THE FORGOTTEN WOLF PRINCESS

CHAPTER 6: A Son's Oath

The sound of an object piercing a skin was heard once more.

"NOOOOOO!!!"

"SLADEEE!!" Damian's voice tore from his throat,as one of his enforcers went in the way and took the arrow for Lyra.

"You will…." Blood bubbled at Slade's lips as he struggled to form words.

"Be a great Luna…Lyra..fulfill your destiny.." Slade's gaze found Lyra's, moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes as his breaths grew shallow.

"Goodbye ... .my queen.." he said and took his last breath….

Lyra's breath hitched. As Slade's chest stilled, her hands flew to her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The metallic tang of blood hung thick in the air, coating the back of every throat. The rogues began to retreat as their queen Nyssa fell in battle.

"Damian Knox," Sebastian's words came through a clenched jaw.He is on his knees while holding his mother's lifeless body in his arms.

"I will hunt you to the end of your days, I will destroy velmoria as the blood moon pack was destroyed, I will take your throne, I will take Lyra as a sign of my victory, and I will make you watch as I put a little pup in her belly before I kill you myself. This I swear to you," Sebastian brought out a crystal from his chest and gave it a peck as a sign of his swearing.

"I swear this to you, by the moon goddess and the realm…" Sebastian swears.

Damian's gaze remained cold.

Sebastian carried his mother Nyssa from the battlefield and they all retreated.

"Alpha..lord king, why are you letting them go?" Leon's boots pounded against the blood-soaked ground as he reached Damian, brow furrowed, mouth open in question.

Leon was about to go after them when Damian blocked his progress with his hands.

"Let them go.." Damian said bluntly.

"Alpha…"

"I said, let them go," Damian interjected.

Damian's feet moved before he could think, covering the distance to Lyra in seconds, eyes scanning her for injuries.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I am," she replied.

"Slade….he.. he's dead" Lyra's words broke.

"I know, I know, it's alright…you are safe now.." Damian took Lyra into his embrace and comforted her.

"I didn't even know him, but he risked his life for mine..why?" Her voice trembled, tears still fresh on her cheeks.

"He knows you are a special child.., and you will be a great queen"

Damian said, giving her a soft pat at her back.

Lyra raised her head up looking at Damian in his eyes, as if looking for any sign of dishonesty in his eyes.

"Take Lyra to her chambers" Damian ordered one of his men.

Damian stood still, looking at the battlefield. Bodies lay scattered across the trampled grass, some of his men, some rogues.

"Lord king…" Leon approached him.

"You know he will be back?"

"Yes, I know, and when he does that, we will be ready. In the main time we will strengthen our defences at the border"

It has been three days since the battle at velmoria. Damian had publicly made a speech about the lost comrade and how they will not be forgotten. The families of the fallen were given proper burials with full honors. Damian vowed to make velmoria safe for everyone once again, he will eliminate the threat of Sebastian.

Letters were sent to each alpha king of the werewolf Kingdom, sealed with the royal crest, asking for more alliances for the battles ahead. Some replies came swift with promises of support,others remained silent.

Sebastian, who has not been seen, also sent letters to each alpha telling them of Damian being unfit to rule. His words were poison, carefully crafted to sow doubt and discord among the kingdoms.

The council chamber was dimly lit by candlelight. Maps of the werewolf territories covered the long table, markers indicating pack locations and potential threat zones.

"Lord king…." A council member began to speak, clearing his throat nervously.

"We the council question your actions on the battlefield. The killing of Nyssa was not part of the plan for a United Kingdom. This can disrupt all that we have built," said a council member.

"What would you have me do? We all would have died if I didn't do what I did." Damian's voice exploded through the chamber, making several council members flinch.

"Lord king…you hold the strongest armies in the entire werewolf Kingdom, you are the strongest king in all of the werewolf Kingdom, clearly you had a choice, but you decided to kill." said a council member.

"Nyssa is my mother, she has the same abilities and strengths as I do.

Do you think for one second that I enjoyed killing her? I had no choice! She tried to kill Lyra." Damian slammed his fist on the table, the wood cracking beneath his knuckles. "I killed her, yes, there is nothing more to say and that is final, do not bring up this subject again.."

The council members shifted in their seats, exchanging nervous glances.

"Let's discuss more pressing matters, like how Sebastian plans to attack my kingdom! How about that?" Damian said, rolling his eyes.

"Speaking of Sebastian, our scout spotted Sebastian in an unknown land far away from the blood moon pack." A council member unrolled a map, pointing to unmarked territory in the eastern regions.

Damian leaned forward, studying the map intently. "Where exactly?"

"The Shadowlands, my lord. Beyond the Veil Mountains."

A heavy silence fell over the room. The Shadowlands were forbidden territory, a place where dark magic thrived and ancient evils slept.

"What would he want there?" Leon asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Before anyone could answer, the chamber doors burst open. A guard stumbled in, face pale, breathing heavily.

"Lord king! Urgent news from the border!"

Damian straightened. "Speak."

"A messenger arrived... from the Avalon pack,It's about Princess Lyra."

Damian's blood ran cold. "What about her?"

Damian's jaw clenched, knuckles white as he gripped the parchment. "They found something in Lyra's old chambers at the Avalon pack. A symbol... carved into the floor beneath her bed."

"What kind of symbol?"

Damian looked up, his eyes meeting each council member in turn. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, yet it carried the weight of dread.

"The Mark of the First Moon. The same mark that was found at every site where the original werewolf bloodlines were exterminated during the Great Purge."

The room erupted in chaos, council members shouting over each other.

Leon's face went ashen. "But that would mean..."

"Yes." Damian crumpled the letter in his fist. "Someone has been watching Lyra since childhood. And whoever they are..." he paused, the implications settling like stones in his gut, "they've been planning this for a very long time."

Damian knows fully well about the symbol,it was also carved in his room before the great purged, that symbol can only be seen by those who carry the royal bloodline.

A council member stood abruptly. "Alpha,if the Mark of the First Moon has resurfaced, then the prophecy"

"Is real," Damian finished grimly. "And Lyra might just be at the center of it."

Another messenger burst through the doors, this one covered in dirt and blood.

"Lord king! Another report!" The messenger collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath. "The border patrols... they found tracks. Dozens of them, heading toward Avalon pack territory."

"Sebastian?" Leon demanded.

The messenger shook his head. "No, alpha lord king,these tracks... they're not from any known pack. They're..." he looked up, fear plain in his eyes, "they're from creatures that haven't walked these lands in over three hundred years."

Damian's blood turned to ice. "What creatures?"

The messenger's voice dropped to a whisper. "The Dread Walkers. The same beasts that served the Dark Council during the Great Purge. They're heading straight for the Avalon pack."

The chamber fell deathly silent.

Damian turned to Leon, his decision already made. "Gather the Shadow Warriors. We ride for Avalon immediately. They are going for lyra”

"My lord, it could be a trap," a council member warned.

"I don't care." Damian strode toward the door, stopping only to deliver one final command. "If the Dread Walkers have returned, then someone has opened the Gates of the Abyss. And if they reach Lyra before we do..." Damian paused

“But Lyra is not in the Avalon pack?" Leon reminded.

" They think she is, let guards be stationed at each corner of Lyra chambers,do not let her out of your sight!" Damian ordered

If the prophecy was true, and Lyra fell into the wrong hands, it wouldn't just be Velmoria that burned.

It would be the entire werewolf realm.

somewhere, in the Shadowlands beyond the Veil Mountains, Sebastian stood before an ancient altar. His mother's body lay upon the stone, surrounded by thirteen hooded figures chanting in languages.

"Is it done?" Sebastian asked.

The lead figure turned, revealing eyes that glowed with unnatural red light. "Almost, young king. The ritual is nearly complete. Soon, your mother will walk again."

"And the Dread Walkers?"

"Already dispatched. They will retrieve the girl, as promised."