The Claiming Ceremony
600 Words
Chapter Six: The Claiming Ceremony
The Grand Hall of the Crimson Keep was alive with murmurs.
Stone columns rose like ancient gods. Torches flared high above. Every noble pack in the region was present—Alpha Lords, advisors, enforcers. All had come to witness the spectacle.
At the center of the obsidian floor stood Lucien, regal and lethal in black armor etched with red runes. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, seething with hunger.
He waited.
The Mark on his chest ached, alive with fury.
She had defied him.
Sought out Kael.
Sent her blood into another Alpha’s lands.
He would not let that go unpunished.
So he summoned the court.
And he summoned her.
---
Aria was brought in, wrapped in midnight silk, hair cascading down her back like shadows.
The guards flanked her, but she didn’t cower. She walked like a girl with nothing left to lose—and power she hadn’t yet unleashed.
The court stared.
An omega?
She didn’t look like one.
No meekness. No tears.
Just fire in her veins and defiance in her spine.
Lucien stepped forward, voice a command wrapped in velvet.
“On your knees.”
She looked at him, long and slow.
“No.”
Gasps rippled through the court.
Lucien’s eyes glowed gold. His beast surged.
The air grew thick, the room heavier.
He stalked toward her and grabbed her chin.
“You think this is a game?” he hissed, low and dangerous.
“I think you’re scared,” she whispered.
His eyes flickered.
“You feel it too,” she continued. “You can’t control me. And that terrifies you.”
Lucien growled—and bit her.
Right there in front of the court.
His fangs pierced her neck just beneath the old mark. Not a gentle bonding. Not tender.
A claim.
Blood dripped down her collarbone.
But before anyone could speak—before the magic of the claiming could seal—
Aria screamed.
Not in pain.
In power.
Her blood boiled.
Her eyes flared bright gold.
And the bond rejected him.
Lucien reeled back, clutching his chest.
Something was wrong.
The runes on the floor cracked. The bond was supposed to brand her to him.
But instead—it burned him.
Aria stood tall, her voice thunderous, inhuman.
> “You think marking me makes me yours?”
“You’re not the only one with a beast inside.”
Then her wolf surfaced.
Not fully shifted.
Not fur and fangs.
But partially—a hybrid form, golden-eyed and haloed in fire.
Lucien fell to one knee, breath stolen.
The court erupted in chaos. Some backed away. Some knelt. Some howled.
One of the oldest Alphas whispered, trembling, “She’s not just cursed… she’s chosen.”
Aria turned toward Lucien, blood still trailing down her throat.
“This bond?” she said. “It’s not your weapon. It’s our war.”
And then—
She vanished.
Her wolf leaped through the glass of the high window, shattering it into moonlight.
Gone.
---
Later – Lucien’s private chamber
He tore the room apart.
His hands bled. His eyes glowed. The beast roared inside him, furious and confused.
The bond had flared—then turned on him.
What was she?
What had he done?
---
Meanwhile – In the wilds beyond the Crimson Keep
Aria ran with blood on her skin and freedom in her lungs.
The fire inside her didn’t hurt anymore.
It guided her.
She wasn’t a prisoner.
She wasn’t claimed.
She was the girl who’d survived the bite of a king—and lived to bite back.
- Writer
