CHAPTER 143: POISONED FATE

[ Skarthheim Pack territories ]

Thorgar ran with Autumn’s limp body cradled tightly against his broad chest.Her arms hung loosely. One of her hands twitched. He had no idea when she had lost consciously half way through screaming like a lunatic.

She was burning.

And yet, she was so unnaturally cold.

"Get them damn witches! Somebody!Fast! Hurry up,motherfuckers! Get someone! " Thorgar’s voice bellowed like a war horn, tearing through the stillness of the night.

Everyone started to scurry as he carried Autumn towards the courtyard.

"Make way!" Orion’s voice snapped from the eastern arch as he quickly caught up hearing the commotion. He came running the moment he saw Autumn’s condition." What happened?" He asked,eyes wide at the sight of the towering Alpha stumbling with panic."Thorgar?!What happened...what’s wrong?!" He had to literally shake him, because Thorgar’s face had paled.

"She was fine!" Thorgar growled, barely pausing. "She was just fine a moment ago! We were talking,sipping tea...but then she screamed...fell...and started shaking. She’s...she’s not breathing right. Is she???"

His voice caught.

Everyone was stunned.It was very unlike the Alpha they all knew. They had seen Thorgar wield his axe through the chests of enemies twice his size. Seen him laugh while injured. Seen him tear through armies like a storm wind.

But this?

Fear on Thorgar’s face wasn’t something they could comprehend.

Even the slaves and servants lining the outer walls had stopped in their tracks. Some dropped their baskets. Others peeked from behind pillars, wide eyed, watching the mayhem.

A low hum of tension rippled outward from the center of the chaos.

"Make way! I said MOVE!" Orion barked as warriors snapped to form a path through the middle of the stone yard.

Thorgar knelt at the center, his knees hitting the ground with a brutal thud as he laid Autumn on a thick pelt spread out by a frantic attendant. Her face was slick with sweat, pale as bone, her lips parted in shallow breaths. The faintest tremble still ran through her.

"Someone do something!" Thorgar roared, looking around like a cornered animal. "Don’t just stand there!"

"I will get the apothecary from the marketplace..."

"No! Witches! Call the witches!"

"Where is Selene?!"

"Find the Seers!"

The crowd scampered like insects, some running to call for help, others too afraid to even approach. None dared speak too loud. None came too close.

Except for one figure, hiding behind a pillar...a quiet slip of shadow near the edge of the gathering.

Her eyes widened in shock as she caught a full glimpse of the woman at the center of the commotion.

"The Princess...?" she whispered under her breath. "... is Autumn???! "

And without another sound, she turned and slid away into the dark...vanishing before anyone noticed her.

Just then...

"Let me through.Move your ass,everyone." Selene strode forward, sliding past the gathered crowd.

All heads turned.

Her long fingers were raised calmly, and the sea of wolves parted for her like water around stone.

She didn’t bow. Neither did she stop for permission.

She walked straight up to Autumn, eyes scanning her still form, thoughtfully.

Selene’s gaze dropped. Her hand moved.

And then, without a word of warning, she grasped the front of Autumn’s robe and ripped the fabric clean down the center,revealing the soft curve of her breast, the subtle swell of her stomach.

Gaspes echoed all around!

Selene ignored them all.

They were all shocked...outraged...but almost immediately they understood the purpose of her action.

Just beside Autumn’s heart, there was a faint, glowing mark...a thread thin shimmer of silver curled into the symbol of an old fate bond. Except... it was not steady. It pulsed. It flickered. It shivered like a wounded flame.

"It’s her Mate bond," Selene announced grimly.

Orion frowned. "Mate bond? What about it?"

"It’s frayed," she said simply, kneeling. "Something unnatural is affecting the Fate thread."

"What the hell does that mean?" Orion snapped, confused.

But Thorgar had already moved.

He shoved Orion aside and grabbed Selene by the front of her cloak, hauling her up onto her feet.

His voice was no longer pleading. It was lethal.

"Tell me that bastard Kieran Blackmoon did not just reject her while she is still carrying his children. Tell me that didn’t just happen!"

Selene winced, not in pain but from humiliation of being heckled like that. She pried his hand off gently but firmly.

"Let me check," she said quietly. "Let me make sure."

She knelt again, placing one long, cold finger directly over the glowing mark on Autumn’s skin. Her lips began to hum some low tones.

Everyone stood in silence.

Even the moonlight felt like it was holding its breath.

Selene’s hum rose...then faded.

She opened her eyes.

And exhaled.

"No. Luckily,there was no rejection."

Thorgar’s entire body sagged in a breath.

Selene added, "If there had been, she wouldn’t have survived it. The bond would have shattered...and taken her and the babies with it."

"But..." Orion began, "then what the hell happened?!"

Selene stood up slowly. Her face was pale. She looked up, meeting Thorgar’s gaze.

"It’s the act of false consummation...," she said slowly. "Kieran has consummated his bond with another while still fated to her. While her body still carries the mark of their bond and his children."

A harsh silence scraped.

She swallowed. "And that act’s... it’s like a blade. It’s cut through their fate thread. Not enough to destroy it, but... enough to poison it. Enough to make her bleed without visible wounds."

The silence that followed was brutal... boiling.

And then...Thorgar’s knuckles cracked.

His voice dropped lower than an octave.

"He made her feel that while he fucked another whore???!" Thorgar’s voice boomed across lands,across realms. "That bastard made her feel that???"

Selene nodded. "Fated bonds... They aren’t like chosen ones. They aren’t quiet.They scream. They echo. Especially when violated."

A growl began to rumble from Thorgar’s throat. His eyes darkened to wolf-black. The air around him quaked.

He looked down at Autumn again, her body still weak, her breathing labored, and something in him snapped.

He turned to Selene. "Send your ravens. All of them. East, west, and beyond the sea. I want Kieran Blackmoon to know that I am coming for his head! "