Filed to story: When The Moon Hides Crown
I clenched my fists, “Yeah, I should have walked away the moment I caught sight of you instead of wasting my time having this unpleasant chat. My stupidity, I stayed to spoil my mood and appetite. Now it’s time to fix the mistake,” saying that, I reached out to grab my plate of food. Then, without asking, without even looking to get my permission, his hand reached over and stole the largest piece of steak off my plate.
I stared at him, stunned. “Are you serious right now?”
He bit into it slowly, jaw working with the kind of deliberate care that made it feel obscene. His tongue flicked to his bottom lip, licking the juice. “Hmm, medium rare. Bold choice for a champion.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “Touch my food again and I’ll break yourfingers.”
He swallowed, unbothered. “Didn’t know Alphas cried over a stolen steak. Guess your appetite is bigger than your bite.”
I met his challenging gaze. “I don’t bite without purpose, But when I do… I draw blood.”
His gaze snapped to mine, the smirk vanishing, replaced by something quieter. Sharper. “That supposed to scare me?”
“No,” I said, voice cold as frost. “It’s a warning. Never touch or steal my food,”
He leaned in, licking his bottom lip as he swallowed. “You owed me a meal. For the emotional distress of being called a parasite.”
My fists clenched at my sides. “You’ll get a punch in the face, that’s what you’ll get.”
“Promises, promises.”
Silence hung between us. Not empty, electric.
For a moment, neither of us moved. The wind whispered between the trees. The distant voices of Alphas laughing around the banquet faded like background noise.
Then he said, “Funny thing about you, Seth. You walk like a ghost, fight like a wolf, but talk with a confidence about everything like someone who’s been hiding something,”
That landed like a punch to the gut. Because it was too close to the truth.
I swallowed the burn in my throat and shifted my weight. “And you talk like a man who needs to be heard, but has nothing new to say.”He gave a short laugh, inched so close that our faces came dangerously close. He stared down at me, unreadable, the fire between us flaring brighter with every heartbeat.
“Careful,” he murmured, his voice a dangerous purr. “Keep talking like that and I might start enjoying our little chats.”
Let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and gave him a tight smile. “And that would be your first mistake.”
Then I turned on my heel, grabbed my plate -minus the steak-and walked away without another word.
But even as I crossed the clearing, I could feel his gaze like heat on my back.
Still watching. Still dangerous.
And worse… still intriguing.
That’s when something else caught my eye. My spine stiffened.
A little ways off, on the large dining table, I spotted Reed and Cassius sitting around Finn with their friends. Laughter echoed from their little circle of followers, but it wasn’t the light, easy kind. No, it was sharper.
A little too loud. A little too pointed. I think I heard my name too.
And in the middle of it, hunched and trying to smile was Finn.
His shoulders were curled in, eyes darting as Cassius clapped a heavy arm around him. Reed leaned in, grinning as he whispered something in Finn’s ear that made Finn’s smile disappear.
Not teasing. Not harmless.
Bullying, masked in brotherhood. Since the Alpha instructors were gone, no one was watching us. Reed’s evil smile and Cassius’ dirty teasing brought the memory of them intending to violet me in the forest. My blood heated up at that memory and just as I was a little distracted by my emotions, I ended up colliding chest-first into another body.
Hard.
I looked up and nearly cursed myself.
It was Alpha Asher.
SERAPHINA
Alpha Asher’s jaw clenched the moment his eyes found me. The same cheek I had slapped yesterday was still faintly pink, and his glare burned like wildfire.
Shit.
He stepped back, his expression twisted in fury, as if he were staring at his sworn enemy.
“You blind, you little bastard?” he snarled, voice low and dangerous as he stormed toward me, murder in his eyes. The clearing fell into a tense silence, every Alpha pausing mid-bite, mid-word. All eyes turned to us.
“You think you’re a hero because I let you live after you smacked me?” He grabbed me by the collar, yanking me forward. Some of the Alphas around us lit up with excitement, cheering quietly as if waiting for blood to spill, and hoping it would be mine.
“Now that you’ve touched me like you accused me of touching you yesterday,” he growled, his voice sharp as broken glass, “shouldn’t I repay you a hundredfold?”
His hand began to shift-muscles tensing, claws extending toward my jaw.
But before I could even react, a hand darted between us-stealing the last piece of steak from my plate.
Asher’s claw froze mid-air.
“Mm..” Ronan took a lazy bite of the steak, chewing slowly as every Alpha gaped in stunned silence. Then, with maddening nonchalance, he glanced at me and murmured, “Since you’re about to die today, Ifigured this would go to waste.”
He licked his lips with a bored expression.
My lips twitched. What a great man.
I ignored the gasping crowd and turned back to the Alpha still gripping my collar. One problem at a time.
“I’m sorry, Alpha Asher,” I said calmly. Asher’s scowt flickered into something closer to confusion. “I was wrong,” I continued, raising my voice so everyone could hear. “I believed something that wasn’t true.
And I acted without hearing your side.”
The air shifted, curious murmurs rippling across the clearing. Asher blinked, clearly not expecting this.
“You didn’t touch me. You didn’t deserve what I did.” Then my eyes flicked past him, past his shoulder, straight to the one who had. “But someone else did.”
Reed.
His eyes widened. The color drained from his face as the attention slowly shifted toward him, like a tide of judgment. Whispers began, accusations cloaked in gossip.
“You accusing me now, you little bastard?” Reed barked, his voice sharp and defensive.