Chapter 3 Blood Oath Betrayal

Dawn brought servants clad in Silver-moon colors. They informed me Axel was hosting a farewell feast for Kaelen that day.

No finery could disguise what I had become—a plaything. Walking to the banquet hall, every gaze felt like a blade, branding me forever as the tamed she-wolf. Head bowed, spirit hollow, I drifted towards the feast. Kaelen and Axel were already seated, dark red wine swirling in their goblets.

Axel raised his cup, malice glinting in his eyes. "Kaelen, come to collect our little pet? Why not stay and enjoy some... special Iron-claw hospitality?"

Kaelen clinked his goblet against Axel's. From his tunic, he drew out a scroll bound with crimson silk thread. "I did come for Elena. But I also bring my formal Mate contract."

Mate contract. The words struck my chest like silver bullets.

"For the eternal alliance of our two packs," Kaelen declared, "I request the supreme honor of forging a sacred Mate bond with Lydia, Princess of the Iron-claw."

My breath stopped. I stared at Kaelen, disbelief warring with horror. His gaze never touched me, not even a flicker. As if I were air.

Axel roared with laughter, draining his cup. "Our she-wolves choose their own Mates. Only Lydia can decide if she accepts this contract."

Outside, warhorses screamed. The tent flap was ripped aside violently. "No deliberation needed. I accept." A she-wolf clad in Iron-claw battle armor strode in like a Valkyrie, a curved blade gleaming at her hip. Lydia's eyes burned with conquering fire. "Kaelen bears the purest Alpha bloodline, as the king of our pack should possess. I will bear you the mightiest heir this continent has ever seen!"

Without hesitation, she bit her finger and pressed a bloody print onto the contract. Watching this, I felt my soul dying piece by piece. I had believed Kaelen remembered our blood oath. He had knelt before the Moon Goddess altar, sworn to forge an exclusive Mate contract with me, vowed to protect me with his life. Yet now, he offered that sacred bond to another.

After the feast ended, I searched for Kaelen with desperate frenzy, craving an answer—even the cruelest truth!