Chapter 2 The bonding stone 1

Chapter 2: Chapter 2 The bonding stone 1

Talia’s POV

By the time the sun rose above the eastern wall, my hands were already raw.

I stood beside the kitchen basin, scrubbing a copper pot that was larger than my torso while cooks hurried around me with trays, baskets, and covered dishes. The entire estate was preparing for the Alpha’s arrival, and every person who had once ignored the cracks in the walls or the thinness of the winter blankets had suddenly discovered an interest in perfection.

The kitchen smelled of onions, roasted meat, and wet ash. Steam blurred the windows, and the water in the basin turned gray each time I rinsed the cloth.

No one thanked me.

That was normal.

What was not normal was the way conversations stopped whenever someone entered the room.

The first whisper reached me from behind a stack of wooden crates.

"The bonding stone did not react to Celeste."

Another servant answered, "It did not react to anyone."

"The Alpha demanded that every unmated woman be brought before it."

A spoon clattered against the floor.

Someone muttered a prayer.

I kept scrubbing, although the cloth had begun to slip in my fingers. A bonding stone was not supposed to fail. It was older than the packs that claimed it, older than most of the laws governing marriage and succession. According to the stories, the Moon Goddess had placed the first one beneath the northern mountains, and every stone made afterward carried a fragment of that power.

If the stone did not react to Celeste, there would be no wedding alliance between Cresswood and Shadowfang.

Vivienne would be furious.

A younger servant named Kira passed behind me carrying a tray of empty cups. She leaned close enough for her sleeve to brush mine.

"They say Alpha Kaelen threw a chair through the west wall."

I glanced at her. "Why?"

"Because the stone stayed dark for every woman in the household, including Celeste." Kira’s eyes widened as she looked toward the kitchen entrance. "They are bringing everyone to the hall now."

I lowered my voice. "Everyone?"

"Every woman who is old enough to be considered unmated."

The cloth stopped moving in my hand.

Kira saw the change in my face.

"You are old enough," she whispered.

Before I could answer, Marta entered the kitchen.

She was a broad-shouldered woman with iron-gray hair and a permanent crease between her brows. In fifteen years, I had never seen her smile, although she had occasionally shown the faintest signs of pity when my knuckles split in winter.

Her gaze moved over the room and stopped on me.

"You. Come with me."

I set down the pot. "Me?"

The question escaped before I could swallow it.

Several servants turned to look.

Marta’s brows rose, but she did not waste time asking why I had spoken.

"The Alpha wants to see every unmated woman in the household."

"I am not part of the ceremony."

"That is not your decision."

She crossed the kitchen and took my arm. Her fingers did not hurt, but they were firm enough to make it clear that she would use more force if I resisted.

I followed her out.

The corridor beyond the kitchen was unfamiliar. The walls were decorated with portraits of dead Alphas and Lunas, their painted eyes following us beneath the flickering lamps. I had spent most of my life in the servants’ quarters, the kitchens, and the storage rooms, so every step into the main wing made me feel as though I had crossed an invisible boundary.

Marta pushed open a narrow door and handed me a gray dress.

"Change."

I looked at the garment. "Why am I being taken to the hall?"

"The ceremony was interrupted. Celeste is not his mate, and no one else has been chosen."

"That still does not explain why I am here."

Marta hesitated.

It was a small pause, but I noticed it.

"Vivienne told the elders there were no other unmated women in the household," she said.

"Then why am I being brought forward?"

"Because one of the kitchen girls mentioned that another woman had been kept in the storage wing for years."

My steps faltered.

Marta’s expression tightened. "The elders demanded to know who she was. Vivienne could not deny your existence without making herself look guilty, so she ordered us to bring you before the stone."

I changed as quickly as I could. The gray dress was too large across the shoulders and too long at the hem, but it was cleaner than the one I had worn in the kitchen. I tucked the charm beneath its collar, checked that the chain lay flat against my skin, and followed Marta back into the corridor.

The main hall was crowded.

Wolves stood beneath the crystal chandeliers in formal clothes, their voices low and tense. The air carried too many scents at once—expensive perfume, polished leather, warm bodies, and the faint metallic edge of fear.

When Marta led me inside, the conversations thinned.

A few heads turned first. Then more.

"Who is she?"

"Is that Edmund’s daughter?"

"I thought Celeste was the only daughter."

"She looks like a servant."

"She is a servant."

I kept my gaze lowered, not because I was ashamed, but because looking directly at powerful people invited them to decide that I had challenged them.

Marta guided me through the crowd.

At the far end of the hall stood a black marble pedestal. A round stone rested upon it, dark and smooth beneath the torchlight. The surface appeared empty, yet something about it made the skin along my arms tighten.

The bonding stone.

Beside it stood the Alpha of Shadowfang.

Kaelen Frost was taller than every wolf near him, with broad shoulders beneath a black suit and a stillness that made the movement around him appear nervous. His dark hair had been brushed back from his face, revealing a sharp jaw and eyes the color of steel beneath winter ice.

He looked toward me.

Something inside my chest pulled.

The elder standing beside the stone lifted one hand.

"Talia Ashford," he called. "Come forward."

The hall seemed to grow longer as I crossed it.

I stopped before the pedestal.

For a moment, the stone remained dark.

Then a pale blue light appeared beneath its surface.