Rejected by my alpha claimed by the lycan king

Chapter 4

The air in the palace had turned from celebratory to deadly in a heartbeat. Viktor didn't run; he moved like a blur of shadow, pulling me through the winding obsidian hallways toward the Heart-Vault. My heart was thumping against my ribs so hard it felt like it was trying to escape. The Silver Flame was still buzzing under my skin, making my blood feel like it was made of carbonated lightning.

When we reached the vault, my jaw dropped. The massive, ten-ton stone door hadn't been blasted open it had been melted.

The pedestal in the center of the room, which usually held a glowing fragment of the moon itself, was empty. The "Moon-Shard" was gone. This wasn't just a rock; it was a piece of the celestial body that gave Lycans their life, and in the wrong hands, it was a poison that could turn their blood to lead.

"Who could have done this?" I whispered, looking at the cooling slag on the floor.

Viktor’s face was a mask of cold fury. He knelt down, touching the melted stone. "Only someone with Lycan blood and the key of a Royal. This wasn't an outsider. This was a betrayal from the inside."

Suddenly, a cough sounded from the shadows.

We spun around to find Celeste leaning against a pillar. Her emerald eyes were wide with fear, and she was clutching her side. Dark, oily blood was seeping through her fingers.

"Celeste!" I ran to her, but Viktor held out an arm to stop me. He was suspicious of everyone now.

"Who was it?" Viktor demanded, his voice dropping to a frequency that made the floor tiles vibrate.

"It... it was the Council Head, Malakai," Celeste gasped, her face turning gray. "He didn't just take the shard. He took it to the Shadow-Border. He’s meeting with the Blood-Moon pack. Damon didn't come here just to get Alina... he was the distraction."

My blood ran cold. Damon. He wasn't just a bully; he was a pawn in a much bigger game. He had played me. He had played the King.

"They’re going to use it to forge a weapon," Viktor growled, his golden eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "If they coat a blade in that shard, one scratch will end me. And without a King, Iron-Spire falls."

"Then we go get it back," I said, stepping forward. I felt a surge of protectiveness over Viktor that surprised me. He had saved me from the dirt; I wasn't going to let some ancient rock take him down.

"It’s a trap, Alina," Viktor said, turning to me. "The Shadow-Border is a place where Lycan powers are dampened. I’ll be at half-strength. It’s too dangerous for you."

"I’m the only one whose power isn't Lycan," I reminded him, holding up my hand as the silver mist swirled around my knuckles. "They don't know what I can do. They still think I’m just a 'wolf-less' girl."

Viktor looked at me for a long time. I could see the battle in his head the King wanting to keep his mate safe versus the Warrior knowing I was his best shot.

"Fine," he finally said. "But we leave now. No guards. If the Council is compromised, we trust no one."

The Shadow-Border was a creepy, mist-covered swamp where the trees looked like skeletal hands reaching out of the ground. The air was thick and tasted like pennies. I could feel Viktor’s power flickering next to me, like a candle in a drafty room. He was weaker here, his tattoos glowing dimly.

We crept toward a flickering campfire in the distance. I could hear voices Damon’s annoying whine and a deeper, more sinister voice.

"The deal is simple, Alpha Blackwood," the deep voice said. "You deliver the girl to me so I can drain her Silver Flame, and I give you the Shard-Dagger to kill the King. You get your revenge and your pack back. I get the throne."

"Deal," Damon said. I could hear the smugness in his tone. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when I—"

I didn't wait for him to finish. I looked at Viktor, and he gave me a sharp nod.

I stepped out into the clearing, the silver fire exploding from my body like a supernova. "Looking for me, Damon?"

Damon jumped nearly three feet in the air, dropping his canteen. Beside him stood a tall, ancient-looking Lycan with a scar running down his entire face Malakai. In his hand was a dagger that glowed with an eerie, pale light. The Moon-Shard.

"The girl!" Malakai hissed, his eyes greedily tracking the silver mist around me. "The Lost Queen’s blood! Grab her!"

Damon shifted instantly, his brown fur sprouting as he lunged at me. But I wasn't the girl who scrubbed his floors anymore. I ducked under his massive claws and slammed a fist into his ribs, channeling a burst of silver energy. He hit a tree with a sickening thud.

Meanwhile, Viktor engaged Malakai. Even at half-strength, Viktor was a beast, but Malakai was fast, and he had the Shard-Dagger. They moved like blurs, claws clashing against the glowing blade.

"Viktor, watch out!" I screamed.

Malakai had feinted left and was swinging the dagger right at Viktor’s heart. Viktor was too slow in this dampening mist he wouldn't make it.

I didn't think. I just moved.

I threw myself between them. I felt a sharp, searing pain in my shoulder as the Shard-Dagger sliced through my skin.

"ALINA!" Viktor’s roar shook the entire swamp.

But then, something impossible happened.

The Moon-Shard didn't poison me. Instead, the silver glow in my veins turned a blinding, pure white. The dagger didn't just cut me—it started to dissolve into my skin. The energy of the moon was being absorbed into my body, and for the first time, I felt a howl building in the back of my throat.

My bones began to c***k. My skin felt like it was on fire.

"What... what is she?" Malakai backed away, his face pale with horror. "The shard... it’s merging with her!"

I looked up, and my vision wasn't human anymore. It was predatory. It was ancient.

I didn't just have the Silver Flame. I was becoming the moon itself.

I let out a roar that wasn't human and wasn't wolf it was the sound of a Queen. I turned toward Malakai and Damon, my hands glowing with enough power to level a mountain.

But before I could strike, the ground beneath us opened up. A massive, purple-black portal began to suck everything in.

"The Void-Walkers!" Viktor shouted, trying to grab me. "They've sensed the power!"

The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was Damon's terrified face and Viktor's hand reaching for mine, his eyes full of a desperation I'd never seen before.

Then, everything went black.