Caelan Moonfang
Coming to Silverreach was unplanned… well, at least attending the howling ceremony of the omega was for me. Like always, it was yet another month for my herbs that did nothing but continue to confine me to the wheelchair to be picked.
The best herbalists were in Silverreach, and like the most loving brother Vegas was, he had reached out to them.
Silverreach smelled the same as I remembered; winter roses perfumed the cloudy snow, a total contrast to what the kingdom stood for.
"Faster," Vegas snapped at the slave behind my chair, and the poor Alavin's hands tightened on the handles as he pushed harder and faster. I kept my gaze to the ground. There was nothing interesting worth looking at.
As we got to the car, Vegas's phone vibrated in his pocket. "Carry him inside," he hissed before walking away as if I were some kid.
Alvin bowed and nodded. He reached for my hand, but I held him back.
"You know you can leave at any moment. Others will…"
"I will die before I leave your side, Alpha," Alvin whispered, then pressed my hands for some warmth.
A beta worth a thousand lives, the one family I still had even in my desperate and worst moments. His past victories by my side couldn't be denied, and the sparkling resume he carried meant getting a dignified job with amazing pay wasn't a matter to be questioned, but here he was by my side, subjected to the status of a slave.
Alvin helped hold the door, and I pushed myself up from the chair. I've been confined long enough to be used to my predicament.
"No need to go back now. We can attend the howling ceremony of Prince Rain Vale," Vegas announced from behind as he walked over and grabbed his coat from inside the car.
"I… I could stay back," I whispered.
"Come on, Caelan, can you always stop playing the victim? I didn't say you couldn't come. Now you make people see me like the bad person that doesn't care about his crippled brother."
Of course, he had to outline every word.
"You're coming with us, Alvin… I don't want to be late."
Some words didn't need outlining for understanding; actions conveyed more.
The arena doors opened, and the echoes of voices spilled out. "The Alpha of Moonfang and his brother," we were announced inside, and the whispers began instantly.
The guards couldn't hide their contempt. I didn't belong in this circle… not anymore. Once, I had walked through these same gates with pride, power, and integrity, but right now, I was nothing but a spectacle of humiliation, pity, and disgrace.
My attendant had rushed home three nights ago after his mate went into labor, leaving Alvin alone, and he couldn't drive, not with his phobia of the wheels. And Vegas, my ever-caring brother, had cursed for an hour about the inconvenience.
Three years ago, I was the alpha; I could walk, and my capability wasn't in question. Now, three years later, I am a joke, a post for pity.
My fingers tightened beneath the blanket over my legs. The stares never ceased. I tried hard to keep my head down, wanting nothing but to blend in… but how could I with a fucking chair attached to my waist?
Still contemplating my thoughts, just then the scent hit me. My mouth watered. My nose sniffed wildly… wild lily.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
Then the unimaginable happened.
It woke up.
Three years of silence, pain, and no word… my wolf stirred.
Mate, it declared.
My hands trembled as memories flooded. Three years ago, it was the same scent… same wildness. I could feel him from miles away. He was close.
The bond snapped into place, then everything crumbled in minutes. Rain wet the soil, and blood flowed.
Vegas was saved, but I lost part of me, and just as quickly as the bond had snapped into place, it shattered, and my wolf was gone with my mate.
And now… He stood at the front, with black curly shoulder-length hair, pale white skin, and dazzling green eyes that threatened to swallow. Honestly, he looked nothing short of a dream come true…but not mine.
My hands gripped the armrest. Panic flooded every bit of me. This had to be a cruel joke. There was no way the Moon would choose a cripple for an omega heir in a kingdom where his kind is not meant to rule but to serve.
He needed power…stability, dominance, and control…and I was later of all of it.
"Caelan?" Vegas murmured, clearly irritated. "What is wrong with you now?"
But I couldn't answer because he was walking closer, and with every step he took, my world crumbled, yet my wolf, my body, and my instincts cheered.
I could see the vibrant smile on Vegas's face as the omega heir stood before us. Deep down, I wished he would declare my brother his mate. He would discard this mistake… This chaos in waiting to happen in the name of a bond.
But no. He was daring. Daring enough to kneel before me and proclaim me his.
"Don't," I whispered.
This was Silverreach, a place I once sat and negotiated trade and sat in war councils.
I knew their laws enough to know an omega could barely rule, and a cripple… would never.
His howling ceremony wasn't for mate bonding… It was for the alliance, a desperate attempt to marry off their heir to power, and I was anything but that.
He leaned closer, close enough for the entire kingdom to hear words that shattered my world for the second time.
"Mate."
As gasps tore through the arena, my world ended. The scene was enough to know he was challenging that which he shouldn't, and I… I was only a pawn in his sick game.
And like always, I was helpless. Stuck to a chair to leave, stuck to a chair to reject him, stuck to a chair to have my thoughts considered.
Three years ago, the Moon saved my brother and gave me a mate, but turned around and took my mate and my legs, and today, yet again, she has granted me another mate… an omega heir who looks at me like a weapon and uses me as a pawn to piss off his father.
I didn't know which was crueler.