REJECTED BY MY ALPHA,CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA KING

The First Moon

Chapter 8 :

Every wolf dropped to its knees.

The forest became unnaturally still.

I couldn't breathe.

Silver light continued to pulse beneath my skin, spreading from the mark on my collarbone like veins of moonlight.

I stared at my hands.

"What is happening to me?"

No one answered.

Not even Vespera.

For the first time since she had awakened, my wolf was completely silent.

Kael stood in front of me.

His sword remained in his hand, but he wasn't looking at the wolves anymore.

He was looking at me.

His golden eyes held something I couldn't understand.

Reverence.

Fear.

And something dangerously close to recognition.

"Kael."

He didn't respond.

"Kael!"

His attention snapped back to me.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Can you control it?"

"I don't even know what it is!"

He stepped closer.

The silver glow brightened.

Kael stopped immediately.

The reaction made my stomach twist.

"Why did you stop?"

"Because I don't know what will happen if I touch you."

I stared at him.

"The Alpha King is afraid to touch me?"

His jaw tightened.

"I said I don't know what will happen."

Behind him, one of the Blood Moon warriors whispered,

"She shouldn't be alive."

Another answered,

"The prophecy said the First Moon heir died centuries ago."

My blood ran cold.

First Moon heir.

I'd heard the title before.

But only in old stories.

Stories my mother used to tell me when I was little.

I had always thought they were fairy tales.

A legendary wolf bloodline.

A woman whose power had once united the ancient packs.

A bloodline supposedly destroyed after its final heir disappeared.

I looked at Kael.

"Is that what I am?"

He didn't answer.

"Tell me."

His expression hardened.

"I don't know enough yet."

"You're lying."

"I'm protecting you."

"Everyone keeps saying that."

My voice shook.

"Theron said he was protecting the pack."

Guilt flickered across Kael's face.

I continued.

"Garrick said I needed to leave. Now these people are saying I'm some kind of heir."

I touched my glowing collarbone.

"How long has everyone known about me?"

Kael's silence was painful.

"Kael."

He finally spoke.

"I suspected something."

"Since when?"

His eyes met mine.

"Since the moment I saw you."

My heart skipped.

"You recognized me?"

"Not you."

He glanced at the mark.

"Your blood."

I stared at him.

"What does that mean?"

Before he could answer, the Blood Moon warrior laughed.

"You really don't know."

Kael's sword moved instantly.

The blade stopped against the man's throat.

"Speak carefully."

The warrior smiled.

"You can protect her from us, Alpha King."

His eyes shifted toward me.

"But you cannot protect her from what she is."

Kael's expression became murderous.

"Who sent you?"

The man said nothing.

Kael pressed the blade closer.

"Who?"

The warrior grinned.

"Your uncle knows."

Kael froze.

My heart stopped.

"His uncle?"

The warrior looked at me.

"Valerian Evander knows exactly who you are."

Kael's face became terrifyingly calm.

"Kill them."

His warriors moved.

The forest erupted.

Wolves shifted.

Bodies collided.

Steel flashed beneath the moonlight.

I stumbled backward.

A wolf lunged toward me.

I raised my arms instinctively.

The silver light exploded.

BOOM.

The wolf was thrown across the clearing.

It crashed into a tree.

Silence.

I stared at my hands.

I hadn't touched him.

I hadn't even shifted.

I had simply—

pushed him away.

Kael looked at me.

"Lyra."

"I didn't mean to."

Another wolf charged.

I panicked.

"Stay away!"

The ground beneath me shook.

A wave of silver energy erupted from my body.

The wolf was thrown backward.

Three others stumbled away.

The warriors stopped fighting.

Everyone was staring at me.

I could barely breathe.

Vespera finally spoke.

Now you know.

I closed my eyes.

"What am I?"

Her answer came quietly.

What they feared.

My eyes opened.

"What does that mean?"

You are not broken.

My throat tightened.

You were sealed.

Tears filled my eyes.

All those years.

All those humiliating moments.

Every time someone had laughed because I couldn't shift.

Every time Theron had looked at me with disappointment.

Every time I'd wondered what was wrong with me.

It hadn't been weakness.

Someone had hidden my power.

Someone had made sure I never discovered what I was.

I looked at Kael.

"Who sealed me?"

He didn't answer.

I stepped toward him.

"Who?"

His expression softened.

"We'll find out."

"No."

My voice hardened.

"I want the truth now."

He stared at me.

"I can't give you what I don't have."

"Then help me find it."

His eyes searched mine.

"You don't know what you're asking."

"Neither did the people who decided my life for me."

I wiped away a tear.

"I'm done being afraid."

Something shifted in Kael's expression.

Pride.

Perhaps.

He sheathed his sword.

Then he walked toward me.

This time, he didn't touch me.

He simply stood before me.

"You want answers?"

I nodded.

"Then come with me."

"To Blackthorn?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because if Valerian knows who you are, Blackthorn is the only place where I can protect you long enough for us to discover the truth."

I hesitated.

"What about Theron?"

Kael's eyes darkened at the name.

"What about him?"

"He'll come looking for me."

"Let him."

There was something frighteningly calm about his answer.

"You belong to no one."

His eyes locked onto mine.

"Not Theron."

My breath caught.

"Not me."

He paused.

"Not even the Moon Goddess."

I stared at him.

"You choose what happens next."

My chest tightened.

For the first time, someone wasn't telling me what I was supposed to be.

They were asking me what I wanted.

"I'll go."

Kael nodded.

But before we could leave, one of the warriors approached.

"Your Majesty."

Kael turned.

"We found something on the leader."

He held out a small black pendant.

A serpent was engraved on it.

I recognized it immediately.

"The ring."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"The symbol."

I pointed at the pendant.

"It's the same symbol from my father's old photograph."

Kael went completely still.

"Your father's photograph?"

I nodded.

"He was standing beside a man wearing that symbol."

Kael took the pendant.

His expression became grim.

"Who was the man?"

"I don't know."

He stared at the symbol.

Then his face changed.

"What?"

He looked at me.

"Because I do."

My heart began pounding.

"Who?"

Kael closed his fingers around the pendant.

"Malachai Veyr."

The name meant nothing to me.

But the fear that suddenly appeared in Kael's eyes told me it should.

"Who is he?"

Kael looked toward the dark forest.

"The leader of the Blood Moon Council."

I swallowed.

"And what does he want with me?"

Kael's gaze returned to mine.

"He doesn't want you dead."

A chill moved through me.

"Then what does he want?"

Kael's voice dropped.

"He wants your blood."

My stomach turned.

"Why?"

Kael looked at the glowing mark on my collarbone.

"Because the First Moon bloodline can do something no other wolf can."

"What?"

His answer came slowly.

"It can command every Alpha bloodline in existence."

The words barely registered before a distant howl echoed through the forest.

Then another.

And another.

Kael's warriors turned toward the sound.

Kael's face hardened.

"They're coming."

"Who?"

He looked at me.

"Everyone."

My heart stopped.

"The moment your power awakened, every powerful wolf within hundreds of miles felt it."

He extended his hand.

"From this moment onward, Lyra, there will be no hiding what you are."

I stared at his hand.

Then I took it.

The instant our fingers touched, silver light wrapped around us.

And somewhere far away, inside a dark chamber beneath an ancient castle, a man opened his eyes.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

"The First Moon has awakened."

He stood.

"Find her."

Then he looked toward the black moonstone resting on his table.

"And bring me my Queen."