THE ROGUE ALPHAS

The moon was bleeding red. Princess Elara stood before the enormous windows of her bedchamber, staring at the crimson moon hanging above the kingdom of Elarion. Its unnatural light painted the marble floors and golden curtains in shades of blood. Beyond the palace walls, the forest stretched into darkness, its ancient trees swaying beneath a wind that had come from nowhere. Somewhere in that forest, a wolf howled. Then another answered. And another. Elara pressed her palm against the cold glass.For twenty-two years, she had lived inside the safety of palace walls, surrounded by guards, servants, and people who bowed whenever she entered a room. She had been taught royal history, ancient laws, political diplomacy, and the sacred traditions of the werewolf kingdom. She knew how a princess should walk. How she should speak. How she should smile. What she should wear. And, most importantly, whom she should marry. Tomorrow evening, she would become engaged to Crown Prince Adrian of Valtheris, the most powerful royal heir in the neighboring kingdom. Their marriage would unite two territories, strengthen the royal bloodline, and bring peace to generations of rival werewolf packs. At least, that was what her parents believed.He did not look at her as if she were a woman he loved. He looked at her as if she were a kingdom he intended to possess. A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. "Your Highness?" Elara turned. Her closest friend, Lyla, slipped through the door carrying a silver tray with a cup of tea. Unlike the palace servants, Lyla never bowed unless the queen was watching. "You're awake again," Lyla observed. "I don't think I'll sleep tonight." "Because of the engagement?" "Because tomorrow, everyone will congratulate me on the most important decision of my life." Elara gave a humorless laugh. "A decision I wasn't allowed to make.Lyla set the tray down. "Then refuse him." Elara stared at her. "You say that as if refusing a prince were the same as refusing a dance." "Perhaps it should be." "If I refuse, my father will call it treason. The council will declare me unfit to rule. And Adrian will probably start a war." "Then perhaps he deserves to lose one." Despite herself, Elara smiled. Lyla stepped closer and lowered her voice. "There's something else. The guards found strange tracks near the northern gate. Enormous wolf tracks. Bigger than anything they've seen before." Elara's smile disappeared.Rogues?" "That's what they think." Every werewolf in Elarion knew the stories. Rogue Alphas were wolves who had rejected the authority of the royal packs. Some had been exiled for crimes. Others had abandoned their territories after refusing to obey the crown. The most dangerous were rumored to command powers that even the royal bloodline could not control. "They wouldn't come here during the Blood Moon," Elara whispered. "That's exactly why everyone is frightened." A sudden pressure filled the room. Elara gasped. The glass window trembled beneath her hand.For one impossible moment, she heard something inside her head. Not a voice belonging to a person. A growl. Deep, ancient, and furious. Found you. Elara stumbled backward. Lyla caught her arm. "What's wrong?" Before Elara could answer, every candle in the chamber went out. Darkness swallowed the room. Then a voice echoed through her mind again. Moon-Blood.Elara clutched her chest. "What are you?" she whispered. The answer came like thunder. Your beginning. Your end. Your destiny. And somewhere beyond the palace walls, four wolves lifted their heads toward the crimson moon. The princess had awakened. And the kingdom would never be the same.Twenty miles beyond the royal palace, four men stood on a rocky ridge overlooking the Forbidden Forest. They were not ordinary men. Even beneath their dark clothing, their powerful builds and unnatural stillness marked them as Alphas. Their eyes reflected the moonlight with an unmistakable animal glow. Kael stood at the edge of the ridge, his black coat moving in the wind. His face was sharp, his expression unreadable, and a faint scar crossed his left eyebrow. He was the leader of the four. The most feared rogue Alpha in the northern territories. And the only one who had survived the destruction of his entire original pack.Beside him, Darius leaned against a tree, turning a silver dagger between his fingers. "So," Darius said, breaking the silence, "we finally found the princess." Kael didn't look at him. "We found a disturbance." "Call it whatever makes you feel better." Darius grinned, but there was no humor in his amber eyes. "Her scent reached us from twenty miles away. No ordinary royal could do that." Soren stood a few steps behind them, his pale blue eyes fixed on the moon. He had barely spoken since sunset.He was the quietest of the four, a man who sometimes stared into empty spaces as though watching events that had not yet happened. "Something is wrong," Soren murmured. Kai turned toward him. "When isn't something wrong with you?" "I saw the palace burning." Darius stopped playing with his dagger. "Tonight?" "I don't know." Soren's expression darkened. "I saw four wolves kneeling before a woman wearing a crown of silver flames. Then I saw the same woman standing in a field of blood." Kael finally turned. "Did you see the princess?Soren nodded. "She was the woman in both visions." For several seconds, nobody spoke. The wind shifted, carrying the faint scent of roses from the distant kingdom. Kael inhaled sharply. The scent struck him with the force of a physical blow. His wolf, usually controlled through years of discipline, rose violently inside him. Mine. The word thundered through his mind. Kael's hands curled into fists. "No," he growled. Darius straightened.You felt it too?" Kai's golden eyes flashed. "That can't be possible." Soren closed his eyes. "An ancient bond." "Those bonds are myths," Kael snapped. "Then explain why all four of us can smell her from here." Darius let out a slow breath. "Four Alphas. One princess." Kai looked toward the palace. "If the royal council discovers this, they'll try to use her against us." "They won't touch her," Kael said. Darius raised an eyebrow. "Since when do we protect royalty?Kael's expression became colder. "Since royalty became the key to a war that could destroy every pack in these mountains." It was not the whole truth. Years ago, Kael had watched his mother die beneath the royal guards' blades. He had sworn never to trust another crowned ruler. Yet the moment he sensed Elara, something inside him had recognized her. Something older than hatred. Older than memory. Something his wolf refused to surrender. Kael drew his black hood over his head. "We enter the palace tonight." Kai smiled without warmth.Finally. Something interesting." "Remember our rules," Kael warned. "No killing unless necessary. No revealing our identities. And no one touches the princess." Darius laughed softly. "You're giving orders about a woman you've never even met." Kael's eyes turned silver. "I am giving orders about a war you don't understand." Then he stepped off the ridge. His body transformed before he reached the ground. Black fur swept across his skin, his bones shifted, and a massive wolf landed silently among the trees.Darius followed, becoming a powerful russet-colored wolf. Soren transformed into a pale gray beast with icy eyes, while Kai emerged as a dark wolf whose golden gaze burned through the shadows. Four rogues. Four forbidden Alphas. One destination. The royal palace. And a princess who had no idea that the most dangerous creatures in her world were coming for her.Elara couldn't stop thinking about the voice. Moon-Blood. She had searched every royal book she could find, but the term appeared only once, written in an ancient language that had nearly disappeared from the kingdom. The passage was incomplete. When the red moon rises, the lost heir shall awaken. Four wolves shall answer her call, and the crown shall tremble beneath the power of the forgotten blood. The remaining lines had been torn from the page. Elara had barely finished reading when a bell rang throughout the palace. Midnight.She needed air. Wrapping herself in a dark blue cloak, she slipped through a side corridor and descended the narrow staircase leading to the royal gardens. The palace gardens were beautiful even at night. Silver fountains shimmered beneath the moon, and white roses covered the stone archways. Beyond the gardens stood an ancient wall separating the royal grounds from the forest. Elara approached the fountain. The water had turned red. She stopped. A shadow moved behind the rose bushes. "Who's there?Silence. Elara reached for the small dagger hidden inside her sleeve. She was not trained to fight like the royal guards, but her father had insisted that every princess learn basic self-defense. "Come out," she commanded. A low voice answered from the darkness. "You shouldn't be outside tonight, Princess." Elara spun around. A man stood beneath the archway. He was tall, dressed entirely in black, with dark hair falling across his forehead. His face was strikingly handsome, but there was something dangerous about the stillness of his body. His silver eyes fixed on hers. Elara raised her dagger.Identify yourself." "Kael." "Your family name?" "I don't use one." "Are you a guard?" "No." "Then you have approximately three seconds to explain why you're standing in my garden." A faint smile touched his lips. "You're braver than the stories suggest." "And you're more foolish than a man who trespasses in a royal garden should be.Kael's smile disappeared. For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Then Elara felt it. A strange warmth spread through her chest. The air between them seemed to tighten, pulling her toward him despite every instinct telling her to step away. Kael's expression changed. His eyes dropped briefly to her throat, where a tiny silver pendant rested against her skin. "What is that?" he demanded. Elara instinctively covered it. "My mother's gift." "Where did she get it?" "I don't know.Kael moved one step closer. The pendant began to glow. Silver light spilled across Elara's fingers. A sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped. Kael reached for her, but the instant his fingers touched her wrist, the entire garden erupted in light. The fountain shattered. Every rose on the archway opened at once, revealing luminous silver petals. And inside Elara's mind, a wolf began to howl. Not one wolf. Four.Elara fell to her knees. Images flooded her thoughts: a burning forest, a battlefield beneath a red moon, four enormous wolves standing around a silver throne, and a woman whose face looked exactly like hers. Then she saw Kael. His hands were covered in blood. His eyes were full of grief. And he was whispering her name. Elara. She tore herself away from the vision and stumbled backward. "What did you do to me?" Kael looked as shaken as she felt. "Nothing." "You're lying!"Why?" His gaze shifted toward the forest wall. "Because I'm not the only one who has come for you." A deafening crash echoed from the other side of the garden. The guards shouted. Steel rang against steel. Elara turned toward the noise. Three men emerged from the shadows, each moving with unnatural speed. One had amber eyes and a dangerous smile. Another had pale blue eyes that seemed to see straight through her. The third watched her with a fierce, golden stare. Kael stepped in front of her. "Darius. Soren. Kai.Elara's blood ran cold. The rogue Alphas. All four of them were here. Darius glanced at the shattered fountain. "Well, Kael. It seems the princess has already discovered her little gift." Kai's gaze settled on Elara. "She's stronger than we expected." Soren looked at the glowing pendant. "No," he whispered. "She's more dangerous than we expected." Elara tightened her grip on her dagger. "Someone had better explain what is happening right now." Kael turned toward her. For the first time, the cold Alpha looked uncertain.Your Highness, whatever happens next, do not trust the royal council." Before Elara could answer, a horn sounded from the palace entrance. Then came a voice she recognized immediately. "Princess Elara!" Adrian. Her fiancé was approaching with a dozen armed guards. Kael's wolf growled beneath his skin. Darius drew his dagger. Kai moved toward the garden entrance. And Soren whispered the words that made Elara's heart stop.The prince knows." "Knows what?" Elara demanded. Soren looked directly into her eyes. "That you're the Moon-Blood heir." The garden doors burst open. Crown Prince Adrian entered beneath the crimson moon, his expression perfectly calm. Behind him, the royal guards raised their weapons toward the four rogues. Adrian ignored them. His gaze remained fixed on Elara. Then he smiled. "At last," he said softly. "We've found you." Elara took a step backward.For the first time in her life, she understood that the danger had never been waiting outside the palace. It had been standing beside her all along. Adrian extended his hand. "Come with me, my future queen." Kael caught Elara's wrist before she could move. The moment their skin touched, a silver symbol appeared on both their wrists. A crescent moon surrounded by four claw marks. All four Alphas froze. Adrian's smile vanished. "No," he whispered. The ground trembled beneath their feet.From somewhere deep inside the Forbidden Forest, an enormous wolf answered the crimson moon with a howl that shook the entire kingdom. And the ancient voice returned inside Elara's mind. The bond has awakened. The war has begun.