Two Wolf Kings, One Lie Chapter 02 (Continue)
Just then, Lucy — who had been playing near the edge of the altar — felt the shift in the air. Her small figure flinched, and she slipped quietly behind one of the stone pillars.
I stared at the way Ryan was shielding the woman, and the fury in my chest threatened to burn through the last of my reason.
“Ryan, you swore before the gods!” My voice rang out across the altar. “You promised to let me stand before the tribe as your mate — and now you’re holding another woman in your arms. What do you take me for? What do you take the gods’ contract for?”
At those words, the Blood Wolf warriors around us exchanged glances. Whispers broke out like a wave.
Among wolf-kind, loyalty was a rule written into the bone. Once a mate contract was made, it was a bond of life and death. Whoever broke it would be looked down on across the entire plains.
Ryan noticed the eyes turning toward him. His expression darkened — and then he let out a cold laugh.
“Elara, do you have the nerve to bring up old history?” His voice rose, full of scorn. “It was nothing back then — do you honestly think I took it seriously? Let me be clear: we’ve been done for a long time.”
I froze.
“When did we end?” I pointed at the woman in his arms, my voice unsteady. “The contract still stands. What gives you the right to call it over?”
Lucas stood at my side. He frowned.
He shifted into human form — tall and still, moonlight threading silver through his hair. As the White Wolf King, he always kept to the lines between clans and never got involved in others’ business. But now he spoke.
“Ryan.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried weight that couldn’t be ignored. “Some things, once said, need to be answered for. Elara has a child with you. A contract witnessed by the gods isn’t something you can tear up whenever you like.”
Ryan’s face went pale — then hard.
“Who the hell are you?” he snarled at Lucas. “This is Blood Wolf Clan business. Stay out of it!”
He turned to me: “Elara, I’m telling you to get out. Do you know who you’re standing in front of?”
He pulled the woman close, his tone full of both threat and pride: “Her! Luna! She belongs to the most powerful clan of all — the White Wolf Clan! If she gets angry, the White Wolf Clan will grind you to nothing! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk out of this altar and stop making a fool of yourself in front of everyone!”
Lucas’s expression went completely still.
He looked at the woman. He looked at me. His lips moved — but nothing came out.
The whispers around them shifted.
“So she’s just been clinging to him all along…”
“The Alpha already said it’s over and she won’t leave. So shameless.”
“Getting on the bad side of the White Wolf Clan? She must have a death wish.”
Those whispers were needles, one by one, pushed into my ears.
I stood there, the color drained from my face.
Three years. Three years ago he had held my hand in front of the gods’ statue and said from that day on we would share life and death. I believed him. I gave him everything. I didn’t care whether he was warm or cold, didn’t care how he treated me — I only cared about the contract, the bond, the name he had promised me with his own mouth.
And now, in front of everyone, he was saying it had only ever been nothing.
All I had wanted was a name. A place to stand at his side, openly and honestly. Why… why would he do this to me?
The woman — the one who said she belonged to the White Wolf Clan — let out a cold laugh.
“What are you staring at?” Her voice was sweet, but her eyes were full of cruelty. “Drag this troublemaker away! Don’t dirty the altar!”
The words were barely out before two Blood Wolf warriors rushed forward, grabbing my arms and forcing me to the ground. My knees hit the stone hard, and the pain shot through me.
The woman walked toward me with light steps and looked down at me with a smile.
“For coming after Ryan, and ruining my evening —”
She raised her hand and hit me hard across the face.
Pain burst across my cheekbone. Blood flooded my mouth. Before I could recover, a second blow came in the same spot, and my vision went dark.
Lucas stood nearby, his fists clenched tight.
He didn’t stay quiet.
“Ryan.” His voice was cold as ice. “The law of the wolf clans: when your mate is shamed, you are shamed. Your mate is being hit in front of you. And you’re just watching?”
The altar went quiet for a moment.
Every eye moved to Ryan.
He stood there, the muscles in his face twitching. Luna glanced back at him with a look of quiet pressure.
Then Ryan came forward.
He didn’t stop the woman. He raised his own hand and struck me across the face.
Once.
Twice.
“I’ll say it again — she is not my wife!”
Every blow was delivered with full strength. My ears rang, the world tilted. My lip split; blood dripped from my chin onto the stone.
I was almost out, my awareness drifting in and out of the dark.
It was then — through my blurring vision — that I saw a small figure dart out from behind the stone pillar and come stumbling toward me.
“Mama…”