The night the kingdom lost its king
735 Words
The Royal Blood Pack had survived wars, betrayals, and countless battles against enemies who wanted to see them fall.
But nothing prepared them for the silence that followed the death of their Alpha.
The news arrived as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.
A warrior covered in dust and blood stumbled through the gates of the Alpha Manor, his face carrying the kind of pain no wolf wanted to see.
The entire pack froze.
Everyone knew.
Before he even spoke, they knew.
Something terrible had happened.
The warrior fell to his knees before the elders.
“Alpha Darius Blackwood and Luna Selene Blackwood…” His voice cracked. “They are gone.”
For a moment, the world stopped.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Then a cry of sorrow echoed through the territory.
The Alpha was dead.
The Luna was dead.
The heart of the Royal Blood Pack had been ripped away.
⸻
Inside the manor, twelve-year-old Lyra Blackwood sat on the floor, staring at the doorway.
She had been waiting.
She believed her parents would walk through those doors like they always did.
Her father would smile and call her his little moon.
Her mother would pull her into her arms and tell her everything was alright.
But the footsteps she heard were not theirs.
Instead, several warriors entered with lowered heads.
Lyra looked at them with confusion.
“Where are my parents?”
No one answered.
Her heart began beating faster.
“Where is my father?”
Still silence.
Then the truth finally reached her.
And in that moment, the little girl who believed the world was safe disappeared.
“No…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“No, my father promised he would come back.”
A warrior lowered his head.
“We are sorry, Princess.”
That single word broke her.
Lyra ran.
She ran toward the entrance, hoping she would see their carriage arriving, hoping this was all a terrible nightmare.
But the gates remained closed.
The sunrise she had watched with her parents that morning was the last sunrise she would ever share with them.
⸻
The pack mourned for seven days.
The Alpha’s funeral was unlike anything the Royal Blood Pack had ever witnessed.
Thousands of wolves gathered beneath the sacred moonstone, their heads lowered in respect.
Darius Blackwood had not only been their Alpha.
He had been their protector.
Their father.
Their king.
Beside his coffin stood his family.
Lyra, too young to understand why fate had taken everything from her.
And Kael Blackwood, the twenty-year-old heir who suddenly carried a burden heavier than any warrior’s sword.
Kael stared at his father’s empty throne.
Yesterday, he had been a son.
Today, everyone looked at him as their future Alpha.
The elders approached him.
“Kael Blackwood, son of Alpha Darius, heir of the Royal Blood Pack, are you prepared to accept the Alpha title?”
The young man looked at his little sister.
Lyra stood alone among thousands of wolves.
Her eyes were filled with fear.
A promise formed inside his heart.
He would protect her.
No matter what.
Kael stepped forward.
“I accept.”
The elders placed the Alpha mark upon him.
“The pack recognizes you as the next Alpha of the Royal Blood Pack.”
The wolves bowed.
“Alpha Kael.”
But Kael did not feel victorious.
He felt the weight of a crown made from his father’s ashes.
⸻
That night, Kael stood before his father’s portrait.
The manor was quiet.
Too quiet.
His fingers tightened into a fist.
“I wasn’t ready for this,” he whispered.
“But I swear…”
His eyes hardened.
“I will protect this pack.”
He looked toward Lyra’s room.
“And I will protect my sister.”
Unknown to him, someone listened from the shadows.
Victor Blackwood.
The late Alpha’s brother.
The man who appeared to mourn the most.
The man everyone trusted.
Victor smiled faintly.
“Such a noble oath.”
He turned away.
“Let’s see how long you can keep it, young Alpha.”
Outside, the moon shone brightly over the Royal Blood Pack.
A new Alpha had risen.
But the darkness that killed the old one had not disappeared.
It had only moved closer.
And soon…
The young Alpha would discover that protecting a crown was far easier than protecting the people who wanted to steal it.
- Writer
