Chapter 3- The King
1492 Words
ORION
I never liked the Moon Rite.
Too much noise. Too much posturing. Too many wolves puffing their chests like their bloodlines meant anything without strength to back them.
But I came every year.
Because I had to.
Because being Alpha King didn’t give me the luxury of silence, even if I ruled in it.
I sat at the edge of the clearing in the high-seat, dark stone, carved with the crest of my bloodline. My warriors stood behind me, cloaked in black and gold, their faces stoic, watchful. My Beta, Ruvan, stood at my right. My second-in-command. My brother in all but blood.
The gathering pulsed with power. I felt it in the ground beneath my boots, the way the wolves bowed their heads as I arrived, the way their gazes snapped away from mine like they’d touched flame.
Good.
Fear was easier to manage than faith.
“You’re quiet,” Ruvan murmured beside me, though his voice was low enough not to carry. “Even for you.”
I didn’t answer.
I was never much for words.
Especially not here. Especially not on nights like this, when the air was thick with the smell of want. Mates. Power. Posturing.
Lies.
I glanced at the edge of the clearing where the unbonded wolves had begun to gather, the hopeful ones. Omegas in silks and lace, Betas in polished armor, Alphas in ceremonial cloaks. They were all dressed for the dance. All waiting for the bond to strike.
All waiting to be chosen.
I didn’t believe in fate anymore.
Not after what happened to me.
Not after her.
My jaw clenched, and I felt the familiar burn rise in my chest, the one I buried under duty and dominance.
Her name was no longer worth saying.
The mate the Moon Goddess gave me six years ago had worn silk smiles and hidden knives. She had called me “Alpha” in the day and conspired against me by night. I found her in our den with another wolf’s scent on her skin, betrayal dripping from her mouth like poison.
She hadn’t even denied it.
“You were never meant for love, Orion,” she had whispered the day I banished her. “You were meant for war.”
She left behind only one thing worth keeping.
My daughter.
Lyra.
My little moonlight.
I looked past the crowd to the edge of the tents, where my guard stood beside a small, cloaked figure. She was too far to see clearly, but I knew her posture, the stubborn tilt of her chin, the way she held her favourite wolf plush under one arm even though she was far too old for it now.
She had my eyes. And her mother’s quiet defiance.
Lyra was the only warmth left in my life. The only reason I hadn’t drowned in blood and silence after everything fell apart.
She saved me.
No other female had been allowed near me since.
No mate.
No bond.
No weakness.
I had sealed my wolf behind walls of command and expectation. I had risen higher than any Alpha before me. I had brought the warring packs into uneasy peace. I had become legend.
But peace was lonely.
Even power could not touch the hollow in my chest where something else used to live.
“Orion,” Ruvan said softly.
I turned to him.
He didn’t speak for a long time. Just looked at me with that patient, knowing gaze of his. The one that always saw too much.
“Do you ever think… the Moon might not be done with you yet?”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t have to.
Because at that very moment, before I could even blink, something hit me.
Hard.
A scent.
Sharp.
Wild.
Pure.
It cut through the clearing like lightning through storm clouds, slicing every other scent from the air. I inhaled again, my wolf rising so fast it nearly tore through my skin. My fingers gripped the edge of the stone throne, knuckles white.
“What is that?” I growled.
Ruvan’s head snapped toward me. “What?”
“You don’t smell that?”
He inhaled carefully, frowning. “It’s faint. But… different.”
My heart thundered once. Twice.
Then I stood.
Because I knew that scent.
Not in memory. Not in reason.
In my blood.
It called to me.
It owned me.
And it was moving.
Running.
Trying to hide.
My wolf surged inside me with a snarl.
“Find her,” I ordered my guard. “Now.”
“Who?”
“She’s here,” I snapped. “Mine.”
The clearing fell silent as I stepped off the throne. Heads turned. Some wolves dropped to their knees. I didn’t care. I didn’t see them.
I saw only the trees.
And the direction she had gone.
My mate.
The one I had never expected. Never asked for.
The one fate had kept from me until now.
I didn’t know who she was yet.
But I would.
And the world would burn before I let her go.
The scent clawed at my throat like hunger I’d buried years ago.
It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t seductive. It was… wild. Earth and ash. Rain and fire. Not polished. Not controlled.
Untouched.
Untamed.
My wolf tore against my skin, scraping up my spine, flooding my limbs with heat. It had never reacted like this before, not even when I’d taken my first mate. That bond had been smooth, logical. Strategic, even.
This?
This was chaos.
This was real.
“Alpha,” Ruvan said sharply behind me, “what’s happening?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My mouth had gone dry. My pulse had turned to thunder. I scanned the tree line like a predator scenting prey, body tense, every breath a weapon.
Then I saw her.
A flicker.
A flash of movement.
Small. Slipping between trees like she didn’t want to be seen.
Wearing rags.
Bruised.
A snarl ripped from my throat.
Who dared put marks on what was mine?
I moved.
Not walked, moved. Through the clearing, past the stunned packs, my cloak flying behind me like wings of war. Wolves shifted back in fear. Alphas went still. I heard murmurs.
“She’s running.”
“Who is she?”
“An omega? From Blackridge?”
“She smells like...”
Mine.
I followed the scent through the trees, faster now, breath catching on every inhale. My boots crushed the earth beneath me. The world blurred. The forest bent around my will.
And then,
I found her.
She stumbled into a small glade at the edge of the Moon Rite grounds, panting, shaking, clutching a broken crest to her chest. She hadn’t seen me yet.
I stopped.
I just watched.
She looked so fragile.
Tiny shoulders. Tangled hair. Dirt on her cheek. Scratches on her arms. And still, still, there was something about her that pulsed with power, even if she didn’t know it yet.
Even if no one else could see it.
But I saw.
I saw everything.
Her scent crashed into me again. My control snapped.
My wolf lunged toward her without permission.
My voice came out low and rough.
“You.”
She froze.
Slowly, she turned, eyes wide, terrified.
And f**k.
She was beautiful.
Not in the way court omegas tried to be. Not painted or prepared. But raw. Real. A creature carved by cruelty and still breathing.
Her lip was split. Her dress torn. She looked like she expected to be hit, not claimed.
That broke something in me I didn’t even know was still capable of breaking.
“You’re…” I stepped forward, voice thick. “You’re mine.”
She backed up.
“No,” she breathed, shaking her head. “I’m no one. I’m nothing.”
My entire body went still.
“No,” I said darkly. “Don’t ever say that again.”
I closed the distance.
She flinched when I raised my hand, and my chest cracked open at the movement. She thought I would strike her.
I didn’t.
I reached out and touched her face with trembling fingers.
Just a brush.
Gentle. Careful. As if she might vanish.
Her skin was warm. Too warm. She was feverish with fear.
“Who hurt you?” I asked, deadly quiet.
She didn’t answer.
But I could already smell the truth.
Blackridge.
They would pay.
Every wolf who had ever touched her would bleed for it.
“Alpha...” Ruvan’s voice came from behind me, hesitant.
I turned slowly, keeping my body between her and the others.
“She is not to be touched,” I growled. “Not. By. Anyone.”
Ruvan’s eyes widened slightly. “Are you… claiming her?”
I looked at Briseis again.
My mate.
Broken. Scared. Defiant, even in fear.
“Yes,” I said. “She is mine.”
And I would tear the world apart to make her believe it.
- Writer
