CLAIMED BY FIVE ALPHAS

The Monsters Awakens

The night wind stopped blowing, as if the universe itself was holding its breath. The stench of blood coming from the wolf's head at Evren's feet crawled upward, choking my lungs.

But the real terror did not come from the corpse.

The ground beneath my feet began to tremble. At first, it was slow, like the uneven heartbeat of the earth, but then it turned into a violent rumble that shook my ribs. The wall of thorn bushes on the western side of the maze shattered apart. Black branches snapped and flew into the air like toothpicks crushed by a giant storm.

From behind the flying dust and snow fog, a shadow leaped out.

It wasn't human. It was a monster.

A massive wolf with dark fur marked by faded brown patches stepped forward. Its size was impossible, far larger than any grizzly bear I had ever seen in a book. Wild muscles bulged beneath its fur, which was covered in deep scars. When the monster planted its enormous claws into the frozen ground, the earth beneath it cracked.

The wolf didn't even care about the severed head near Evren's feet. Its golden-red eyes locked directly onto me. That gaze swallowed me alive. There was no politics in its eyes. No negotiation. Only absolute hunger and a primal instinct demanding one thing.

Me.

I heard the sickening sound of cracking bones as the monster rose onto its hind legs. Its fur shrank, its muzzle shortened, and its body twisted through a transformation too fast for normal human eyes to follow. Within seconds, the monster's shadow was replaced by the silhouette of a man.

He stood tall, bare-chested beneath the freezing air. His body was covered in battle scars, his muscles lean and powerful like those of an apex predator that had never known the meaning of surrender.

“Save your disgusting politics, Evren Elarion,” the man growled. His voice was rough, low, and trembling with fury as it cut through the night fog. “I tracked the scent of her soul through the dead forest and across the ocean storm. And you think you can hide my woman behind your stone walls?”

Evren stood unmoved. The hand that had been around my waist now gripped my arm, pulling me farther behind his back.

“You crossed into my territory, Theron,” Evren hissed, his voice still elegant but carrying deadly venom. “Return to your wild forest before I order the palace guards to drive silver through your heart.”

The man named Theron turned his face away and spat onto the ground, staring at Evren with open disgust. “Your silver arrows wouldn't even pierce my skin before I tore your throat out.”

Theron stepped forward. His golden-red eyes returned to me. That gaze seemed to pierce through my skin and flesh, reaching straight into my soul.

“Come here, little girl,” he commanded. “You don't belong in this nest of snakes. You belong in my territory.”

“Take one more step, Theron Morvayne, and I'll turn your skull into a wall decoration.”

A deep voice filled with absolute authority broke the tension. From the balcony above us, a figure landed silently on the grass. Aurevian. His black suit was already torn, his hands still covered in the blood of the men he had slaughtered in my home, and his eyes burned with the fury of a warlord who had just discovered that someone had stolen what belonged to him.

Before my heart could process Aurevian's arrival, the air around the maze grew heavy again. Casual footsteps echoed from the end of the fog-covered path. Vaelric appeared in his perfect three-piece suit, his silver cane tapping against the ground as if he had just finished taking an afternoon stroll through a palace garden.

“Looks like the circus downtown just lost one of its wild animals,” Vaelric said with a condescending aristocratic smile. His silver eyes swept over Theron from head to toe. “As far as I remember, stray dogs aren't allowed in the yard.”

Four. There were four men in this open space. Four monsters, each capable of destroying a city with a single snap of their fingers. And now, they were standing around me.

Theron let out a rough laugh. It sounded like the bark of a predator laughing at its prey. He looked at the other three Alphas one by one.

“You're going to talk to me about laws? You're going to talk to me about ownership?” Theron growled, his fangs lengthening as a golden flash exploded in his eyes. “You're nothing but house wolves wearing suits and hiding behind desks! You call it law. I call it weakness. The girl is mine because my wolf says so. Not because of your filthy documents.”

“Stop...” I whispered hoarsely. My head was beginning to throb with pain.

“She is mine, Theron!” Aurevian roared, no longer holding himself back. His claws lengthened, and his body radiated an oppressive military dominance that made it hard to breathe.

“I brought her here, Vaelorian,” Evren cut in coldly, the air around him turning into invisible blades of ice. “She is under my legal protection.”

“I could buy all of you and every piece of territory you own if I wanted to,” Vaelric replied, his eyes flashing with murderous threat. “I never let go of a valuable investment. And fate is the most expensive commodity ever created.”

The four dominant auras exploded at once. None of them were willing to back down. None of them would lower their heads. Dark, overwhelming energy radiated from them, clashing and colliding in the air, creating a deadly vortex of gravity. It felt as if this world belonged to them, and I was the next world they were placing on the gambling table.

My body couldn't withstand it. I was only human.

The pain that had disappeared earlier came crashing back into my chest ten times worse. It felt as if millions of invisible needles were being forced into my veins all at once.

I screamed. A loud, piercing scream that shook the air around us.

My throat felt like it was burning. My spine felt as if it were being twisted apart. I fell to my knees on the frozen ground, clutching my head with both hands. Fresh blood dripped from my nose, staining the white nightgown I was wearing.

“Seraphina!”

I didn't know whose voice called my name. All their voices sounded mixed together, filled with the same panic. Evren released his grip and tried to reach for my shoulder, but an impossible wave of energy exploded from inside my body, sending the elegant man flying backward.

Aurevian lunged forward, but the same energy struck him and threw him back as if he had hit an invisible concrete wall. Theron and Vaelric stood frozen, their eyes widening as they stared at what was happening in front of them.

Heat. Unbearable heat burned the back of my neck. It felt as if molten metal were being poured directly onto my skin, sinking all the way into the bones at the base of my neck. I dug my fingers into the frozen grass until they bled, continuing to scream as a burning mark slowly carved itself into my skin.

The pain reached its peak in a single explosion of light.

A blinding silver-blue light burst from the back of my neck, illuminating the entire dark maze garden. The intense heat melted the snow around me within a radius of dozens of meters.

The light did not fade. It remained embedded in my skin, forming a mark that glowed brightly in the darkness. A crescent moon appeared on my neck, as if the phases of the moon were about to awaken inside my blood.

The four Alphas who ruled this world stood frozen. There were no more growls. No more displays of dominance. For the first time in their lives, the arrogance of these kings was crushed by genuine fear. They stared at the mark on my neck with faces as pale as corpses.

They had just realized that tonight, they were not fighting over a human woman.

Tonight, they had awakened the real monster.

“Impossible. The Lunareth clan went extinct hundreds of years ago. How could a human come here, step over all our bloodlines, and claim the throne of the queen?”

Aurevian almost tore his own head off. The world no longer felt like it was turning on its axis. Meanwhile, Vaelric was busy calculating. His thoughts seemed to explode as his smile slowly widened.

“Interesting.”