The Alpha's Hunt Chapter 49

I shrunk under the apprehensive eyes of everyone standing on the ballroom floor. They were dressed in beautiful gowns, wearing expensive jewelry that truly fit for a visit to the palace and I could tell with a steadfast certainty that they all looked down on me with a passion. Nobody could understand why the king had taken a chosen mate from the Hunt. He who could have his pick of female, had chosen a common girl with no extraordinary talents. Little did they know that the girl had no choice in the matter and that she was as unhappy with the result as they were.

On my way up to meet Darian I saw Elise strutting proudly around the large pedestal with a silver trolley on which she had at least six different kinds of wine. She gave each man around the table a wine glass and looked around the room for someone. That's when it dawned on me that Iliana wasn't with her.

Someone grabbed my arm, the smell of cologne burned my nose and he spun me around.

“Where is she?” Emanuel asked frantically. His fingers were pressing into my skin and his eyes darted over my face.

“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” I hissed and pulled my arm back. 

Emanuel towered over me and his eyes darkened as they stared into my soul. 

“She better be,” he remarked in a tone so chilly I could've sworn a cloud left his lips.

I was standing on the third step on my way up when Emanuel stepped down and turned to look at Iliana hurrying into the ballroom. She carried a bottle of wine and a big smile that stretched from ear to ear. Her brown eyes were glossy like they were after a good laugh and even they smiled when she looked at me as carried the bottle to Elise.

“You found it! Thank the gods,” Elise laughed silently when Iliana handed her the bottle.

A giggle rippled from them both and Iliana hurried down to Emanuel and grabbed his arm lovingly. He leaned down and kissed the side of her head, which was sweet, but I was more curious by his eyes that he squeezed shut and his jaw that unclenched and relaxed under her touch.

It felt like swallowing acidic wolfsbane when I tried to gulp down the lump in my throat. They looked like the picture-perfect couple, and Emanuel's tinted cheeks and flustered breath when he turned his head to look at me spoke volumes of how he felt for her.

Ever since they stepped foot into the palace I felt that something was wrong with him and now I see that there was nothing wrong at all, he just has a new priority. No matter which mate he brought to a function, he was always there for me, to laugh and to console me, whatever I needed. I saw now that the special place I held in his heart had been filled with another girl- Iliana. I was happy for them. At least I tried to be.

Shit, my heart was not constructed to handle this pain.

’Come. I will not tell you again’ 

I pushed the pain down into that little casket in the bottom of my heart where it would be hidden long enough for this nightmare to be over. Honestly, right now I just wanted them both to leave.

They held each other close when I turned to leave and neither one said a word to me. Darian reached his hand around my waist and I took my place next to him.

“The wine has been delicately chosen for the annual Ball celebrating the Hunt and our Alpha’s,” Elise proudly presented over the room.

Cause they are the ones who should be celebrated. I rolled my eyes at the ignorance which was immediately followed by a burning pinch in my side. 

“I saw that,” Darian whispered in my ear. His breath fanned the side of my face and he tightened his hold on my waist, “Behave puppet. Or I'll have to make you,”

Three servers went around the room and put a wine glass in the hands of every Alpha while another came up and poured the wine. 

“Please hold out your glasses and toast with us,”

Elise served Darian first and then the Council members. They swirled the wine and sniffed the aroma which even I had to admit smelled like heaven.

Though I of course was not given a glass, nor was any of the Alpha’s mates.

We, apparently, hadn't done anything to deserve being celebrated, except give up our lives and any speck of freedom but other than that…

“Don’t be bitter. At least we’re alive,” Trixy said. 

“I can't see that as a win right now,” I answered and let my eyes fall on Iliana and Emanuel for a split second.

All other guests were given wine as well but not the special, celebratory one, though each bottle still cost the same as a small house. The fanciest bottle was reserved for the king and the council members.

They all raised their glasses in a cheer and put their lips on the rim.

Darian took a drink, the red wine stained his lips and a small drop escaped the side of his mouth and fell in a crimson line down his chin leaving behind a faded mark.

He lowered the glass, turned to face me, and flashed me a smile before his eyes turned round and his fingers opened around the glass as it fell from his hand and broke against the floor.

The entire weight of the Lycan king was falling against me and I grabbed his arm to try and steady him while looking into his glossy eyes. 

Something red was pooling in his mouth and at first glance it looked like the wine they were drinking. Cherry red with darker hints of chocolate brown. Everyone looked at the wine in their glasses like it was a pool of blood and set them down in a hurry, immediately spitting and coughing, wiping their tongues with their hands and the sigil-stamped napkins.

It took me a good minute to see what was happening. It wasn't wine that was now spilling from his lips, it was blood that gathered in his mouth that he coughed on. Darian swayed on his feet and a unified gasp echoed in the ballroom reaching up to the high ceiling and shifting the air to that of a nightmare.

Panic ensued. The sound of heels clicking against the marble floor while the women frantically walked around to check on their men echoed in my ears. Still, I didn't hear anyone else choking and I didn't smell the metallic scent of blood from anywhere else but from the man I was holding. 

I didn’t look around, I was watching him, seeing the life drain from his eyes and seeing the fear and panic spread on his face when he tried to draw a breath but it got stuck in the pool of blood gathered in his air pipe.

“Darian!” Gabriel came running up the stairs. He had rolled up the sleeves on his white dress shirt and the coat was on the floor several steps behind him, lying next to Nora’s feet. Her curls were messy and the pins undone but she fixed her dress and lifted his jacket, her shock-ridden face turned to Darian and everyone was suddenly watching the king fall to his knee.

He was still holding onto my arm where he stood on his knee. He was on the floor, kneeling in front of me, choking on his blood, and watching me- begging me silently to do something.

And I did, I stepped back, his hand slowly fell from my arm and I freed the space for his brother to run up and try to help. At least that was what it looked like to everyone else but in reality, I was giving Gabriel a chance to say goodbye to his brother.