The Forbidden Eclipse Queen Claimed By Two Alphas

CHAPTER THREE

DAMIAN POV

I stared at Elena with a horror so deep it made my limbs go cold.

I knew this girl, I had loved her for two whole years. She was my safe place, my quiet harbor, and the only person I wanted to build a future with.

Now the elders were screaming that she was the legendary Eclipse Mate. Worse than that, my best friend was standing on the other side of her, carrying the exact same mark.

My wolf roared inside my skull, demanding that I rip anyone to pieces who dared to touch her. My mind told me this situation was impossible, but my heart flatly refused to let her go.

When the royal guards stepped forward with silver chains, Lucian jumped in front of them first.

Anger surged through my veins like boiling acid. I knew Lucian better than anyone. I knew his reputation.

He threw away girls like trash after a single night. The mere thought of his wild hands on Elena made my inner beast go vicious.

"Step back, Lucian!" I growled, my voice cracking with power.

I raised my eyes to glare at him, but the words died in my throat.

Lucian was not smiling, the arrogant playboy persona was completely gone. His eyes were wide, filled with a raw, desperate terror I had never seen on his face before.

Lucian was not playing games, he was already falling apart for her.

That realization broke something fundamental inside my chest.

Lucian and I had been brothers since we were seven years old.

Our fathers were bitter enemies, but we had bled together on the training grounds. We had played side by side in every hockey battle.

I used to believe Lucian was the one person in this world who would never betray me. Now, this fragile girl stood directly between us, threatening to tear our entire world down.

"Hand the girl over, Damian!" Headmaster Vance shouted, motioning for the Silvercrest guards to advance. "She is a threat to the entire continent!"

"No," I said cold and hard.

"Over my dead body," Lucian snarled at the same time.

Lucian turned his dark eyes onto me, his chest heaving. "She belongs with the royal court, Cross. Step away from her."

"She is my girlfriend!" I shoved his chest with both hands. "You stay the hell away from her!"

Lucian shoved me back so hard my back slammed into a concrete wall. "You think I wanted this? Look at my ribs, Damian! She is my mate!"

We lunged at each other, our sharp claws extending as our Alpha wolves clawed to get out.

The pack guards rushed between us, barely holding us apart as we growled in each other's faces.

Elena watched us with wide, terrified eyes, tears already streaming down her pale cheeks. I saw the pure horror in her expression and realized how insane we were acting.

I broke away from the guards and reached out to grab Elena's hand.

The instant my fingers brushed her skin, a wave of soothing warmth washed over me. My inner wolf instantly calmed down, purring in satisfaction.

Lucian watched my hands touching her, and his face turned murderously dark. He looked like he wanted to burn the whole world to the ground.

Before either of us could move again, the air in the room grew suffocatingly cold. The third symbol burned onto Elena's wrist, and she collapsed to the floor, completely unconscious.

The grand wooden doors slammed open. My father, Lord Thomas Cross, stepped into the ruined mansion.

He took one look at the three glowing marks on Elena’s wrist, and his face drained of all color. He did not look angry or surprised. He looked terrified.

"Damian," my father commanded, his voice trembling slightly. "Leave the girl. We are going home right now."

"I am not leaving her!" I yelled, stepping in front of Elena's body. "Father, what is happening to her?"

"Get away from her!" my father roared, grabbing my arm with a crushing grip. "The Eclipse Mate has never been a blessing, you foolish boy! She is the curse that brings down Alpha dynasties!"

"What does that mean?" I demanded, pulling my arm free. "Tell me!"

My father refused to answer. He turned his back on me and ordered his guards to secure the perimeter, completely ignoring my questions. His sudden secrecy set off massive alarm bells inside my head.

Two hours later, after the elders took Elena to the royal infirmary, I snuck back into my family’s estate. I bypassed the security guards and broke into my father’s private study.

I pounded on the dark wood panels behind his desk until a hollow sound echoed back.

I pressed the hidden latch, and the heavy wall slid open to reveal a dark stone vault.

I pulled out dusty leather journals and old yellowed documents.

I flipped through the pages until I found an ancient painting of the last Eclipse Mate from a century ago.

My heart stopped. The woman in the painting had Elena's soft eyes, her exact dark hair, and her gentle smile.

I kept reading through the ancient records. My eyes scanned down to a page describing the two male mates bound to the Eclipse Queen. One was represented by a black wolf while the other was represented by a silver wolf.

Beneath our names, a dark title was written in dried red ink: 'THE KILLER OF KINGS.'

The final page of the journal had been violently ripped out.

I began tearing the study apart, searching for the missing piece. I knocked a massive portrait of my grandfather off the wall and found a tiny metal safe hidden in the brickwork. I picked the lock with my knife and pulled out a single glossy photograph.

I froze, the air leaving my lungs in one sharp gasp.

It was a photograph of Elena as a tiny baby, wrapped in a pink blanket.

My father was standing right beside her, smiling down at her with a look of intense pride. Elena's mother was kneeling on the floor before him, crying as she handed the baby over.

My father had known Elena existed long before I ever brought her home.

I turned the photograph over with shaking hands. Written on the back was a date from seventeen years ago. Elena was only three months old when my father first took an interest in her.