Chapter 127: The penalty for treason

Unknown to Fabian, when Samantha had pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen earlier that night, she had already activated her audio recorder.

Right from the beginning, she had been two steps ahead, securing evidence in the event Fabian tried to turn on her–which he had done without a second thought.

When the recording reached the part where he stated he would frame Samantha for the assassination plot if she betrayed him, he completely lost his mind.

"That’s not me!" he raged, thrashing violently against the iron chains. "The audio is fake! A distortion! I never said any of that!"

Dorian completely ignored the pathetic performance. He slowly closed the remaining distance between them, his dark silhouette towering over his cousin. Beside Fabian, Melinda had broken into violent sobs, fully aware that the trap had snapped shut and there was no escape.

"The penalty for treason is death," Dorian growled coldly. "I should have killed you months ago when I discovered what you did to Alyssa."

"Please!" Fabian choked out in defeat, tears streaming down his face. "Give me... give me a second chance! It was Melinda! She forced me into this!"

Melinda’s head snapped up, her wet eyes widening in utter disbelief. The ultimate betrayal had come not from their enemies, but from her own mate.

Dorian stared down at him with disgust and shook his head. "You are pathetic. And you are going to die. But I will not stain my hands with the blood of my own family. Your fate rests entirely on the law."

He stepped back, his features hardening into an icy, unreadable mask. "For the attempted murder of the Luna Queen, you are condemned to a fate far worse than a quick death. Tomorrow at dawn, you face the Blood Hunt."

The second those words left Dorian’s lips, Fabian completely lost control. Driven by sheer, hysterical terror, he forced his wolf forward. His body jerked violently, the chains snapping under the sudden surge of shifting muscle.

Half-shifted and wild-eyed, he lunged across the room, his claws outstretched to tear into Dorian’s throat.

Dorian didn’t even flinch. He watched the half-shifted wolf approach with a dead, unmoving gaze, making zero effort to defend himself.

A split second before Fabian could make contact, one of the guards tackled him mid-air, slamming him into the floor. A sickening crack of broken ribs echoed through the Conclave as the guard drove a fist straight into Fabian’s side.

Fabian crashed hard against the floor, the force of the blow knocking the wolf out of him. He forcefully reverted to his human form, writhing on the floor and wheezing for air, while Melinda looked down at him with a dead, hollow stare.

Dorian turned his back on them, his voice cutting through the groans of pain. "Lock them all in the dungeon."

Without another word, he exited the Conclave. Shadow scratched aggressively beneath his skin, demanding to tear Fabian to pieces for daring to endanger their Queen. But Dorian kept him on a leash. The laws of Wintercrest would execute him, and no one would ever accuse him of kin-slaying.

He hurried up the stairs, eager to return to Alyssa. He had been away from her side for too long, and he needed the physical confirmation that she was safe.

Halfway up, he caught sight of her rushing down, with Henna and Pandora trailing closely behind. The moment Alyssa spotted him, her tense posture crumpled into immense relief.

"Dorian," she breathed, closing the distance between them.

Dorian swept her into his arms the second she reached him, lifting her off her feet. He barely acknowledged Pandora and Henna as the two women tactfully passed them and disappeared down the hall.

He cupped her face and kissed her deeply, the tension slowly draining out of his broad shoulders. Without breaking the kiss, he scooped her securely into his arms and carried her up the remaining steps.

Pushing open the door to their bedroom, he stepped inside and kicked it shut behind them. Then he carried her straight to the bed and lowered her gently.

"Wait," Alyssa gasped, pulling back slightly to break the kiss, her chest heaving. "What happened down there? Henna and Pandora told me Fabian was behind everything."

"He was," Dorian confirmed, hovering over her with his palms planted on either side of her head. "Don’t worry. After tonight, he won’t threaten you again."

Alyssa swallowed hard, reaching up to stroke the sharp line of his jaw. "Did... did you execute him?" she whispered.

Dorian slowly shook his head. "I will not shed family blood with my own hands. His fate belongs to the kingdom now. At dawn, they will face the Blood Hunt."

Alyssa’s brows pulled together in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It is the law of Wintercrest for treason," Dorian explained, "The traitors are injected with a suppressant to block their wolves, rendering them unable to shift. They are given a small head start into the forest, and selected guards are released to hunt them down. If they somehow cross the borders alive, they earn their freedom. But if the guards capture them..."

He let the sentence trail off, but Alyssa understood the gruesome reality instantly. Without their wolves, they would be hunted like wild game and torn apart in the forest.

"No traitor has ever survived a Blood Hunt," Dorian added gently. "This is the only legal avenue to punish Fabian and your stepsister for everything they have inflicted on you. So do not ask me to grant them mercy."

"I won’t," Alyssa replied, shaking her head firmly. "I would be dead right now if you hadn’t taken those arrows for me. The Blood Hunt is brutal, but it is nothing compared to what they tried to do to me tonight."

Dorian said nothing, but a look of deep understanding washed over his dark eyes. He was relieved she didn’t plead for their lives, because he wasn’t sure he possessed the strength to deny her anything.

Later that night, as they lay in each other’s arms, Pandora’s voice suddenly cut through Dorian’s mind link.

[Dorian? Are you awake?]

[I am,] he replied. [What’s wrong?]

​[I need to speak with you regarding... regarding Alyssa. It is crucial.]

​[Is it an emergency? Can it wait until morning?]

There was a long pause on her end before she responded. [It is something Henna and I witnessed earlier... but yes, it can wait until morning.]

She severed the link, but Dorian’s curiosity instantly flared. The tone in his sister’s voice had carried a strange, underlying panic he had never heard from her before.

He waited quietly until Alyssa’s breathing smoothed out into a deep, peaceful sleep, then silently slipped out of bed to meet Pandora.

...

In the servant’s quarters, Samantha stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around her body. She stepped into her room and nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted Alec leaning casually against the doorframe.

His arms were crossed over his chest, his dark eyes watching her silently.

"Are you insane?" she hissed, clutching the towel to her chest. "What kind of sick psycho are you, sneaking into my bedroom?"

"I didn’t sneak in," Alec murmured smoothly. "I knocked. You didn’t answer."

"Then you wait outside," Samantha snapped, her face flushing with heat. "What if I had been naked?"

Alec looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on the water droplets clinging to her collarbone before a slow, mocking smirk touched his lips. "I assure you, Samantha, there is nothing there I haven’t already seen."

Samantha bared her teeth in pure annoyance. She grabbed her robe from the edge of the bed, threw it over her shoulders, and pointed at the door.

"Get the hell out of my room."

Alec pushed himself off the wall, raising both hands in mock surrender. "Alright, fine. I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked directly into her eyes, his playful demeanor vanishing. "I realized I never properly thanked you earlier, for coming to me with Fabian’s plot. You had every opportunity to align with him, but you didn’t. And for that, I am grateful."

Samantha’s irritation slowly ebbed away, replaced by an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. She cleared her throat and looked toward the window. "You don’t need to thank me. Like I told you, I didn’t do it for you, and I certainly didn’t do it for Alyssa."

"It doesn’t matter who you claim you did it for," Alec replied softly. "What matters is that your actions prevented a murder tonight. I suppose you are a good person beneath all that cold exterior."

Silence settled over the small room as they stared at each other. Samantha felt her wolf stir restlessly in her chest, the same electric pull that flared every single time Alec stepped into her personal space. And Alec couldn’t explain the sudden, rapid beat of his heart as her scent drifted toward him.

Then Samantha abruptly broke the spell. "I am not a good person. I have done unforgivable things, so do not stand there and patronize me. If that is all you came here to say, you can leave now."

Alec’s jaw set firm. He didn’t push her further; he simply gave her a stiff nod. "If that is how you choose to see it, fine. Goodnight, Samantha."

After the door clicked shut behind him, Samantha released a long, shaky breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Something dangerous was shifting between her and Alec, and she was terrified of where it was leading.