Claimed by Alpha and Omega: The Fated Luna

CHAPTER 15: Fangs Under the Full Moon

The creature burst through the shattered temple floor with a roar that shook the entire town, and my heart nearly left my chest right then.

Stone exploded in every direction. People screamed and scattered as a massive black wolf dragged itself up from beneath the earth, standing nearly twice the height of a normal wolf, its fur matted and scarred, its eyes glowing a furious red. Thick drool dripped from its fangs as it snapped wildly at anything that moved near it.

A second beast clawed its way up right behind the first.

Neither wore a pack mark, which made the sight worse. That meant nobody owned them. Nobody controlled them. Or so I believed.

"They are feral," an elder cried, backing away. Beside me, Cassian's expression hardened, every trace of warmth gone from his face in an instant.

"Everyone, fall back," he shouted.

The first beast lunged straight into the crowd. Without a second of hesitation, Cassian threw off his cloak and stepped directly into its path. My breath caught in my throat.

"Cassian, wait," I said, reaching for him, but he was already gone, his golden eyes flashing, a deep growl rolling out of his throat. Bones cracked. Muscles expanded. Dark gray fur swept across his skin in a single wave, claws tearing through his gloves, fangs pushing past his lips. Within seconds, the Alpha King stood on four powerful legs, taller than anything else in the square, his amber eyes calm and steady even as everything around him fell apart.

I had watched him shift before, but never in the middle of a battle, never with my own safety hanging somewhere behind his choice to step forward first. Something in my chest tightened watching him go, an ache that had nothing to do with fear for myself.

The feral wolf slammed into him with a force that rattled the ground beneath my feet. Their jaws collided in a thunderous snap, fangs

locking against fangs while claws tore through stone. They rolled across the square, growling and snapping, and I stood frozen, my hands pressed to my mouth, whispering his name into the smoke though nobody could hear me over the chaos.

Another roar tore through the air behind me. I turned to find Kael closing his eyes for one brief second. When he opened them again, they glowed an icy blue that made my stomach twist in a way that had nothing to do with danger.

His breathing deepened. His body changed, though he stayed closer to human form than Cassian had. Thick silver-gray fur spread across his arms and shoulders, his fingers stretching into deadly claws, his face partially shifting, fangs and glowing eyes catching the firelight. He looked like the perfect line between man and beast, and even with everything falling apart around us, I could not help but notice.

An Omega warrior nearby smiled with obvious pride. "Our Commander fights in his battle form."

Kael flexed his claws, his gaze finding mine for one steady second before the second beast charged. "Protect the civilians," he said, low and certain, and then he moved.

The creature's jaws snapped toward his throat. He twisted aside with a speed that should not have been possible, driving his claws across its shoulder. Blood sprayed across the stone. The beast howled and slashed back, catching him across the chest. He barely reacted, which frightened me more than if he had cried out, and forced the creature's jaws apart with nothing but raw strength until a deafening crack echoed through the square.

Around us, Born Wolves and Omegas revealed their true forms, some shifting completely into enormous wolves, others holding powerful hybrid shapes, claws sharp enough to cut through steel. Born Wolves fought in tight, disciplined lines. Omegas fought on instinct, unpredictable, striking and vanishing into smoke. Different lives entirely, and yet equally deadly, equally willing to bleed for a town that had never claimed either of them.

One of the feral wolves broke through the line of defenders and charged straight toward a group of children huddled near the fountain.

"No," I shouted, and I ran, my legs deciding to be braver than the rest of me without asking permission.

The beast raised one massive claw over the children. Before it could strike, Cassian slammed into it from the side in full wolf form, his jaws locking hard around its neck. The creature retaliated, sinking its fangs deep into his shoulder. A pained growl tore out of

him.

"Cassian," I screamed, my voice cracking down the middle, my whole body moving toward him before I could think better of it.

At that same moment, Kael leaped high into the air and landed directly on the beast's back, driving his claws into its spine, forcing it down. Together, the Alpha King and the Omega Commander brought the monster down for good.

The square erupted into cheers. For the first time, Born Wolves and Bitten Wolves celebrated the same victory side by side, and for one strange, warm second, it felt as though the divide between them did not exist at all.

It lasted only a heartbeat. A piercing whistle cut through the battlefield, sharp and deliberate. The remaining feral wolves froze, ears twitching, then turned and fled into the forest. Every one of them, gone.

Cassian shifted back slowly, breathing hard, blood dripping from the wound on his shoulder. I reached him before Kael did, my hands hovering over the torn skin, unwilling to touch and cause him more pain, unwilling not to touch him at all.

"You are hurt," I said, my voice unsteady.

"It will heal," he said, though his jaw tightened when my fingers finally settled near the wound, careful and light. He did not pull away. If anything, he seemed to lean, just slightly, into the touch, his amber eyes holding mine with something far softer than the battle still smoking around us.

Kael changed back moments later, looking just as wrecked, his gaze finding the two of us standing close together. Something flickered across his face, quick and difficult to name, before he crossed the square to join us, his hand briefly resting against my shoulder as though he needed to confirm for himself that I was still standing there, unharmed.

"They were not defeated," Kael said quietly, still catching his breath. "They were recalled."

Cassian nodded grimly. "Someone was controlling them."

I looked toward the dark tree line where the beasts had vanished, my arms wrapped around myself, Cassian's blood still warm against my fingertips, Kael's hand still resting at my shoulder. "They fought like wild animals," I said. "But they obeyed that whistle without question."

Neither of them answered. There was nothing to say to that. Silence settled over the ruined town like a heavy blanket, broken only by the crackle of dying fires and the quiet weeping of those who had lost something that night.

I stood between the two of them in the wreckage, one bleeding from a wound he had taken protecting children who were not his, the other still breathing hard from a fight he had thrown himself into without hesitation, and I could not decide which ache in my chest belonged to fear, and which belonged to something I was not yet ready to name.

I pressed my hand against the bite mark on my neck without realizing I had done it. For a split second, I heard a low wolf growl echo somewhere inside my own mind. Not threatening. Not angry. Only waiting, as though it already knew something I did not, something about the whistle, and the man behind it, and the choice that was still coming for all three of us.