The Royal Mark Of Betrayal
Chapter 1
The war had been raging for three nights.
By the time the fourth moon rose over the battlefield, the ground beneath Lyra's boots trembled with the sound of warriors charging through the darkness.
A horn echoed from somewhere beyond the burning trees.
Then another answered.
Lyra tightened her grip on her sword.
“Move!” her commander roared.
The soldiers around her rushed forward.
Lyra ran with them.
The cold night wind whipped against her face as the two armies collided. The sound of clashing weapons filled the air, mixed with angry growls and battle cries. Wolves moved through the battlefield, their eyes glowing beneath the moonlight.
Everywhere Lyra looked, there was chaos.
Their enemies had come without warning.
And no one knew why.
“Lyra!” her best friend, Elara, shouted from behind her. “Watch your left!”
Lyra turned just in time to block an attack.
She stumbled back, her heart pounding, before forcing herself forward again.
She had trained for moments like this.
For war.
For survival.
For revenge.
But nothing could have prepared her for the fear spreading through her chest that night.
Something was wrong.
Their enemies weren't fighting to take territory.
They weren't attacking for power.
They were searching for something.
Or someone.
Lyra pushed the thought away and continued running through the battlefield.
A loud explosion suddenly shook the ground.
Everyone stopped.
For one brief, terrifying second, the battlefield fell silent.
Even the wolves stopped growling.
Lyra slowly lifted her eyes toward the forest.
Smoke rose into the night sky.
Then she saw him.
A man stood at the top of the hill.
He wore dark armor that seemed almost black beneath the moonlight. A long cloak moved behind him in the wind, and a group of warriors stood silently at his back.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Then someone whispered a name.
A name that sent fear through the battlefield.
“Alpha Rodriguez Leon.”
Lyra's breath caught.
Impossible.
She had heard stories about him her entire life.
The most feared Alpha alive.
The heartless ruler who had destroyed entire armies.
The fearless warrior who had never lost a battle.
Alpha Rodriguez Leon.
But something didn't feel right.
The man on the hill slowly raised his hand.
His warriors moved forward.
“Attack!” someone screamed.
The battlefield exploded into chaos again.
Lyra barely had time to react.
A warrior charged toward her, forcing her backward. She fought desperately, blocking one attack after another. Her arms ached, but she refused to fall.
Not tonight.
Not again.
She turned and ran toward the trees, trying to reach Elara.
“Elara!”
No answer.
“ELARA!”
Lyra pushed through the smoke.
Then she stopped.
Her entire body went cold.
There, standing only a few steps away, was a man wearing a dark mask.
He had his back to her.
A sword hung loosely from his hand.
But that wasn't what made Lyra's blood freeze.
It was the mark on his armor.
A silver wolf beneath a broken crown.
Alpha Rodriguez Leon's royal mark.
Lyra had seen that symbol before.
She had seen it on the walls of burned villages.
On weapons abandoned after battle.
And on the armor of the people who had destroyed everything she once loved.
Her fingers tightened around her sword.
“You,” she whispered.
The masked man slowly turned.
His face remained hidden.
Only his eyes were visible through the darkness.
Lyra raised her sword.
“You murdered them.”
The man said nothing.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
Still, silence.
Anger rose inside her.
“ANSWER ME!”
She charged.
The masked man moved faster than she expected.
Their weapons clashed.
Lyra attacked again.
And again.
Every movement was fueled by years of pain.
Years of questions.
Years of wanting to know who had taken everything from her.
The man blocked her attack and forced her backward.
“You fight like your mother.”
Lyra froze.
Her heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
The man stepped closer.
“You heard me.”
“My mother is dead.”
A strange silence passed between them.
Then the masked man lowered his voice.
“Are you sure?”
Before Lyra could move, a terrifying roar shook the battlefield.
The masked man looked toward the hill.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
Then he ran.
“Wait!”
Lyra chased him through the trees.
Branches struck against her arms as she pushed forward. She could hear him somewhere ahead, moving deeper into the darkness.
“STOP!”
He disappeared behind a wall of smoke.
Lyra followed.
And suddenly—
Everything became silent.
Too silent.
The battle sounds had disappeared.
She turned slowly.
The forest around her was empty.
Then she heard footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Someone was walking toward her.
Lyra raised her sword.
A tall figure stepped out from the darkness.
Her breath caught.
It wasn't the masked man.
It was someone else.
Someone far more dangerous.
The man wore black armor, marked with a silver wolf beneath a broken crown.
But unlike the other warrior, this mark looked older.
Royal.
Real.
His dark eyes met hers.
And for the first time in her life, Lyra understood what true fear felt like.
She had never met Alpha Rodriguez Leon.
But she knew.
She knew immediately.
This was him.
The feared Alpha stood before her without saying a word.
Lyra's heart pounded violently.
Every instinct inside her screamed at her to run.
But she didn't.
She had spent years hating the man responsible for her family's death.
She had spent years imagining this moment.
And now he was standing right in front of her.
“Alpha Rodriguez Leon,” she said.
His expression didn't change.
But his eyes narrowed.
“You know my name.”
Lyra swallowed.
“I know what you've done.”
For a moment, something dangerous flashed across his face.
Then he stepped closer.
Lyra lifted her sword and pointed it directly at him.
“Don't move.”
To her surprise, Rodriguez Leon stopped.
A cold smile touched his lips.
“You're pointing a sword at me.”
“You should be grateful it's only a sword.”
One of his warriors moved forward.
“My Alpha—”
Rodriguez Leon raised his hand.
The warrior immediately stopped.
His gaze never left Lyra.
“You have courage,” he said quietly.
“I have nothing to fear.”
“That,” he replied, “is what makes you dangerous.”
Lyra hated the way his voice made her heart beat harder.
She hated the calmness in his eyes.
And most of all, she hated the strange feeling that appeared the moment she looked directly at him.
Something inside her stirred.
Her wolf.
It had been restless since the moment she entered the forest.
Now it became completely still.
Lyra frowned.
No.
Her wolf wasn't afraid.
Her wolf was—
recognizing him.
Her eyes widened.
Rodriguez Leon suddenly went still too.
The cold expression disappeared from his face.
For the first time, the feared Alpha looked shocked.
The wind moved between them.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Rodriguez Leon whispered one word.
A word that made Lyra's blood turn cold.
“Mate.”
Lyra immediately stepped back.
“No.”
Rodriguez Leon's expression hardened.
The strange connection between them tightened.
Lyra shook her head.
“No. No, this is impossible.”
Of all the men in the world—
Not him.
Anyone but him.
Rodriguez Leon stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
Lyra raised her sword again, her hand trembling despite her attempt to hide it.
“You don't get to ask me that.”
His eyes darkened.
“Why?”
“Because one of your men killed my family.”
Silence.
Lyra's voice cracked with anger.
“I saw your royal mark.”
Rodriguez Leon stared at her.
Then something changed in his expression.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Shock.
“What did you say?”
“Someone wearing your royal mark came to my home the night everything was destroyed.”
Rodriguez Leon's jaw tightened.
“That is impossible.”
“Don't lie to me!”
“I don't lie.”
Lyra laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Suddenly, a horn sounded from the battlefield.
One long, warning blast.
Rodriguez Leon turned sharply toward the distant trees.
His warriors reached for their weapons.
Lyra's heart began racing again.
“What is it?” she asked.
No one answered.
Then a scream echoed through the forest.
“Alpha!”
A warrior came running toward them.
He stopped abruptly when he saw Lyra.
“Speak,” Rodriguez Leon ordered.
The warrior lowered his head.
“We found the bodies.”
Lyra's face went pale.
“What bodies?”
The warrior looked at her.
Then back at Rodriguez Leon.
“They were wearing your royal mark, my Alpha.”
Rodriguez Leon's expression turned cold.
Deadly cold.
“That is impossible,” he said again.
But this time, Lyra noticed something.
His voice wasn't denying it.
It was warning them.
As if someone had done something they were never supposed to do.
Before Lyra could ask another question, an arrow suddenly flew from the darkness.
Rodriguez Leon moved instantly.
He pulled Lyra aside.
The arrow struck a tree where she had been standing.
Everything happened at once.
Warriors rushed into the forest.
Lyra pushed herself away from Rodriguez Leon, breathing heavily.
Then another arrow flew through the air.
And another.
“Ambush!” someone shouted.
Rodriguez Leon grabbed Lyra's wrist.
“Stay behind me.”
Lyra glared at him.
“Let go of me.”
“Not a chance.”
“You're not my Alpha.”
His grip tightened.
His eyes flashed.
“And you're apparently my mate.”
Lyra's breath caught.
The battlefield erupted again.
But through the smoke, far beyond the trees, Lyra saw a shadow standing on the hill.
A man.
Wearing a mask.
Watching them.
The same masked man she had fought earlier.
But this time, the silver wolf beneath the broken crown was clearly visible on his chest.
And as Lyra stared at him, the masked man slowly raised one hand.
Then he pointed directly at her.
A cold voice drifted through the darkness.
“Found her.”
Lyra's blood turned to ice.
Rodriguez Leon turned toward her.
His face was filled with a tension she didn't understand.
Because whoever that man was—
He hadn't come for the feared Alpha.
He had come for Lyra.
And the war had only just begun.
