The Alpha King's Witch Bride
Chapter 184: _Scape Goat

Chapter 184: _Scape Goat

Marcellus’ POV

*****

The mansion reeked of blood and smoke after the fierce battle in the Alpha king’s throne room.

Even as pack medics scrambled around the throne room to stabilize Kaelos, Marcellus walked calmly through the chaos. His boots clicked softly against the marble floors, which were smeared with streaks of blood, ash, and the remains and bloody organs of fallen pack soldiers.

"Celine escaped!" Layla’s voice echoed behind him.

Of course, she did.

But not from him.

Marcellus closed his eyes briefly and inhaled. Not through his nose... No, this was a different kind of scent. It was like a thread. A mark he had left in Celine’s mind like a parasite burrowing into bone.

The same spell he had left in her mind to heighten her hatred for Odessa now acted as a tracking beacon.

’You can run, little puppet, but you’re still on my strings.’ He thought to himself as he finally stepped out of the throne room.

He whispered a command in his thoughts, an activation of the binding spell still woven through Celine’s subconscious. It wasn’t strong enough to control her anymore — not after the emotional trauma of stabbing Kaelos — but it was enough to find her.

And from what he could feel, she was terrified.

Perfect...

He descended through the palace halls with unhurried steps, ignoring the gasps of passing wolves too rattled to question him. His black coat fluttered behind him like the wings of a waiting vulture.

She had gone toward the eastern courtyard, then broken through one of the old servant tunnels in the mansion, linked to the same underground network as the dungeons.

Smart move. But not smart enough.

*****

The tunnel reeked and the air seemed stale. He walked with his hand outstretched, his fingers tingling with dark green energy as he felt her panic spike again.

She knew he was coming.

He wanted her to.

He emerged out of the tunnels and into the open air of the surface just as the moonlight broke through the clouds.

Up ahead, beyond the mansion, a silhouette stumbled across the back fields beyond the training grounds of the mansion’s guards, her gown now torn, and trailing like a ghost behind her.

It was her.

"Celine," He called, his voice smooth and echoing into the quiet night.

This part of the pack was quiet, but he could pick up the sound of pack civilians from all around the pack murmuring and making conspiracies about what could be happening at the Alpha King mansion.

Kaelos’ roars during his transformation must have woken up at least half of the pack.

Anyway, Celine froze and then turned slowly.

Her face was filled with dread. Blood smeared her cheek from where rubble had cut her temple. Her short black hair was whipping in the wind.

And her eyes... they were wide, wild, and shimmering with tears.

"You... you did this to me, didn’t you?" She whispered. "You’re the one that has made my thoughts... my actions—"

He smiled and interrupted. "No. You did this to yourself. I just helped nudge things along."

Celine’s eyes twitched, her face contorting as she screamed with rage before hurling a blast of raw magic toward him.

"Curse Regina for giving her those enchanted bracelets..." He clicked his tongue before going into action.

Marcellus flicked his wrist, and the spell collapsed mid-air, absorbed by an invisible magic barrier with a soft crackle.

He began walking toward her, unimpressed.

"I wanted the throne! I deserved it!" She cried. "I carried his child, I supported Kaelos before that witch ever—"

"You carried Zane’s child," He interrupted with a bored tone, tilting his head. "Let’s not rewrite history. And certainly don’t try lying to me."

Her face contorted once again. "You’ve been controlling me all this while. You made me believe I could do it. You—"

"I made you believe whatever I needed to, Celine."

He stopped two feet away.

She was trembling. The magic from the enchanted bracelets sparked weakly in her palms.

The thread of the spell he had cast in her mind pulsed, still fragile but just enough for him to reach in.

"I can fix this," He whispered, stepping closer. "I can take the pain away."

Her lips parted.

And in that moment of hesitation, he touched her forehead with two fingers — and sent a final surge of energy into her brain.

She screamed, her body seizing and her bones snapping as the spell was violently erased without a trace from her mind.

She collapsed onto the grass, twitching and still very much alive.

Marcellus crouched beside her and brushed a bloody strand of hair from her cheek.

"If only you knew earlier...," He murmured, shaking his head with mock pity. "You nor Gamma Zane were ever going to wear the crown. But you will serve a purpose."

She whimpered, her eyes fluttering open, as she struggled to stay conscious.

He extended his palm and drew out a silver dagger hidden in her gown. He stared at the blade with a cold smirk.

"I could make this look like an accident," He mused. "But that wouldn’t be believable. A mother, a queen, turned traitor? No... They’ll want blood. And they’ll love me for giving it to them."

"No... please..." She pleaded, placing her hand on her stomach as if she were trying to get him to have mercy on her unborn child.

But he placed the blade against her chest.

"You stabbed the Alpha King," He whispered in her ear. "This is justice."

And with one smooth thrust, he drove the blade through her heart.

There were no screams. Just a sharp gasp, and then silence as her blood oozed out of the wound, spilling onto the grass underneath and pooling around her.

He held her as life drained from her eyes, watching her let out her final breath. Then he let her body drop like a broken doll.

The grass beneath her was soaked with dark red blood.

Marcellus got on his feet, adjusted his sleeves, and released the spell, successfully severing the last tie between their minds and any trace that would link him to her.

When he returned to the mansion, a trail of guards met him at the eastern corridor entrance. He walked straight toward them, his chest heaving as though he’d sprinted the whole way.

"I found her," He announced, pretending to be breathless, his voice ragged with feigned grief. "She tried to flee. I gave her a chance to surrender, but... She attacked me."

He turned slightly so they could see the gash he’d sliced into his shoulder with the blade before returning. It was shallow, but bleeding enough to sell the story.

"She’s dead," He said quietly. "It was self-defense."

Gasps rippled through the guards.

One of them lowered his head with a growl. "That traitor deserved worse."

"Where’s the body?" Another asked.

Marcellus lifted his chin, pointing behind him. "East field. Near the training perimeter. Have it collected and shown to the elders. Let her death be a warning."

As the guards dispersed to follow his command, he continued, walking into the mansion and slowly rolling the sleeves of his shoulder to ease the sting of his fake wound as a smirk curled up his lips.

He’d successfully killed a mother and her scheming daughter tonight.

"I deserve an award at this point."