The BLOOD KING'S RETURN: THE LUNAR HEIR

Chapter 9: The Battle at the Palace Gate

The sound of the war horn echoed across the palace like thunder.

Alina’s heart pounded as she rushed toward the tall balcony outside her chamber. Below, the massive iron gates of the Lycan palace were beginning to open. Hundreds of warriors were already gathering in the courtyard, their armor glinting under the pale moonlight.

The air smelled of smoke and tension.

“They’re here…” Alina whispered.

In the distance, torches burned like a sea of fire in the darkness.

The rebel packs had arrived.

A deep, commanding voice suddenly spoke behind her.

“Get away from the balcony.”

Alina turned quickly.

King Kael stood in the doorway, his tall figure casting a long shadow across the floor. His golden eyes burned with intensity, and the usual cold expression on his face had turned into something far more dangerous.

War.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

Alina swallowed.

“Those wolves out there… they came because of me, didn’t they?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

His silence was enough.

Before she could speak again, another horn blasted through the night.

Then the first attack began.

A loud crash echoed through the palace walls as the rebels slammed against the gates. The ground shook under the force of their assault.

Kael’s eyes darkened.

“They won’t get past the first line,” he said calmly.

But even as he spoke, a guard burst into the room, breathing heavily.

“My King! The northern pack has broken through the outer barrier!”

For a brief moment, the room fell silent.

Then Kael slowly removed his cloak.

Alina’s breath caught in her throat.

She could feel it again—that strange pull inside her chest. The bond between them pulsed like a living thing.

Kael stepped toward the balcony doors.

“Stay inside,” he ordered.

“But—”

“Alina.”

Her name rolled off his tongue like a warning.

Before she could argue again, Kael walked out into the night.

Alina followed to the doorway just in time to see him leap from the balcony to the courtyard below.

The moment his feet touched the ground, something impossible happened.

His body began to change.

Bones shifted.

Muscles expanded.

A deep growl ripped from his chest as dark fur spread across his skin.

Within seconds, the feared Lycan King stood in his true form—massive, powerful, and terrifying.

Gasps spread among the warriors as Kael lifted his head and released a thunderous roar that shook the entire palace.

The battle had begun.

Outside the gates, rebel wolves poured into the courtyard.

Claws clashed.

Fangs flashed.

Warriors collided like a storm of fur and steel.

From the balcony, Alina watched in shock.

Then suddenly—

A sharp pain exploded in her chest.

She gasped and grabbed the railing.

Images flashed inside her mind.

Blood.

Fire.

Kael surrounded by enemies.

And then something else.

A strange glowing light… coming from her own hands.

Alina stared at her palms in disbelief.

“What… is happening to me?”

Far below in the battlefield, Kael suddenly froze.

His golden wolf eyes lifted toward the balcony.

He had felt it too.

The bond between them had just awakened something neither of them understood.

And in the middle of the raging war…

Alina’s hidden power was beginning to rise.