The kneeling Enemy
1311 Words
The man remained on one knee.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The training ground, which had been filled with chaos seconds earlier, had fallen into a silence so deep I could hear the wind brushing against the trees beyond the pack walls.
My heart was still racing.
The silver energy beneath my skin pulsed slowly, like something alive inside my veins.
The kneeling man lifted his head slightly.
His eyes remained fixed on me.
“Welcome back,” he repeated calmly. “Your Highness.”
The words sent a ripple through the crowd of wolves surrounding us.
Shock.
Confusion.
Suspicion.
I swallowed slowly.
“You have the wrong person,” I said.
The man smiled faintly.
“No. We do not.”
Before I could respond, a powerful presence stepped in front of me.
The Alpha.
His posture was rigid, his expression dark with restrained fury.
“You will explain those words,” he said coldly.
The kneeling man glanced at him.
There was no fear in his gaze.
Only amusement.
“You already know the truth, Alpha.”
A low growl vibrated in the Alpha’s chest.
“I asked you a question.”
“And I answered.”
The man’s eyes flicked back to me.
“She is the last of the bloodline your council tried to erase.”
Gasps spread across the training ground.
My stomach tightened painfully.
Erase?
What was he talking about?
The Alpha’s voice turned dangerously quiet.
“You will stand.”
The man did not move.
“Or what?” he asked calmly.
“Or I remove your head where you kneel.”
That finally earned a reaction.
The man laughed softly and rose to his feet.
The cursed wolves behind him shifted uneasily, glancing between him and the Alpha as if waiting for orders.
The Alpha stepped forward.
“Who sent you?”
“You know who.”
“Say the name.”
The man tilted his head slightly.
“Would you believe me if I did?”
“Yes.”
“No,” he corrected calmly. “You would kill me before I finished speaking.”
The tension between them thickened.
Lina moved closer to my side again.
“Lyra,” she whispered, “what is he talking about?”
“I do not know.”
But something deep inside my chest twisted when the man spoke about the royal bloodline.
As if my body recognized something my mind did not.
The Alpha’s patience snapped.
He moved so fast the man barely had time to react.
His hand closed around the attacker’s throat and lifted him off the ground.
“You attacked my territory,” the Alpha said quietly. “You threatened one of my wolves.”
The man’s feet dangled above the ground.
“And you will answer me.”
The cursed wolves behind him growled.
Several warriors stepped forward to intercept them.
The situation balanced on the edge of another fight.
The man gripped the Alpha’s wrist.
“You are protecting her now,” he rasped.
“Interesting.”
The Alpha’s grip tightened.
“I am losing patience.”
The man’s eyes shifted toward me again.
“You feel it, don’t you?”
My breath caught.
“The power waking inside you.”
The silver energy beneath my skin flared slightly in response to his words.
My hands curled into fists.
“What do you know about it?” I demanded.
The Alpha’s gaze snapped toward me.
But the man answered first.
“More than you do.”
His lips curled into a faint smile.
“Because my people have been waiting for this moment for years.”
“Waiting for what?” Lina demanded.
“For her.”
His gaze locked onto mine again.
“The lost heir.”
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
“That is impossible,” someone from the council muttered.
“The royal bloodline was wiped out decades ago.”
The man laughed.
“Not completely.”
The Alpha slammed him against the ground.
The impact cracked the stone beneath them.
“You are finished talking in riddles.”
The man coughed slightly but continued smiling.
“You really do not know, do you?”
The Alpha did not answer.
The man’s voice softened.
“Your council lied to you.”
A dangerous silence fell over the field.
“Careful,” the Alpha warned.
“Oh, I am very careful.”
The man’s gaze flicked toward the council members standing near the edge of the training ground.
“They told you the royal family died during the war.”
“That is what happened.”
“No,” the man corrected.
“That is what they wanted you to believe.”
The Alpha’s jaw tightened.
“You expect me to believe a traitor?”
“I expect you to believe your own instincts.”
The man nodded toward me.
“Look at her.”
Slowly, reluctantly, the Alpha did.
Our eyes met again.
The bond between us pulsed painfully.
Unresolved.
Unwanted.
But impossible to ignore.
“You felt it the moment you arrived,” the man continued quietly.
“The mate bond.”
The surrounding wolves shifted uneasily.
The Alpha said nothing.
“That was not coincidence,” the man continued.
“It was blood recognizing blood.”
My heart pounded harder.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
The man smiled.
“It means the crown has chosen its queen.”
A sharp sound echoed across the training ground.
The Alpha’s fist striking the man’s jaw.
The attacker collapsed to the ground.
“Enough.”
The Alpha’s voice carried deadly authority.
“You are done speaking.”
But the man only laughed from the ground.
“You cannot silence the truth.”
The cursed wolves behind him suddenly began to retreat toward the forest.
The warriors moved to pursue them.
“Let them go,” the Alpha ordered.
They stopped immediately.
The man slowly pushed himself upright again.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” he said calmly.
The Alpha stepped closer.
“Perhaps I still will.”
But the man shook his head.
“No.”
His gaze shifted toward the sky.
“It is too late for that.”
A strange tension filled the air.
The silver energy beneath my skin flared again.
Stronger.
More unstable.
I felt something else now.
A distant vibration.
Like a pulse traveling through the earth beneath our feet.
The man noticed my reaction.
His smile widened.
“There it is.”
The Alpha frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
The man’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
“The signal.”
“What signal?”
The man’s gaze remained locked on mine.
“The one that tells them the heir has awakened.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?” I asked.
The man laughed softly.
“You will see.”
Then he suddenly grabbed something from inside his jacket.
A small black crystal.
The Alpha reacted instantly.
But the man crushed the crystal in his hand before anyone could stop him.
Dark energy exploded outward.
The shockwave knocked several wolves backward.
When the smoke cleared
The man was gone.
The Alpha cursed under his breath.
“He teleported.”
Lina stared at the empty space where the attacker had stood.
“What did he mean by signal?”
No one answered.
Because at that exact moment
A deep howl echoed across the distant mountains.
Then another.
And another.
Hundreds of wolves answering the same call.
My stomach dropped.
The Alpha’s expression turned grim.
“That was not a rogue pack.”
I forced the words out.
“Then what was it?”
He looked directly at me.
“That,” he said quietly,
“was a war call.”
- Writer
