To Bleed a Crown
1275 Words
Varek’s POV
She shouldn’t look like her.
But gods help me—she did.
Not just in the curve of her mouth, or the way her spine straightened when she was angry. It was deeper than that. In her silence. Her fire. Her defiance.
Christine.
My mother’s closest friend. My first memory of comfort. She used to sing in the old tongue—songs that don’t exist in this world anymore. She’d hold me when the world outside our walls turned red with war. And then—one day—she vanished. They told us she was taken. Then dead.
No trace. No hope. Just ash and silence.
And now… this girl.
No—this woman.
Standing in front of the most powerful being in our world. Meeting his gaze without blinking. And when she spoke, it felt like the realm itself held its breath.
“That was my mother,” she said.
My father turned, slow and deliberate. When his eyes landed on her, something in him faltered. A crack in the ice.
“Christine had no child,” he said. Flat. Cold. Final.
“She did,” Lizzy replied. “Me.”
“She died,” he snapped. “Taken in the Crescent War. Torn apart by wolves. That’s the truth.”
Lizzy’s hands curled into fists but it was Nyra who spoke. “She was taken. Not lost. She was stolen by Crescent Ridge, branded, hidden. She didn’t leave. She was forced.”
My father didn’t speak. He stared like she was some ghost crawling out of a long-forgotten grave.
“She bore no mark,” he said stiffly. “She was unclaimed.”
“She hid it,” Nzra said. “To protect us.”
He moved.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her. His hand shot out—rough fingers twisting in her hair, wrenching her head back.
I stepped forward, a low growl in my throat.
But Lizzy… Lizzy raised her hand.
Stopped me.
She commanded stillness.
Even now.
My father snarled, breath at her throat, eyes burning with something unreadable.
Then he stopped.
And stared.
Because there, hidden beneath the line of her hair, was a faded scar. A half-healed crescent etched into her skin—one we all bore.
The mark.
Our mark.
The sigil of the blood-born Lycān.
It was old. Faint. But unmistakable.
She was pack.
My father released her, almost violently. She stumbled, and I caught her before she could fall, my arm curling protectively around her waist.
He backed away like she burned.
“She bears our mark,” I said, voice even, quiet. “She is one of us.”
“And she’s your fated?” he rasped.
“Yes.”
He looked between us—his jaw tight. Fury and something else swirling behind his eyes.
“She’s half-blood,” he muttered. “The mating bond chooses filth now?”
“She’s still mine.”
He stepped forward again. “Do you believe she could survive the rites?”
“I know she can.”
His lip curled. “She bleeds like a wolf.”
“She bleeds like a warrior.”
He stared at her a long time. Then, slowly, nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “The blood moon rises in seven months. If she survives the mating rites, she is worthy. If not…”
He didn’t need to finish.
I felt Lizzy stiffen beside me. But she didn’t flinch.
“You will also ascend,” he added. “You will take my place.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me,” he said. “You’ve brought this chaos here. Now wear the crown that bleeds for it.”
He stalked toward the door. Then stopped.
“Who saw you? Who followed?”
“No one,” I said.
“You’re sure?”
“I killed the ones who tried.”
He exhaled sharply. “Then hope that’s enough.”
And then, with one last glance toward Lizzy, he said, “You’ve already torn open the wound. Now bleed it.”
The door slammed behind him.
Lizzy stood motionless, pale but fierce.
“I didn’t flinch,” she whispered. “That has to count for something, right?”
My lips twitched. “It counts.”
She looked up at me. “Why didn’t you recognize the mark?”
“It was faded. Hidden. I never saw it.”
She swallowed. “He let me live. Because I’m marked.”
“Because he follows the sacred law,” I said. “Even he won’t break it.”
I took her hand. “Come. You need rest.”
The halls were quieter than usual. Word must have spread. Everyone could feel it—the shift. The air was charged now. Like the realm itself was bracing for something that couldn’t be undone.
As we rounded a corner—
“Varek.”
Kai stood casually against the stone archway, arms crossed, his sharp smile sliding into place like a blade in its sheath.
“Daddy’s pissed,” he said. “I like her already.”
Lizzy nodded, cautious. “Its almost like you anticipated that Kai.”
“Hey dont shoot the messenger,” he said. “Also I was the one who made sure your welcome party didn’t include fire and pitchforks.”
“I’ll bake you a thank-you cake,” she said dryly.
“I’m allergic to sincerity,” he said.
Then came the voice I didn’t want to hear.
“Varek.”
Erin.
Tall. Vicious. Stunning. And full of venom.
She stepped into view from a side corridor, her mouth already twisted into a mocking smile.
Her gaze landed on Lizzy like she was dirt on glass.
“She’s the one?” she asked. “This is what the great bond dragged in?”
“She’s everything it dragged in,” I said.
Erin’s smile didn’t slip, but her eyes went dead cold.
“You said I mattered.”
“You didn’t.”
“You marked me,” she hissed.
“I never did.”
“You finished in me.”
Lizzy froze.
My heart sank.
Erin took a step forward, eyes locked on mine.
“You buried yourself in me so deep I forgot my own name. You said I was enough.”
“That was before,” I said. “Before I met my mate.”
She turned to Lizzy. “He finishes fast, just so you know.”
I saw Lizzy pale.
Her body went still.
Too still.
Through the bond—I felt it.
Her wolf’s heart… crack.
Shatter.
Nyra curled in on herself.
And Lizzy said nothing.
She just stared.
And that hurt worse than if she’d screamed.
I stepped forward, slow, deadly.
“Enough,” I said.
Erin laughed, broken and bitter.
I grabbed her arm. “Try that again, and I will end you.”
She leaned in, whispering. “She’ll never survive the rites.”
I growled—and slammed her back against the wall.
“Insult her again, and you’ll see what happens to traitors.”
She gasped. Scrambled back.
Kai raised a brow. “You’re cleaning up this mess, not me.”
“Get her out of my sight,” I said, my voice ice.
He nodded and reached for Lizzy gently.
“I’ll get her settled.”
Lizzy didn’t even look at me.
And that…
That hurt more than anything.
Because for the first time since I was born…
I didn’t want to be king.
I just wanted her to look at me like I wasn’t a monster.
- Writer
