The King’s Instinct
614 Words
The scent lingered in the wind—soft like lavender, sharp like betrayal.
Theron stood at the balcony of his fortress, his golden eyes scanning the darkened forest below. Moonlight glistened against the obsidian stone walls, but all he could see… was her.
Not Soraya. Not the Omega he had been told was his destined mate.
Her.
The one who vanished before he ever laid eyes on her.
The one whose scent called to his wolf like thunder before the storm.
Theron gripped the stone railing, his claws threatening to pierce through his skin.
“She’s alive.”
Beta Calen turned sharply. “Your Majesty? Who’s alive?”
“The one they erased.”
“You mean—Soraya?”
Theron growled, low and dangerous. “Not her. The true Luna. The scent is back. Her scent is back.”
Calen hesitated. “But the elders confirmed—”
“They confirmed a lie,” Theron snapped. “I never felt the bond. Not with Soraya. But this scent—it ignites my blood. It’s been haunting me in dreams for months. Tonight, it returned.”
Calen’s face paled. He had seen the king angry before—but never like this.
“Send trackers,” Theron ordered. “Sweep the western forest. Bring her to me alive.”
“And if Soraya resists?”
Theron’s jaw tightened. “Then she’s no Luna. And she never was.”
---
Elsewhere…
The cold river stung Erin’s skin as she scrubbed the dried blood from her arms. Her body ached in places she didn’t know could hurt. The silver burns throbbed, angry and raw.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the water.
Gaunt. Wild-eyed. Scarred.
But her reflection didn’t look broken.
It looked awake.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her and turned toward the dark woods ahead. Somewhere beyond those trees was the rogue healer who owed her a favor. A safe house. Supplies. A new name.
Until she could find a way to reclaim her own.
---
Back in Blackfang Fortress...
Soraya stood in front of the mirror, her painted lips trembling.
“He knows.”
She’d felt it the moment the scent returned.
Theron’s attention had snapped away from her, like a candle blown out by a storm.
“No... no, this can’t happen. I am his Luna. I have to be.”
She stormed through the halls until she found High Priestess Verena.
“You said the bond would stick,” Soraya hissed. “You said once he mated me, she’d be erased forever.”
The priestess frowned. “We weakened her scent, not her soul. If the original bond was true, it will always echo in the Alpha’s blood.”
“You promised she’d never come back!”
“I promised she’d disappear. You failed to keep her gone.”
Soraya’s hands clenched.
Then she forced herself to breathe.
No. She wouldn't panic. She had come too far to lose everything now. If that Omega was truly alive…
She would make sure she stayed buried.
---
Meanwhile…
Erin collapsed into the hollow of an old tree, every muscle in her body begging for sleep. But her mind raced.
Kael lied.
Soraya betrayed you.
You’re nothing to them now.
But the scent that followed her escape—the sudden spike in the air, the way her heart had stuttered—told her someone else had noticed.
Someone powerful.
The Alpha King?
She dismissed the thought. No one had ever truly protected her. Why would he?
And yet… somewhere in her bones, something stirred.
A whisper not from fear, but from instinct.
He’s looking for you.
And this time, she wasn’t the prey.
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