The Alpha's Hidden Moon

Episode6

"Why are you not kneeling?

It was Lucien who asked the question.

I glanced round the hall.

Kael was down on one knee.

So were the guards.

Victor was on the floor, face pressed against the marble. Even Lady Marcy, who most of my life had made me feel I was worth nothing, was shaking her forehead down.

All were on their knees.

Except for me.

I stood in the middle of the destroyed hall, my heart hammering against my ribs as another ancient howl echoed through the nite. "I don't know," I whispered.

Lucien looked at me as though I had turned into something he no longer understood.

His gaze moved to the silver light still glowing under my skin.

I furrowed my brows.

Who do you see?”

Before Lucien could answer, Kael stood up.

He took his time.

Managed.

But when he stood up, all the guards in the room looked terrified.

His golden eyes were on the forest beyond the broken entrance.

“Enough.

His voice was not the same.

Not the quiet Alpha who'd asked me earlier.

There was power in this voice.

The kind that made the walls listen.

Lucien's face went cold.

You felt it too.

Kael didn't answer. "What's coming?" I said.

At last Kael turned to me.

The anger left his eyes for a second. "Something I thought was dead."

A chill went through me. "Is it coming for me?"

He paused.

That was answer enough.

I moved closer to him. “Tell me the truth.

He set his jaw. "I don't know what you are.

The words hurt more than I thought.

I paused.

He continued, now a little more quietly.

But I know somebody spent years making sure no one else knows."

My eyes flicked to Victor.

He lay on the floor, still.

"Ask him."

Victor lifted his head slowly.

His eyes met mine

I saw the answer before he said.

Fear.

Actual fear.

"You have one chance Victor" Kael said.

Victor’s hands shook as he struggled to sit up. “Lyra…”

“Don’t call me that.”

My voice cracked.

I swallowed and tried once more.

“Not until you tell me why everyone is afraid of me.”

His lips twitched. "You weren't supposed to wake."

The room fell quiet.

I looked at him. "Awaken what?

Victor looked at my chest. "Your blood.

My fingers clenched into fists. "What does that mean?"

He opened his mouth.

Before he could respond, a violent explosion rocked the mansion.

The entire floor shook under my feet.

I lost my footing.

Kael put his arms around my waist.

For a breath I was held close to him.

His body was hot.

Tight.

My hand slapped his chest, his heart pounding under my palm against his ribs.

His eyes flicked to mine.

There was something weird between us.

Not the same crushing force that I'd felt earlier.

Something more subdued.

A tug.

We didn’t know how to answer a question.

Then another blast blew the moment to smithereens.

Kael released me at once.

"Stay behind me.

I nodded.

The blackness moved outside.

No data.

Scores.

They came out of the forest in black armour with a silver crescent insignia on it.

My stomach turned over.

Lucien's eyes narrowed. "The Nite Fang."

One of Kael’s guards looked shocked. “They’re here.”

Kael's face went cold. "How many?"

"Too many.

The first wave arrived.

Kael was the first to shift.

His body went blurry.

In another second he was out.

The courtyard echoed with the sound of war.

I looked behind the broken doorway could not look away.

Kael fought as no man ever fought.

He moved with brutal precision, knocking enemies aside with bare hands, before shifting between human and wolf with terrifying speed. He was there whenever anyone approached the mansion.

Guarding the entrance.

Standing up for me.

A warrior slipped through the guards.

He walked right up to me.

I froze up.

He lifted his sword.

Kael was aloof.

I shut my eyes.

The blade never got to me.

A silver wave blew from my breast.

The warrior was sent flying backward, smashing through a stone wall.

There was no sound.

I looked down on my hands.

They were gleaming

Not smart.

Enough to make the veins under my skin glint silver.

Kael stopped struggling.

His eyes met mine.

I saw something like shock in his face for the first time.

Then someone screamed. "She's the Moon Child!"

And the words went round the garden. "The Moon Child!"

"The lost heir!

“Kill her before the blood wakes up!

My stomach sank.

Lost heir?

Kael turned to the attackers.

A darkness came over his face.

He didn't look at me.

He looked at them.

"Who said she was here?"

No one replied.

Kael grabbed one of the fallen warriors by the throat and lifted him off the ground. “I asked you a question.

The warrior laughed despite the pain. "You don't know, do you?"

Kael's fingers curled. "Know what?

"The girl is not your weakness.

The warrior smiled more broadly.

"She is your hell.

Kael's eyes flared.

The warrior bit hard before he could question him again.

His body relaxed.

Dead.

Kael let him go.

I watched the scene, horror growing. "Kael...

He glanced in my direction.

His hands were covered in blood.

Not his.

He wiped it away without looking away from me. "Go inside." "I want answers."

"You'll get them." "When?

"When I can keep you alive long enough to hand them on."

"I'm sick of people telling me what I can and can't have." His words made me mad.

Something in his face relaxed. "I know.

The silent answer surprised me.

He moved closer.

'Yeah, you think I don't know what it's like to have everyone else decide who you are before you get the chance to decide for yourself?

I stared at him.

For a moment the dreaded Alpha was gone.

I saw the man below him.

The wounded.

The one alone.

Then his eyes turned away. "Go."

I nearly obeyed.

And then I heard something.

A murmur.

So faint I thought I dreamt it.

Lyra.

I glanced around.

There was nobody behind me.

And the voice came again.

Lyra…

My birthmark was aflame.

I gasped and grabbed my chest.

Kael noticed immediately.

"What is it?"

"I can hear someone."

"Who?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

The whisper became clearer.

Come to the forest.

My eyes widened.

Kael reached for my arm. "Don't."

The voice came again.

Your mother is waiting.

I stopped breathing.

"My mother..."

Kael's grip tightened.

"What did you hear?"

I looked at him. "My mother is alive."

His expression changed.

Not shock.

Not confusion.

Fear.

Deep, unmistakable fear.

Behind us, Victor suddenly screamed. "No!"

Everyone turned.

He was staring at the glowing mark on my chest.

His face had lost all color.

Then he whispered words that made my blood run cold. "Her mother isn't the one you should be afraid of."

A shadow moved behind him.

Victor's eyes widened.

Something sharp pierced through his chest.

Blood spread across his shirt.

He fell.

And standing behind him was Lady Marcy.

Her hands were covered in blood.

But she wasn't looking at Victor.

She was looking at me.

With tears running down her face, she whispered, "Forgive me, Lyra."

Then she smiled. "The seal has chosen its Alpha."

Her eyes turned silver.

And she looked directly at Kael.

"Now we finally know who your real enemy is.”