Claimed by the Rejected Alpha

The third mate

Chapter 6: Crowned to Die

The hidden chamber smelled like iron and old magic.

Kael led us down a narrow stone stair beneath the Order's tent, one hand on Lyra's back, the other holding a stolen lantern. Dominic followed so close behind me that I could feel his breath on my neck.

Narrow didn't begin to describe the passage. My shoulders brushed rough rock on one side and Kael's chest on the other. Every time the tunnel tightened, Dominic's body pressed along my spine, hard and warm, and I bit my lip to keep from making a sound.

"Stop breathing like that," Kael muttered without turning around.

"Like what?"

"Like you're enjoying this."

"I'm not," I hissed, and Dominic's low laugh vibrated through my back. I wanted to elbow him. I wanted to turn around and do something far more reckless.

Focus, my wolf snapped. Dead people. Chains. Remember?

The tunnel opened into a vaulted chamber lit by pale blue crystals. At the far end stood a throne carved from black stone, and in front of it, bolted into the floor, were chains thick as my wrist, etched with glowing silver runes.

I walked toward them, drawn like a moth. The runes flickered. My mark burned.

"Don't touch them," Kael warned.

"I wasn't going to."

But I was close enough to see the fresh blood on the stone steps. Close enough to see the fingernail scratches in the floor.

And close enough to hear the soft, ragged cough from the shadows behind the throne.

Dominic's claws were out in an instant. "Who's there?"

A figure stirred, thin and bruised, bound in iron cuffs, his hair gone gray at the temples. He lifted his head, and the lantern light fell across a face I knew better than my own reflection.

"Lyra," Garrick Vance rasped. "You came."

The world tilted.

I stumbled backward into Dominic's chest, and his arms locked around my waist. "That's... that's him. That's the Silvermoon Alpha."

"He's supposed to be in Silvermoon," Kael said slowly.

"I was," Garrick whispered. "Until three nights ago."

I stared at the man who had thrown me out of the pack. The man who had called me a disgrace in front of everyone. His lip was split. One eye was swollen shut. He looked a decade older than he had at my birthday.

"You banished me," I said, my voice shaking.

"I know."

"You said I wasn't your daughter."

"I said it so they would believe you were nothing." His voice broke. "You were safe as long as you were worthless, Lyra. If Elowen had known you were awake, or alive..."

"Elowen is my mother."

"No."

The word dropped into the chamber like a stone into a well.

"Elowen is your mother's twin sister," Garrick said. "Her name is Elowen Morrigan. She and your mother looked identical. Same hair. Same eyes. Same face."

My heart stopped.

"Your mother was Seraphine, Aurelian Voss's queen. She hid in my pack the night he was killed, pregnant with you, and I swore to protect you both." His eyes were wet. "Seraphine died giving birth. Elowen has spent eighteen years pretending to be her. She wears her face, and she'll wear it until you are crowned."

"Why?" I breathed.

"Because a Lycan heir's blood can only be claimed by the throne during the Blood Moon ceremony." He swallowed. "Whoever sits on that throne when you're sacrificed inherits every wolf's allegiance. Every pack. Every Alpha."

Chains, I thought. A throne. And the white wolf that was the only thing standing in the way.

I told you, my wolf said grimly. Not all lies. Just the important ones.

"The portrait in your study," I managed. "The one you kept hidden."

"My apology to Seraphine. And my proof."

I turned, shaking, and found Dominic's gaze on me, dark and steady, and Kael's, fierce and wild. They had both crossed lines tonight that they could never undo.

"We're getting him out," Dominic said.

"Of course we are," Kael agreed.

I was already on my knees, wrenching at Garrick's cuffs. The runes burned my fingers, and I gritted my teeth against the pain. Dominic dropped beside me and added his own strength to mine. Kael braced his boot against the wall and hauled on the chain until the bolts groaned.

"Lyra." Dominic's face was inches from mine, sweat gleaming on his temples, his eyes burning into me. "If this goes wrong, I want you to know..."

"Don't." I pulled the last pin. "You can tell me when we get out."

Something flashed in his expression, a vow, a promise. "I'm holding you to that."

The cuffs clattered to the floor. Garrick sagged against my shoulder, light as a ghost.

"We have to go," Kael said. "Now."

We were halfway to the stairs when the crystals dimmed.

Cold swept through the chamber. One by one, the lanterns went out. And from the darkness at the top of the stairs came the soft, measured sound of clapping.

"Beautiful," Elowen said. "Truly. You've saved me the trouble of dragging him up."

She stood at the top, framed in torchlight, with ten silver-masked guards behind her. She wore my mother's face. She smiled with my mother's mouth.

"I wanted you to hear it from me, darling," she said. "But I suppose he's done the job."

"Stay back," I said, shoving Garrick behind me. My wolf was rising, white fire crawling up my arms. "I won't be your sacrifice."

"Oh, my sweet girl." Her smile turned tender, terrible. "Who said anything about a sacrifice?"

She raised one hand, and the symbol on her palm lit up, a crescent moon with a line through it.

The same mark we all carried.

Dominic went rigid. Kael's lips parted in horror.

"Because the Moon Goddess didn't give you two mates," Elowen said softly. "She gave you three."

She stepped aside.

Behind her, bound in silver and barely conscious, hung a third man, battered and bloodied, his dark head slumped forward.

Slowly, he lifted his face.

I knew those eyes.

I knew that voice when he whispered, "Lyra."

My knees nearly gave out.