The Luna's Crown

Chapter 5: The Alpha's Choice

His lips were inches from mine when my wolf suddenly snarled a warning.

"Wait," I gasped, pulling back. "Something's wrong."

Wyatt went rigid, his head tilting as he scented the air. "Wolfsbane. They're using wolfsbane gas."

The window shattered. A metal canister rolled across the floor, hissing as purple smoke poured out. The smell hit me like a punch—bitter, chemical, wrong.

"Hold your breath!" Wyatt shouted, grabbing my hand.

We burst through the door into chaos. The clearing was full of wolves, but not just Blue Moon. I recognized the symbols—Red Fang, Storm Valley, and Iron Claw. Four packs united against us.

And they all wore gas masks modified for wolf snouts.

"Clever," Wyatt growled. "Very clever."

My lungs burned. I needed to breathe, but the wolfsbane-laced air would weaken us, maybe even prevent shifting. Already I could feel my wolf retreating, whimpering.

"Charlotte!" My former mate stood at the edge of the clearing, fully shifted into his brown wolf, a mask protecting him. "Surrender now, and no one gets hurt."

"Go to hell," I managed to say before my knees buckled.

The wolfsbane was stronger than anything I'd felt before. Even the pills hadn't been this concentrated. Black spots danced in my vision.

"No!" Wyatt caught me, his own breathing labored. "Marcus, you bastard! This is against pack law!"

Alpha Marcus emerged from the trees, human form, wearing a full respirator. "Desperate times. The girl is too dangerous to leave unchecked."

"She's not a weapon!" Wyatt snarled.

"No? Then why does Shadow Ridge's Alpha claim her?" Marcus smiled coldly. "We all know your reputation, Wyatt. You don't do anything without purpose."

More wolves circled us. Too many to count. Even if we could shift, we were outnumbered ten to one.

"Last chance," Marcus said. "Come quietly, Charlotte. We won't hurt you. We just need to... contain your abilities until you learn proper control."

"You mean suppress them again," I spat.

"If necessary."

Rage burned through me, hot enough to cut through the wolfsbane fog. They wanted to cage me again. Make me weak. Make me nothing.

No, my wolf snarled inside me. Never again.

"Charlotte, don't," Wyatt warned, sensing what I was about to do. "If you use that much power while poisoned—"

"I know."

I stood up straight, pulling away from his support. The wolfsbane burned in my lungs, but I pushed through it. I'd lived with poison in my system for twenty years. What was a little more?

"You want to see what a Lunar Wolf can do?" I asked, my voice carrying despite the pain. "Fine."

I reached deep, past the wolfsbane, past the pain, to the core of what I was. The power that had been sleeping for two decades roared to life.

My eyes went silver, but this time they blazed like stars.

"KNEEL!"

The command ripped from my throat with the force of a hurricane. Every wolf in the clearing—masked or not, shifted or human—slammed to their knees. Even Wyatt went down, though he fought it, his muscles straining.

But I wasn't done.

The silver light spread from my eyes across my skin, creating patterns like moonlight on water. The wolfsbane in the air began to freeze, crystallizing and falling like purple snow.

"You think you can chain the moon?" I walked forward, and the ground beneath my feet turned white with frost. "You think you can suppress what the goddess herself created?"

Alpha Marcus tried to speak but couldn't. My power held him frozen, kneeling in the dirt.

I stopped in front of him. "You were right about one thing. I am dangerous. But not because I'm out of control."

I raised my hand, and ice formed around his throat—not enough to kill, just enough to make a point.

"I'm dangerous because you made me this way. Years of suppression, abuse, rejection—you created the very weapon you feared."

Blood started dripping from my nose. The effort was tearing me apart from the inside, but I didn't care.

"Charlotte, stop!" Wyatt's voice broke through my rage. "You're killing yourself!"

I turned to look at him, still kneeling but his golden eyes blazing with concern. "Maybe that's what they want."

"It's not what I want." He fought against my command, muscles bulging with effort. "Please. Let me help you."

"I don't need—"

The pain hit like lightning. I screamed, falling to my knees as my power shattered. The wolves were released, gasping and scrambling backward.

But before anyone could move, a new sound filled the clearing.

Howls. Dozens of them, coming from every direction.

Shadow Ridge had arrived.

They burst from the trees like a black wave—fifty, sixty, seventy wolves, all massive, all deadly. At their head ran a pure black wolf that I recognized as Wyatt's Beta.

The four packs suddenly looked much smaller.

Wyatt stood, shaking off the last effects of my command. When he spoke, his voice carried the full weight of his Alpha authority.

"You have ten seconds to leave before I let my pack tear you apart."

"You wouldn't dare," Alpha Marcus said, but his voice shook. "The Council—"

"The Council will understand when they learn you used wolfsbane against a newly awakened Lunar Wolf." Wyatt's eyes glowed gold. "That's an act of war by itself."

"She's unstable! You saw what she just did!"

"I saw her defend herself against four packs who ambushed her with poison." He stepped forward, and Marcus stepped back. "Ten. Nine. Eight."

The retreat started with the Iron Claw wolves, then Storm Valley. Red Fang followed, their tails between their legs. Only Blue Moon lingered.

My former mate shifted to human form, his eyes pleading. "Charlotte, this isn't over. You belong with Blue Moon. We're your family."

"No," I said, my voice hoarse but firm. "Family doesn't poison you. Family doesn't throw you away."

"Three. Two," Wyatt continued counting.

Alpha Marcus grabbed his son's arm. "We're leaving." He looked at me one last time. "You'll regret this, girl. When the vampires come for you, when the witches want your blood, remember you chose this path."

They left, melting into the forest like the cowards they were.

The moment they were gone, I collapsed completely. This time, I didn't even feel Wyatt catch me. The world went black.

I woke in a bed that wasn't mine. The sheets were silk, black as midnight, and they smelled like pine and smoke.

Wyatt's scent.

I sat up slowly, my head pounding. The room was massive—floor-to-ceiling windows showing a view of mountains, modern furniture, and a fireplace crackling with warm light.

"You're awake." Wyatt appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray of food. "You've been out for two days."

"Two days?" I tried to stand, but dizziness forced me back down.

"You almost died." He set the tray on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. "Pushing that much power through wolfsbane poisoning... the pack doctor said it was a miracle your heart didn't stop."

"Where am I?"

"Shadow Ridge. My room." He must have seen my expression because he quickly added, "I slept in the guest room. But I needed to be close in case... in case something went wrong."

"Your pack?"

"Accepts you. They saw what you did, how you fought. They respect strength." He handed me a glass of water. "My Beta, Marcus, wants to meet you when you're feeling better. And my sister is dying to talk to you."

"The Oracle?"

He nodded. "She says you're going to change everything."

"No pressure," I muttered, sipping the water.

"Charlotte." His voice turned serious. "What you did back there, commanding all those wolves at once while fighting wolfsbane—I've never seen anything like it."

"I've never felt anything like it. It was like burning from the inside out."

"Don't do it again." His hand covered mine. "Promise me. Not unless absolutely necessary."

"Worried about me, Alpha?"

"Terrified for you," he corrected. "The mate bond... when you were screaming, when you collapsed, I felt it all. The pain, the rage, the desperation."

I stared at him. "You felt what I felt?"

"Every second of it." His thumb traced over my knuckles. "That's how I know you need time. To heal. To train. To decide what you want."

"What if what I want is complicated?"

He smiled slightly. "Everything about you is complicated."

A knock at the door interrupted us. A woman entered—tall, graceful, with the same dark hair and golden eyes as Wyatt.

"You must be Charlotte," she said, smiling warmly. "I'm Elena. The annoying little sister who sees too much."

"Elena," Wyatt warned.

She ignored him, sitting on the other side of the bed. "I've been waiting years to meet you."

"Years?"

"I saw you in a vision when I was thirteen. A white wolf standing beside my brother, leading the greatest pack alliance in history." She tilted her head. "Though you were supposed to have black hair in my vision. Strange."

"Visions can change," Wyatt said.

"Not mine." Elena studied me intently. "Something's different. Something's..."

Her eyes went white, pupils disappearing as she gripped the bedsheet. When she spoke, her voice was different—older, multilayered.

"The moon bleeds silver. The rejected becomes the crown. Four alphas bow to frost and flame. The lone wolf claims the throne."

She gasped, her eyes returning to normal. "Well, that's new."

"What did you see?" Wyatt demanded.

"I saw Charlotte standing in the Council chamber, but she wasn't alone. Four Alphas stood with her." She looked at me, wonder in her eyes. "Including Alpha Marcus."

"That's impossible. He hates me."

"Not for long." Elena stood, smoothing her dress. "Things are about to get very interesting."

She left without another word, leaving Wyatt and me alone.

"Your sister is intense," I said.

"She's never wrong." He looked troubled. "Four Alphas. The Council chamber."

"What's in the Council chamber?"

"The throne of the High Alpha. The leader of all North American packs." He met my eyes. "It's been empty for fifty years. No one's been strong enough to claim it."

A chill ran down my spine. "Your sister thinks I'm going to claim it?"

"My sister thinks you're going to change everything." He stood. "But first, you need to heal. And train. And..."

"And?"

"And decide if you're going to accept our mate bond."

He moved toward the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, Charlotte, I'll wait. However long it takes."

After he left, I lay back against the silk sheets, my mind racing. Four days ago, I'd been a rejected omega. Now I was being housed by the strongest Alpha in three territories, prophesied to claim a throne that had been empty for decades.

Outside, the full moon rose over the mountains, and my wolf stirred restlessly.

We're home, she whispered.

But were we? Or was this just another cage, prettier than the last but still a cage?

Only time would tell.

But one thing was certain—I would never be weak again.