I needed air.

I waited until the guards at the door rotated their shift. I knew the castle better than anyone... I had spent years scrubbing every secret corner of it. I slipped out through a small servant's window and dropped into the cold, wet grass.

I ran. I didn't stop until the stone walls of the Silver Peak Pack were far behind me. I headed straight for the Shadow Border, where the trees were thick and the mist was heavy. This was the only place I felt like I could breathe.

"You always were a runner, Maya," a voice whispered from the dark.

I froze. My fangs slid down instantly. My wolf ears twitched. I turned around, my back against a white tree.

"Who's there?" I demanded.

A woman stepped out from behind a veil of mist. She was beautiful, but her beauty was scary. She had long, wild hair the color of midnight and eyes that glowed like purple fire. She wore a dress made of old lace and feathers.

"Mother?" I whispered. My voice broke.

I hadn't seen Morgana Van* since I was a little girl. She was the woman who had left me at the pack gates with a lie and a prayer.

"Don't look so shocked, little bird," Morgana said. She walked toward me, her feet making no sound on the leaves. She reached out to touch my cheek, but I pulled away.

"You left me," I said, my anger rising. "You left me to be a slave! You knew they would hate me if they found out what I was!"

Morgana laughed, and the sound made the trees shiver. "I left you to survive. If you had stayed with me, the Vampire King would have found you years ago. I hid you in the one place no one would look for a hybrid-in a pack of prideful, stupid wolves."

"Kael isn't stupid," I snapped.

Morgana's eyes narrowed.