CHAPTER 3: THE ALPHA'S REGRET
782 Words
I woke up hungry. Not for rice, but for meat. For blood. For the thrill of the hunt.
Nyx’s growl echoed in my stomach. I, Ravena, trembled under a dead tree in the Forbidden Forest. Naked. Cold. Yet my body felt fine. Moonlight Healing had erased all my scratches in my sleep.
"You need to eat, Silver Child. If not, I’ll take over,"* Nyx’s voice echoed in my head—firm, not angry, like a mother wolf teaching her pup.
I glanced at my hands. My claws looked normal, but if I focused... *silver claws* could emerge. I tried.
*SRRK.*
Out they came. Long. Shining. Beautiful yet terrifying. These weren’t the claws of a servant. They were the claws of the *Ancient Moonborn.*
*"Good,"* Nyx praised. *"Now, hunt. The Forbidden Forest is full of rabbits for practice."*
I was about to rise when the scent hit me.
*Smoke. Thunder. Burning wood.*
The scent of *Ryker.*
But it stank. The smoke was acrid, like charred wood. The *Eclipse Flame* was out of control.
*Far at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.*
*"ARGHHH!!!"*
Ryker knelt on the ground. Twenty warriors of the Eternal Moonpack surrounded him, all cowering in fear. Because their Alpha King’s hand... was *burning.*
Black *Eclipse Flame* licked from his elbow to his fingers, unbidden. Angry. Hungry. Wild. Trees turned to black dust around him. The ground melted into glass from the heat.
*"Alpha! Control it!"* his Beta, Kael, shouted but didn’t dare approach. The *killing aura* of a Berserk Ryker was deadly. Anyone close enough could die just from that aura.
Ryker clutched his chest—not from the fire, but from pain. Inside. Where the bond had snapped yesterday. Empty. Bleeding. Throbbing.
*An Alpha's weakness: power gone wild without Luna.*
And every time he remembered silver blood dripping from Ravena’s mouth... the fire grew stronger.
*"Orion, shut up!"* Ryker pounded the ground. It cracked. *"She’s just a flawed servant! You can’t miss her!"*
But in his mind, *Orion* didn’t howl in rage. He howled in sorrow. A howl of loss. A howl like a wolf whose pup had died.
*"Find her,"* Orion urged. *"Apologize. Bind her again. Before we go mad."*
*"NO!"* Ryker stood, eyes dark red. *Obsidian claws* emerged fully. Half in *Berserk Form*. His body swelled, veins popping. *"I’m the Alpha King! I won’t beg a servant! If she’s alive, let her rot in that forest! I’ll find a new Luna!"*
He raised his face to the sky, ready to unleash the *Alpha Command* to make everyone forget Ravena’s name.
But... no sound came out.
Because when he said "new Luna," the *Eclipse Flame* in his hand... *fizzled out.* Turning to smoke. Then *ignited again, silver.* Just for a moment. Then back to black.
All the warriors saw. Stunned.
The Alpha King’s fire... *changed color to that of his rejected mate.*
Kael swallowed hard. *"Alpha... the Moon Goddess is angry with us..."*
Ryker stared at his hand. Shocked. Afraid. For the first time in his life, the *Alpha King of the Eternal Moonpack felt fear.*
*Return to Ravena.*
I froze. Ryker’s scent was overwhelming. He was close. At the border. If he entered...
*"Don’t be scared,"* Nyx reassured. *"He won’t cross. The Forbidden Forest has an ancient oath. An Alpha who rejects his mate can’t step on this ground. If he does, the Eclipse Flame will consume him."*
No wonder he was howling outside.
I took a deep breath. Bold. I knelt, touched the ground. *"Nyx, teach me the Lunar Barrier. Just in case he sends warriors in."*
*"Close your eyes. Feel the moon, even in daylight. That light is in your blood."*
I did. Darkness. Then... light. I saw it in my eyelids, silver light swirling. I pulled it, pushed it out of my palms.
*WUSHHH.*
A three-meter circle of white-silver light surrounded me. *Lunar Barrier.* The dead trees within suddenly sprouted leaves. Cracked earth turned to grass. High-level *Moonlight Healing.*
I laughed, tears streaming down my face. *For the first time, I felt... strong.*
*"Listen here, Ryker!"* I shouted, knowing he couldn’t hear. But Nyx said the bond wasn’t fully severed. He could feel emotions. *"You rejected me because I had no wolf! Now I do! And I won’t bow to a blind Alpha!"*
Outside, Ryker fell to his knees again. He *felt*. Felt Ravena’s anger. Felt the power. Felt... the *Silver Wolf.*
*"Impossible..."* he whispered. Sweat dripped. *"Servant... Silver Wolf? Moonborn...?"*
*Orion* finally spoke in his head: *"You didn’t reject a servant, Ryker. You rejected the Celestial Queen. And now... she rises."*
Ryker coughed up blood. *Black blood.*
The war hadn’t begun yet. But the Alpha King had already lost the battle within himself.
- Writer
