SOLD TO SIX ALPHA'S

Chapter 8: The Second Bond

"Run."

The word barely left his lips before the forest erupted.

I stared at the Alpha standing behind me.

His silver eyes were unlike anything I'd ever seen.

The blade in his hand reflected the moonlight.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

He didn't answer.

Instead, he turned the blade toward himself.

"Stay away from me."

Kael stepped between us.

"Put the weapon down."

The Alpha's grip tightened.

"I can't."

His voice trembled.

"It's controlling me."

A strange darkness crawled across his wrist.

Then the second silver symbol appeared.

My breath caught.

"His seal."

Rowan immediately understood.

"Second bond."

The Alpha suddenly dropped to one knee.

He cried out as silver light exploded from his body.

I instinctively moved toward him.

Kael grabbed my wrist.

"Don't."

"He's hurting!"

"Lyra, wait."

I pulled against his grip.

"Let me go!"

The Alpha looked at me.

His eyes were filled with pain.

"Please..."

Something inside me answered.

I could feel his suffering.

His fear.

His loneliness.

It was as if his emotions were flowing directly into my heart.

I stepped forward.

The moment I touched his hand, the darkness disappeared.

The silver blade fell into the grass.

He stared at me in disbelief.

"What did you do?"

"I don't know."

The second mark on my wrist glowed.

Then his mark responded.

A powerful wave of energy swept through the forest.

Every tree shook.

The other four Alphas staggered backward.

Kael remained standing, but his expression had changed.

"He's bonded to her."

The Alpha slowly rose.

His silver eyes softened.

"My name is Darius."

I stared at him.

"I know."

"No."

He shook his head.

"You knew my name."

He looked at my wrist.

"But now you know me."

A strange warmth spread through my chest.

I didn't understand it.

And that frightened me.

Six Alphas.

Two bonds awakened.

Four remaining.

I turned toward Kael.

"Is this what my mother meant?"

He looked at the glowing marks.

"I don't know."

"You're supposed to know everything."

"No."

His voice was tired.

"We're discovering this with you."

Suddenly, Darius dropped the blade.

"I need to tell you something."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Darius looked at me.

"The assassin wasn't working for Malric."

Silence.

"Then who sent him?"

Darius hesitated.

"Someone inside the Alpha Council."

Rowan's expression hardened.

"That's impossible."

"It's not."

Darius looked at the others.

"Someone wants Lyra dead before all six bonds awaken."

My stomach twisted.

"Why?"

"Because once the sixth bond forms, you'll become impossible to control."

"Control?"

Darius nodded.

"The Moonborn power will fully awaken."

I looked at my wrist.

"Then why would anyone want to stop that?"

"Because whoever controls you controls the six Alpha bloodlines."

The forest suddenly became silent.

Then a voice came from the darkness.

"Not exactly."

Everyone turned.

A woman stepped from behind the trees.

She wore a silver cloak.

My heart stopped.

It was her.

The woman from my memory.

The woman who had carried me away from the burning palace.

"You're the one who saved me."

She smiled sadly.

"Yes."

I stepped toward her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Seraphina."

Kael immediately moved in front of me.

"Don't come any closer."

Seraphina looked at him.

"You still haven't told her the truth."

Kael's jaw tightened.

"What truth?"

She laughed softly.

"That you were there the night her mother disappeared."

I looked at Kael.

"What?"

Seraphina continued.

"Kael knows what happened to Queen Elara."

My heart began pounding.

"Tell me."

Kael remained silent.

"Kael!"

He finally looked at me.

"Your mother asked me to take you away."

My breath caught.

"Why?"

"Because she knew Malric would find you."

"Where did you take me?"

"To your adoptive family."

I froze.

"You chose them?"

Kael nodded.

"I believed they would keep you safe."

Tears filled my eyes.

"They sold me."

His face tightened.

"I know."

"Then you failed me."

The words hurt both of us.

Kael lowered his head.

"Yes."

Seraphina stepped closer.

"There's more."

I looked at her.

"What?"

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small silver key.

"Your mother left this for you."

I stared at it.

"What does it open?"

Seraphina's expression became solemn.

"The door to the Moon Kingdom."

My heart raced.

"The Moon Kingdom was destroyed."

"No."

She shook her head.

"It was hidden."

"Where?"

She looked at my six marks.

"When the sixth bond awakens, the kingdom will reveal itself."

I stared at her.

"And my mother?"

Seraphina's eyes filled with sadness.

"She is waiting for you."

My heart stopped.

"Where?"

Before she could answer, a terrible roar shook the forest.

Seraphina looked toward the mountains.

"They found us."

Kael drew his sword.

"Who?"

Seraphina whispered:

"Malric."

Hundreds of red eyes appeared between the trees.

But this time, they weren't soldiers.

They were wolves.

And at their center stood a woman wearing a silver crown.

I stared at her.

My heart knew her before my mind did.

She looked exactly like the woman from my memories.

The woman who had held me as a baby.

The woman I had spent eighteen years believing was dead.

She looked directly at me.

Then she whispered:

"Lyra."

My knees nearly gave way.

"Mother?"

The woman smiled.

But there were tears in her eyes.

"Forgive me, my daughter."

Then she raised her hand.

Every wolf in the forest dropped to their knees.

And behind her, the mountains began to move.

A massive silver palace slowly emerged from the darkness.

The lost Moon Kingdom had awakened.

And so had the war.