The Alpha King Temporary Luna

The Mark

Chapter Two

The palace doors shook again.

I jumped.

Lucian's hand tightened around my wrist, his claws threatening to emerge as his eyes flashed silver.

"Move."

He pulled me behind him.

I barely had time to understand what was happening before the warriors surrounding us drew their weapons.

The throne room erupted into chaos.

"Protect the King!"

"Seal the eastern corridor!"

"They're already inside!"

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Already inside?

Who were they?

And why were they looking for me?

I looked down at the strange mark on my wrist.

The crescent moon had stopped glowing, but it hadn't disappeared.

It was still there.

Burned into my skin.

"Lucian," I whispered.

He didn't look at me.

"Stay behind me."

"Who are they?"

"Not here."

His voice was sharp.

"Not now."

Another explosion shook the palace which caused dust rained from the ceiling.

Someone screamed.

Then the doors burst open.

A wave of black smoke rushed into the throne room.

The warriors charged.

I watched in horror as shadows moved inside the smoke.

They weren't ordinary wolves.

Their eyes glowed red.

One of them lunged toward us.

Lucian moved faster.

He shifted.

Bones cracked.

Muscles expanded.

Within seconds, the man standing before me was gone.

In his place stood an enormous black wolf.

I'd heard stories about the Alpha King.

I'd heard that his wolf was larger than any ordinary Alpha.

I'd heard that his eyes could make seasoned warriors kneel.

But nothing had prepared me for seeing him.

He was massive.

Beautiful.

Terrifying.

His black fur seemed to absorb the little light remaining in the room.

And his eyes—

Silver.

The same silver as his human eyes.

The creature attacking us hesitated.

Lucian growled.

The sound vibrated through my entire body.

The enemy wolf backed away.

Then Lucian attacked.

I couldn't follow his movements.

One second he was beside me.

The next, he had the stranger pinned to the floor.

There was a flash of claws.

A scream.

Then silence.

I covered my mouth.

I'd never seen someone killed before.

Especially not that quickly.

"Aria!"

I turned.

A warrior was running toward me.

"Come with me!"

I didn't move.

My eyes remained fixed on Lucian before the warrior grabbed my arm.

"Now!"

I stumbled after him.

We ran through a side entrance as the throne room descended into madness.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Safe room."

"What is happening?"

He didn't answer.

"Who are those people?"

Still nothing.

I stopped which made the warrior turned.

"Move!"

"No."

I pulled my arm away.

"You all know something about me."

His expression changed.

"Aria—"

"The King said someone has been hunting my bloodline for three hundred years."

The warrior stared at me.

"You heard him."

"So tell me the truth."

"You don't have time for the truth."

"Then make time."

His jaw tightened.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Finally, he sighed.

"The King will explain everything."

"When?"

"When we are certain you aren't going to die tonight."

My stomach dropped.

Before I could respond, a howl echoed through the corridor.

The warrior's face changed.

"Run."

We ran.

Behind us came the sound of different footsteps.

Too many.

The warrior pushed me through a wooden door and locked it.

"Stay here."

"What?"

"Whatever you hear, don't open the door."

Then he left.

I stared at the door.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Another howl echoed outside.

I backed away.

My breathing became uneven.

This couldn't be happening.

Just hours ago, I had been an ordinary omega trying to save my brother but now an ancient bloodline was apparently living inside me.

People were attacking the royal palace and the Alpha King had looked terrified because of me.

I looked at my wrist again.

The mark pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

Then pain exploded through my arm.

I cried out.

The room disappeared and suddenly, I wasn't inside the palace anymore.

I was standing in a forest and it was not any forest I'd ever seen.

The trees were enormous, the moon above me was blood–red and someone was screaming.

A woman.

I turned back, she stood several feet away from me.

She was dressed in a long white gown covered in blood.

Her hair was silver.

Her eyes—

My breath caught.

They were exactly like mine.

She looked at me and called,

"Aria."

I froze.

"You know my name?"

The woman stepped closer.

"You have very little time."

"What is this?"

"Your inheritance."

I shook my head.

"I don't understand."

"You will."

She reached for my wrist.

The moment her fingers touched the mark, a wave of heat passed through me.

Images flashed through my mind.

A battlefield.

Thousands of wolves kneeling.

A woman standing beneath the moon.

A crown.

Fire.

Blood.

And Lucian.

He was younger.

Much younger.

Kneeling before the same woman.

Then everything changed again.

Lucian was screaming, chains wrapped around his body, a strange black symbol covered his chest and the woman from the vision stood before him.

She raised a blade.

"Your bloodline will pay for what your king did."

The vision shattered.

I gasped and was back inside the room. My wrist was burning and I could see someone was standing over me.

Lucian.

He was human again.

His shirt was torn, blood streaking one side of his face. But he wasn't looking at my face rather he was staring at the mark.

"You saw her."

I couldn't speak.

He crouched in front of me.

"Aria."

I swallowed.

"Who was she?"

His face went completely still.

"The first Werewolf Queen."

My heart stopped.

"That was impossible."

"I know."

"Then why did I see her?"

Lucian didn't answer.

He reached for my wrist.

The instant his fingers touched the mark, both of us froze.

A shockwave exploded through the room.

The windows shattered, the walls trembled and somewhere deep inside me, a voice whispered—

Mine.

Lucian's eyes widened.

He pulled his hand away.

"What happened?"

I stared at him.

"I heard something."

"What?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

But Lucian did.

I could see it in his face.

He knew exactly what had happened.

Before I could question him, the palace bells began ringing.

Once.

Twice.

Then continuously.

Lucian stood.

His expression became cold again.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

He looked toward the door.

"It means the palace has fallen."

My blood ran cold.

"What?"

He turned back to me.

"Aria, listen carefully."

His voice was low.

"The people who attacked tonight weren't here to kill me."

He stepped closer.

"They came for you."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

Lucian's jaw tightened.

Then he said the one thing I was not prepared to hear.

"Because someone inside your own pack has known who you really are since the day you were born."

A loud knock came from the other side of the door.

Lucian immediately reached for his weapon.

Another knock.

Then a familiar voice spoke.

"Aria?"

My heart stopped.

I knew that voice.

It belonged to my pack Alpha.

The same man who had told me my brother was too worthless to save.

The same man who had watched me leave for the palace without trying to stop me.

He was standing outside.

And somehow—

he had found me.