The Alpha Who Rejected The Moonborn

The First Bloodstone

The world seemed to hold its breath.

The ground beneath my feet continued to tremble.

Silver light poured through the cracks in the earth, illuminating the trees, the river, and every terrified face around us.

The wolves that had surrounded Darius moments ago had scattered into the forest.

Even the Alpha himself had stepped backward.

For the first time since I'd met him, Darius looked genuinely afraid.

I tightened my grip on Kael's hand.

"What is happening?"

He didn't answer.

"Kael."

His eyes were fixed on the ground.

"I don't know."

That scared me more than anything else.

Kael always seemed to know what to do.

He had answers.

Plans.

Control.

Now he looked just as lost as I felt.

My mother rushed toward us.

"Lyra, step away from the crack."

"Why?"

"Because we don't know what's underneath."

Darius laughed.

"You don't understand, Selene."

My mother turned toward him.

"I understand perfectly."

"No."

His expression changed.

"You're still thinking like the frightened girl who ran from Blackthorn."

Selene's face hardened.

"I stopped being frightened a long time ago."

Darius raised his hand.

The silver light beneath the ground suddenly intensified.

The earth split farther.

I stumbled.

Kael caught me.

"Easy."

I looked down.

Something was moving beneath the opening.

A faint glow appeared.

Then another.

A large stone slowly rose from the earth.

It wasn't actually a stone.

It looked like crystal.

Silver veins ran through its dark surface, pulsing like a heartbeat.

The moment I saw it, the mark on my chest burned.

I gasped.

The crystal responded.

A wave of silver light rushed toward me.

Kael pulled me backward.

"Lyra!"

The light passed through him.

He froze.

Then he dropped to one knee.

"Kael!"

I rushed toward him.

He looked up.

His eyes had changed.

For one terrifying moment, they were completely silver.

"Kael?"

He blinked.

The color returned.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I'm fine."

My mother approached carefully.

"The Bloodstone recognizes the bond."

I looked at her.

"What does that mean?"

She stared at the crystal.

"It means the prophecy has begun."

Darius smiled.

"Exactly."

Kael stood.

"What prophecy?"

Darius looked at him.

"The one your family spent generations trying to prevent."

I stepped toward the Bloodstone.

My mother grabbed my arm.

"Don't touch it."

"Why?"

"Because once it recognizes you, it will show you what happened."

"Show me what?"

"The truth."

I looked at the crystal.

I wanted the truth.

I'd wanted it all my life.

I slowly reached toward it.

"Lyra, don't."

Kael's voice was quiet.

I looked at him.

"You're the one who told me I deserve answers."

"I know."

"Then let me have them."

Before he could respond, my fingers touched the Bloodstone.

Everything disappeared.

The forest.

The river.

Kael.

My mother.

Darius.

Gone.

I was standing somewhere else.

A vast field stretched beneath a blood-red moon.

Hundreds of wolves stood in a circle.

At the center was a woman.

She looked like me.

Not exactly.

But enough.

The same eyes.

The same silver mark.

She held something in her hands.

A crystal.

The Bloodstone.

A group of men stood before her.

The first Alpha families.

One man stepped forward.

"We need your power."

The Moonborn woman shook her head.

"You need guidance."

"We need protection."

"You need restraint."

The man knelt.

"We swear to protect the packs."

The woman looked around.

"Then remember this."

Her voice echoed.

"An Alpha is given power to serve, not to rule."

The vision changed.

Generations passed.

The Alpha families became powerful.

Their promises faded.

The Moonborn disappeared.

Then I saw another woman.

My mother.

She stood in a chamber.

Darius stood opposite her.

"You can't keep it hidden forever."

Selene held the Bloodstone.

"I don't have it."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I destroyed the map."

Darius grabbed her arm.

"Where is your daughter?"

Selene's expression changed.

"She has nothing to do with this."

"Everything has to do with her."

Darius smiled.

"She's the key."

Selene pulled away.

"You'll never find her."

"I already have."

The vision shifted.

I saw myself as a child.

Seven years old.

My mother was crying.

She knelt in front of me.

"Lyra, listen carefully."

Young me nodded.

"If anyone asks about this mark, tell them you don't have one."

"Why?"

"Because people will hurt you if they know."

"Who?"

"Bad people."

My mother touched my forehead.

"I need you to be brave."

Then she hugged me.

A loud crash sounded outside.

Men were approaching.

Selene stood.

"Stay here."

"Mom?"

She looked back.

"I love you."

The vision shattered.

I gasped.

I was back beside the river.

Kael was holding my shoulders.

"Lyra!"

I looked around.

My mother was crying.

Ronan stood frozen.

Darius was staring at the Bloodstone.

"What did you see?"

I looked at him.

"Everything."

His expression changed.

I stepped toward him.

"You took my mother."

He said nothing.

"You hunted her."

Still nothing.

"You knew about me."

He remained silent.

"You knew I was the key."

His jaw tightened.

"You're confused."

"No."

My voice was stronger now.

"I saw it."

Kael moved beside me.

Darius looked at his son.

"Don't believe her."

Kael's expression hardened.

"I believe her."

Darius stared at him.

"You would choose her over your family?"

Kael didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

The word echoed across the river.

Darius's face hardened.

"You have no idea what you're doing."

"Neither do you."

Kael stepped forward.

"You've spent your entire life protecting a lie."

Darius laughed.

"And you think the world will thank you for destroying it?"

"No."

Kael's voice remained calm.

"But at least I'll know what I'm protecting."

Darius's eyes flashed.

"You are not worthy of the Alpha title."

Kael stared at him.

"Maybe."

He took another step.

"But neither are you."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Then Darius shifted.

His transformation was violent and immediate.

A massive black wolf stood where he had been.

His eyes glowed red.

Kael shifted too.

His black wolf met his father's gaze.

My mother grabbed my hand.

"Stay back."

I watched them.

Father and son.

Alpha and heir.

Both powerful.

Both dangerous.

Then they charged.

They collided with enough force to shake the riverbank.

Kael was thrown backward.

I gasped.

He recovered quickly.

Darius attacked again.

Kael dodged.

The fight moved toward the trees.

Ryder emerged from the forest.

"Lyra!"

I turned.

"Where have you been?"

"Keeping the rest of the wolves away."

He looked at the Bloodstone.

"What happened?"

"I touched it."

His eyes widened.

"And?"

"I saw everything."

He stared at me.

"Then you know."

"Know what?"

He looked at my mother.

She answered.

"The Moonborn weren't created to serve the Alpha."

Ryder looked at me.

"They were created to control them."

I looked at the Bloodstone.

The crystal pulsed.

A voice whispered inside my mind.

Choose.

I froze.

"Did you hear that?"

Ryder shook his head.

My mother stared at me.

"What did it say?"

"Choose."

She closed her eyes.

"It's beginning."

"What is?"

"The Bloodstone is asking you to choose your Alpha."

I frowned.

"But I don't want an Alpha."

My mother smiled sadly.

"It's not asking who you want as a mate."

"Then what?"

"Who deserves the power."

I looked toward Kael.

He was fighting Darius.

His movements were controlled.

Precise.

But he was losing.

Darius slammed him into the ground.

I took a step forward.

The Bloodstone glowed.

Kael looked toward me.

Our eyes met.

For a moment, everything went quiet.

I remembered his rejection.

His secrets.

His attempt to protect me.

His apology.

His promise.

And I realized something.

I didn't know whether I trusted him.

But I knew he was different from his father.

The Bloodstone pulsed again.

Choose.

I stepped toward it.

Darius saw me.

His wolf turned.

He broke away from Kael and charged toward me.

"LYRA!"

Kael raced after him.

The world seemed to slow.

Darius was almost upon me.

I raised my hand.

Silver light erupted.

The Alpha wolf stopped mid-charge.

His body trembled.

He tried to move.

He couldn't.

I could feel his power.

His anger.

His fear.

His command.

And somehow—

I could take it away.

I whispered one word.

"Enough."

The silver light expanded.

Darius collapsed.

Silence.

His wolf shifted back into human form.

He stared at me from the ground.

For the first time, the most powerful Alpha I'd ever known looked powerless.

Kael approached slowly.

He looked at me.

Then at his father.

My mother whispered,

"The Moonborn has chosen."

I shook my head.

"No."

Everyone looked at me.

"I haven't chosen an Alpha."

I looked at Kael.

"Not yet."

Kael's eyes widened.

The Bloodstone pulsed once.

Then the entire forest went dark.

A voice echoed across the territory.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Not human.

Not wolf.

The first choice has been made.

I looked toward the sky.

The blood-red moon had disappeared.

In its place was a silver moon surrounded by darkness.

Then the voice spoke again.

The second choice will determine the fate of every pack.

The Bloodstone cracked.

A single piece broke away and flew toward me.

I caught it.

The moment it touched my palm, a new mark appeared.

Not on my skin.

On the crystal.

A symbol I'd never seen before.

Kael stared at it.

"What is that?"

My mother looked terrified.

"It's the mark of the Guardian."

Ronan stepped forward.

"That can't be."

Selene shook her head.

"It shouldn't exist."

I looked at them.

"What does it mean?"

My mother's voice trembled.

"It means the prophecy was wrong."

I stared at her.

"How?"

She looked toward Kael.

Then back at me.

"The Moonborn isn't supposed to choose an Alpha."

A chill went through me.

"Then what am I supposed to choose?"

My mother swallowed.

"You're supposed to choose whether the Alpha bloodline survives."

The Bloodstone fragment burned in my hand.

And somewhere far beyond the forest, thousands of wolves began howling at once.