Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Chapter 81

Chapter 81

We veered into the ballroom, commotion an inseparable dye in the atmosphere. The entire royal family was here, and just outside the doors were the paparazzi, carrying along with them the newscasters.

Tonight’s event was definitely one that wouldn’t go without being broadcast.

My eyes met Kai’s as he approached me. "How do you feel?"

"It hasn’t kicked in yet," I said, my voice a whisper to the third ear, carrying a meaning only the two of us knew of.

I picked the white handkerchief stuffed into the chest pocket of my suit. Kai’s lip twitched to the side as I helped clean off the blood stain.

When I was done, Kai reopened his eyes. "A little longer, yes?"

I nodded in agreement. Indeed, only a little longer.

Kai went back to meet Clawface and Marcellan, who currently had Nathan pinned to the floor, his knees scraping against the tiles and drawing blood. His clothes were tattered against his skin, a reminder of Kai’s brutality whenever the matter concerned me.

Kai turned to the crowd and raised his hands.

"There’s no reason to fear," he began. His voice boomed throughout the room, leaving echoes that sank into each and every heart. Before long, the music had faded, and hushed whispers took over.

However, total silence soon filled the space as people paid a listening ear to Kai.

"A few weeks ago, I alerted my Court concerning missing armories and pirates on our land. This is not to scare you, but before now, I’ve had my suspicions. However, tonight, the conclusion is as clear as frost." Kai’s eyes scanned the crowd and finally settled on his victim. "Leo has been found to be a traitor to the Pack. A snitch who’s been stealing armories, and for whatever reason he’s doing this, I’ll get to that matter. My investigation begins tonight."

The crowd stirred as Kai finished his statement. From beside me, Leo stiffened. I watched him with a sidelong gaze. He was quick to rise to his feet and stride towards Kai.

I narrowed my eyes and simply watched.

"What sort of accusation is this, Alpha Kai?" Leo asked in a curt manner. His disdain and bitterness for the situation were much too evident in the tone he’d spoken with.

"I was clear with my statement," Kai replied plainly. "Guards, capture this rogue."

Once called a rogue, there was no going back. That much was clear about SilverFang’s pack rules.

Leo stumbled back, Kai’s disregard hitting him hard. Even if they weren’t together anymore, he hadn’t expected Kai to switch to this extent against him.

"Leave my nephew this minute." A voice tore through the crowd.

Count Barry made his presence known as he walked to the middle of the ballroom. The supposed dance floor was slick with Nathan’s blood, his head held low under Clawface’s watchful, frightening gaze.

"This is all wrong. Leo would never do such a thing."

"Of course you’d support him. You are a member of this treasonous motive, aren’t you?" Kai pressed on.

More uproar caught among the crowd. The House of Steele’s men were present, more present than any other, and it wasn’t a surprise, as this was Leo’s banquet. For that reason, their subjects surrounded this part of the Palace.

"How can we trust your words?"

"His accomplice confessed."

"By what torture and proof?" Count Barry fired back.

Leo chimed in as well, his voice raised high as he pleaded.

"It’s clear the Alpha doesn’t appreciate my becoming the next Count. This is all blasphemy. I didn’t do anything." He defended his name.

"There is no proof to any of this," Count Barry added.

Kai was in no mood to argue with them. Instead, he simply snapped his fingers towards Marcellan. The screens hung upon the walls, completely blank and black before then turned on. As they came alive, a display set in, following the scene back in the dressing room.

Leo’s panic was messier to watch than when I eavesdropped. People watched with horror in their eyes, the proof hitting harder than expected. Count Barry’s wall of defense crumbled all the way down to its foundation, striking at his resolve.

Just then, Leo’s eyes met mine.

Like I knew they would, and that was exactly when I delivered my final blow.

A mere smirk.

It carried more meaning than he was ready to decipher right now. When all of this ended and he was deep within the dungeon, he’d reminisce, and that was when it’d all start to reel in.

That he had been played into my ploy all along.

Though the proof was as glaring as a headlight, Count Barry shadowed Leo’s frame with his own.

"This is all wrong. You said it yourself, that mutt is a magician. He could have... he could have set all of this up."

Kai took a daring step forward. "Listen to yourself, old man. You make no sense."

Count Barry, the very definition of stubbornness itself, wouldn’t dare give up. Not yet. Before he’d utter another statement, Kai snapped. His wolf thinned the surface, causing his eyes to glow with that terrifying, nerve-wracking scarlet light.

"You’re no longer a Count. Step down now, or you go down with your nephew."

"Kai, you wouldn’t do this, would you?" Leo said. "You can’t seriously do this to me." The disbelief in his voice dripped like water trickling down leaves after rainfall in a forest.

For what felt like the first time since I’d known Leo, he actually seemed scared.

He’d been caught, and there was no escape.

"No...!" Another refusal came from Count Barry to stand down.

He heaved heavily, his eyes scanning Kai’s incoming men. Clawface made sure to take the front line. At the same time, Count Barry’s men stood as a protective wall, a shield to prevent any penetration, including the touching of Leo.

"Kill that bastard!" Count Barry ordered.

Not a second was wasted. One of their men unsheathed his sword. The hilt, professionally held and twisted with swift motion, split apart the air as it aimed for Nathan’s neck.

Though the impact came insanely close, Kai caught it. With a kick, he deflected the swing of the sword, sending the weapon clashing to the ground.

Without allowing another breathing space, he sent another kick into the guard’s chest. The man slid across the floor, hurled until his head struck the opposite wall. As blood streamed down one side of his head, he lost consciousness.

"Have your men controlled, or this won’t end well for you," Kai warned.

Through our bond, his patience had finally thinned. His wolf could burst out at any moment to end this.

Just then, my vision blurred, and my hearing faded.

"It’s happening..." I voiced as one of my knees hit the floor.

"There," Kai stated. "There’s the real life proof you all wanted."

"I seal this life. Let venom be denied." I muttered under my breath.

My spell was specific, reenacting what I’d already had in place.

Kai continued.

"All this time, the House of Steele has been an enemy to the Crown. They’ve been against my reign from the start because they knew this day would come, and so, to prevent it from happening, they decided to poison the Luna."

The screen displayed yet another CCTV playback.

It turned out to be the moment Leo gave me the blanket, and I wiped my lips with it. That was the point of poisoning.

Just then, my doctor and two men behind him walked in. With Kai’s gesture, the man proceeded to speak, his voice carried by the air to every corner of the space.

"These men are from the Pack’s forensic analysis department," the man stated. "SilverFang wolfsbane was dusted across the surface of this blanket."

One of them took out the blanket, now wrapped inside an investigation nylon bag.

Count Barry turned to Leo, whispering inaudibly. "It’s time to run."

"Uncle, no, I can’t...I can’t leave you..." Leo shook his head as Count Barry lunged for Kai.

The old ex-Count, though anything but hale or swift, moved with such precision that the crowd was beguiled.

His leg shot out, forcing Kai to take a step back and place a little distance between himself and the man. However, that distance was far too small when Count Barry unsheathed another sword from one of his men and attacked Kai, aiming for his heart.

On the other side, I was losing my ability to breathe.

My throat burned, my heart thumping hard against my sternum as the venom spread through important tissues and began calling for their shutdown.

Kai was deflecting the man’s attacks while I fought against death.

Then the heavy doors to the ballroom opened.

Appearing was Alpha Frederick.

His attention lingered for only a second upon the fighting before he finally settled his focus on me. He headed directly for where I was, meeting me on the floor where I was held in place by Marcellan.

"You are all mad," was all he said as he unwrapped a blue cloth.

It was the size of a handkerchief. Once revealed, a small vial stood out in his palm. He removed the cork and placed the contents to my lips, letting me drink.

The rush of relief was unbelievable. I hadn’t expected such a quick reversal. I gasped, sucking all the air I could into my throat.

"Your Luna is saved," Alpha Frederick said straightforwardly.

The moment Kai heard that, he stretched out his hand, flipping himself into the air as he weaved past the slashes of the swords. Then, twisting his body sideways, he knocked the man off balance.

Following that, he snatched the sword and pointed it at the man’s neck.

"No!" Leo screamed.

"I told you to go. Run, Leo!" Count Barry continued to defend him even as his life stood at the brink. "Finish it."

"Finish what?" Kai questioned, asking on behalf of many of us.

The crowd was utterly dazzled, as though they’d come to watch a terrifying movie instead of the expected banquet.

Tonight was anything but a celebration of Leo’s becoming of a Count.

Count Barry numbed himself to the fear of dying as his palms clutched the sharp end of the sword and drove it into his own chest.

His blood smeared the blade, leaving Kai stunned as he released his grasp upon it.

"Go!" Count Barry said to Leo with his last dying breath, his blood a reflective mirror as it streamed the floor.

Leo’s cries stifled as he ran. Though Kai sent men after him, the rest of their subjects deprived the path of opening.