Claimed By A Midnight King

Chapter 13

Vivian’s pov

The first thing I noticed was the silence.

For ten years, my waking hours had been a mix of low, buzzing hum. Sofia had called it a Void drift.

Void drift was the inevitable symptom of a defect. But as I opened my eyes, staring up at the heavy timber ceiling of the infirmary, the hum was gone.

In its place was a terrifyingly sharp clarity. I could now hear the wind howling against the stone walls outside. I could hear the rhythmic sounds of swords clashing in the courtyard below. I could feel a presence in the back of my mind.

It was warm, wild and incredibly restless.

My wolf. She hadn’t died when I burned out in the Great hall. By destroying the blue vial, the Astraea magic had scorched the last remnants of Sofia's chemical leash from my blood.

The god like magic had retired to a hollow, dormant sleep, leaving my physical body weak and aching. But my beast was finally awake.

I turned my head on the roughed linen pillow. Dominic was sitting in a wooden chair beside the bed. He was staring at his own hands, his elbow resting on his knees. His dark shirt was torn at the shoulder, and I could see the angry, red blistered skin where my violet fire had burned him when he tried to catch me.

My newly awakened wolf let out a soft whine at the sight of his injury. The mate bond, no longer suffocated , snapped to life like a taunt wire between us. It pulled at my chest, a desperate, magnetic urge to reach out and touch him, to soothe him.

I shifted , the coarse wool blanket rustling against my legs .

Dominic’s head snapped up. His eyes locked into mine, gleaming for a fraction of a second with genuine relief before a heavy iron wall slammed down over his features. He forced his posture to stiffen, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.

“You burned out”, Dominic stated, his voice low and raspy. But beneath it I could hear the frantic, protective beating of his heart through the bond.

“Freya said your magical core is entirely empty. If you try to summon that fire again, your mortal body will fail, and you will die!”

I slowly pushed myself up. The pain hit fast. My muscles screamed in protest. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, shivering as the freezing air of the northern citadel bit at my pale skin.

“Why didn’t you let me die?” I asked, my voice as low as a whisper. My grey eyes searched his hardened face.

“I destroyed your Great Hall. I attacked your men. So why am I in a bed and not chains?”

Dominic’s jaw locked. He looked away, staring fiercely at the stone wall. “Don’t falter yourself, Vivian”, he said, echoing the brutal words he had spoken in the courtyard days ago.

“I need you alive. You are the only leverage I have against Damian Helios. A broken weapon is still a weapon”.

The words stung, a sharp prick of rejection that made my wolf bare its teeth in my mind, but I was too tired to fight him.

Before I could respond, the heavy wooden doors of the infirmary groaned open.

I flinched, pulling the blanket higher. Dominic was on his feet in an instant, his massive frame shifting to block me from whoever was entering .

An older man stepped into the room, leaning heavily on an iron tipped walking stick. He wore the thick, silver furs of the Elder council. His face was scarred, his beard peppered with grey, and his eyes looked incredibly tired.

“Stand down, Dominic”, the old man said gently, raising a hand up. “It's just me”.

Dominic’s rigid posture relaxed a fraction of an inch. “Kael. You shouldn’t be down here. The healing ward is off limits”.

Elder kael sighed,walking slowly towards us. He didn’t look at me with the boiling hatred I expected from a Northern lord. Instead, he looked at me with a profound, weary sadness, like some tragic mistake he didn’t want to deal with.

“I had to come, my boy”, Kael murmured, placing a paternal hand on Dominic's shoulder. “The council is in an uproar. Elder Jarek is whipping the vanguard into a frenzy.

He is demanding that we drag the girl in the courtyard and execute her for the destruction of the Great hall.

Dominic’s hand curled into massive fists, his face showing undiluted anger. “Jarek does not give orders in my mountain. She’s my prisoner”.

“I know that, and you know that”, Kael said, his voice dropping to a soothing tone.

“I told Jarek to stand down. I reminded the council that you are the Alpha, and your strategies are beyond their primitive need for blood. I have bought you time, Dominic. But Jarek is sending his personal guards to search the lower levels. He wants to incite a riot”.

Kael squeezed Dominic’s shoulder, looking up at the Alpha with the desperate, pleading eyes of a father trying to save his son from a terrible mistake.

“You must hide her, Dominic”, Kael urged softly. “If Jarek’s men find her in this infirmary, they will kill her, and you will be forced to slaughter your own pack to defend her. Do not let Jarek tear our family apart”.

Dominic stared at Kael, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders as he absorbed the elder’s council.

“Where? The dungeons are too cold. She won’t survive the night”.

Kael appeared to think for a moment, stroking his grey beards. “The east tower archives. It is warm, isolated, and Jarek's men have no right to look among the old ledgers. Put her there. Then tell the pack she is undergoing intense interrogation. I will keep Jarek distracted in the war room”.

“Thank you, Kael”, Dominic said, his voice thick with genuine gratitude.

“We look after our own Alpha”, Kael replied with a warm, sad smile. He turned his grey eyes towards me, offering a small, reassuring nod. It wasn’t a look of hatred or disgust; it was a genuine, grandfatherly pity.

He turned on his heel, and walked out of the infirmary, his iron staff clicking softly against the stone. Dominic turned back to me, the rigid Alpha mask slipping perfectly back into place.

“Get up," he ordered bluntly. “Silas is taking you to the archives”.

I swung my legs over the bed, my bare feet hitting the freezing floor. A violet shiver wrecked through my frail body, but for the first time since I had been dragged into this frozen mountain, I felt something loosened in my chest.

Elder Jarek. The name sent a cold chill of fear down my spine. The fact that there was a faction in this mountain actively hunting me, wanting to drag me into the courtyard and execute me.

But as I pulled my oversized linen tunic tighter around my shoulders, I realised I wasn’t entirely without any allies. Elder Kael had just risked his own political standing to protect me from the mob. He had given me a safe haven in the East tower.

I looked up at Dominic, who was watching me with carefully guarded eyes. I didn’t fight him back this time. I willingly followed Silas out the door, overwhelmingly grateful to the kind old Elder who had just saved my life.