"No. Absolutely not." Octavius is yelling, on his feet with his chair crashed on the floor beneath him. "Does he really think I'd leave my mate alone with him? After he almost fucking killed her?!" His eyes are wild and furious, blazing with a fire hot enough to burn a hole through the earth.

"Alpha Octavius-" Kane puts his hands out in front of him, either to prepare for an attack or to calm him down.

"NO!" Octavius screams, and stalks towards a cowering Kane. He towers over the rat-like man, who snivels below him. "Beta Kane, you said he was already on his way to the Blood Moon Mansion. Was his departure before or after you agreed to this matter?" His voice is dangerously low, poison dripping from the undertones.

"Alpha-" Kane pleads, his eyes larger than plates, the black and beady surface staring up at Octavius.

With one swift motion, Octavius reaches out, grabs Kane's neck in his hand, and twists.

I freeze in shock.

With a crack, Kane's body tumbles to the ground, a lifeless heap. Octavius just stares down at him, his face cold.

For the first time, I truly fear him. Not just his actions, but the crazed and desperate shine of his eyes, burning through his veins, directly into his heart.

"Gamma Damien!" Octavius demands, and Damien stands up, his whole body slightly shaking. "What exactly did Titan say?"

"Um," Damien stutters.

"Now!" Octavius roars, his canines elongated.

"Yes, Titan said he was a mile away, and that if he did not meet with only the Luna, he would kill her once he reached the grounds."

Octavius is silent for three beats, absorbing Damien's words.

"I won't allow it." He hisses through pointed teeth. "If he wants her, he'll have to go over my dead fucking body."

My lips move before my mind can slap them closed, "I will meet with him."

All eyes in the room turn to me, including the two embers buried in Octavius'.

"No, you won't." He growls, and turns to me.

"You might be willing to risk an entire pack of men, women, and children over me, but I'm not. I will meet with him. I will not allow innocent blood to be spilled over the likes of me."

"I'm doing this to keep you safe, Alessandra."

"Well, I am doing this to keep our pack safe. It is my duty." I snap, and straighten my spine.

There is a war behind Octavius' mind, fighting and raging and no one seems to be winning. I hold eye contact, daring him to disagree.

"The meeting will take place in a secured area, and I will be right outside the door. I will have complete access to the room is anything happens. If even a hair is harmed on your head I will kill his entire pack, men, women and children."

"Thank you." I whisper. He doesn't respond.

"Castro, take Kane to the hospital wing, he is not dead, just unconscious." A thin and pale man hurries up to Kane's body, pulling it out of the door.

"Damien, when is Titan due to arrive."

"Alpha, he's here."

Octavius flinches, but seems to gather his courage and calm, before striding over to me, grabbing my hand.

"It's going to be ok." I reassure him, kissing him lightly. "I won't do anything stupid."

"Titan is waiting for her in the side office, Alpha." Damien declares, and Octavius leads me to a small door down the hall, the door holding the beast.

I take a deep breath, inhaling until oxygen is a burden, and drowning is desired, and I walk into the room, shutting the door behind me.

He is standing by a window on the opposite wall, dressed in a regal black suit, trim and clean. His appearance is grotesquely perfect. He turns at the sound of the door, and a sneer curves his lip when he sees my face.

"Hello, Alessandra. So nice to be reunited with such a beautiful face."

I gulp, holding my anger back a few miles.

"Titan, you requested that I, and only I, be present for this meeting. I would like to get this conversation with as soon as possible." My voice is stiff and terse, restraining years and lifetimes of hatred for this monster.

"Oh, my dear Alessandra, can't a father-in-law become aquatinted with his daughter-in-law? You're so very lovely." I shiver at his words, bile forming at the bottom of my throat but I choke down my disgust.

"What did you want to discuss, Titan?" I snap.

"Well if you insist, I actually had a proposition for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd like to offer you something you've dreamed of your entire life, something that has haunted your nightmares and blessed your daydreams. Something an intelligent and wise girl like you could never resist."

I frown, shifting myself as far as possible from this man. But a whole galaxy of distance between us would not be enough to rid myself of his sterile perfume, the sharp musk lined with a hint of copper.

"It is an exchange so valuable, so bitter-sweet." His voice is smooth but seems to cut into my skin, into my senses, cutting out my tongue and replacing it with emptiness. This man, this snake, covered in expensive black fabric, this monster of monsters.

"What?" I manage to choke out, as if being in the presence of this evil man was choking me with the stench of malice.

"My dear Alessandra," He began, his fingers tracing the desk in front of him, crooked nails scratching across a wooden blackboard.

"I want you to kill Octavius."

Silence.

One-

Two-

Three-

And I choke out words that don't even exist, as if someone has stolen my mind and replaced it with glue, baking under some great son.

"You are insane." I cough out, and begin to turn to the door. But as soon as my finger touches the knob, a body crashes into mine, covering my hand over the knob.

"Get off of me!" I scream, flailing about like a fish out of water, desperate to wash away his aroma. He steps back, and grins evilly.

"No need to shout, darling, you haven't even let me finish."

"There is nothing you could ever say that would make me agree to that-that" I struggle for thoughts, words, letters, sounds. "act of lunacy!"

"Oh, but there is." His grin grows that a cheshire cat's, showing golden and yellowing teeth.

He moves closer to me, but I back away, and he stops a foot from me.

"In return for the murder of Octavius, I will give you your parents."