CLAIMED BY FIVE ALPHAS

Who The Protector?

Thousands of torches brought more than just fire. The smell of wet metal and the killing intent coming from them were so strong that my stomach turned.

The ground beneath my feet shook as their footsteps grew closer. Soldiers in silver armor marched through the fog in tight formation, surrounding the maze garden from every direction. I had no idea what the Silver Legion was, but from the way the jaws of the five men around me had tightened, I knew one thing.

They had not come to negotiate.

"How many?" Vaelric muttered. He was no longer holding his silver cane casually. His fingers were wrapped around it like he was gripping a deadly sword.

"Three battalions. Maybe more," Theron answered.

The wild man wiped the remaining blood from the corner of his mouth, then let out a quiet laugh. It was the insane laughter of a psychopath who had just found his playground.

"Enough to warm up before breakfast."

"Don't be stupid, Theron. They brought silver arrows coated with Wolfsbane," Evren cut in coldly. His blue eyes quickly studied the enemy formation.

"One hit to the heart, and you'll never wake up again."

"Then don't get hit, Aristocrat," Aurevian sneered.

I looked at them one by one. My sanity was hanging by a thread. Just minutes ago, they had been ready to kill each other. Now they were discussing battle tactics like we were playing a video game.

"Leave me behind," I whispered.

My voice trembled, sounding almost like the squeak of a frightened mouse. All five men fell silent at once. "What did you say?" Aurevian turned toward me, his eyes sharp.

"They came for me, right?" I pointed at the rows of torches with my trembling hand. "I don't know anything about your world. I'm just human. If I surrender, you... you won't have to die."

For a moment, there was silence. Then Vaelric let out an amused snort. "You really don't understand how this world works, do you, Miss Vale?"

Evren stepped back until his shoulder lightly touched mine. "Seraphina," he called softly, though his eyes remained fixed on the enemy. "Handing you over would be like asking us to cut out our own hearts and serve them on a golden plate. We may be monsters, but we're not idiots who would throw our lives away just because we've lost our minds."

"Stop talking nonsense," Aurevian growled.

The northern commander looked straight into my eyes. "If we retreat and let them touch a single strand of your hair, then the title of Alpha Sovereign means nothing to us. Do you understand?"

Before I could answer, the silver army stopped moving about fifty meters away. A man on horseback stepped forward from the front line. His armor was more luxurious than the others, with the symbol of a wolf pierced by a sword carved into his chest plate.

"In the name of the Lunar Conclave!" he shouted, his voice echoing against the walls of the broken pillars. "The law of one Mate is absolute! The existence of this anomaly has corrupted the natural laws of Lunaria. Hand the girl over to us, Sovereigns. Or you will be declared traitors to the throne!"

A deep, heavy chuckle followed. Theron stepped forward, crossing the defensive line. He cracked his knuckles.

"Corrupted?" Theron smirked, showing his growing fangs. "That's funny. She just made all our pride worth less than a worthless coin."

"You're outnumbered, Morvayne!" the commander shouted back. "Hand her over!"

"Take her if you can," Aurevian hissed. "But make sure you bring enough body bags for your entire army." The commander raised his hand high.

Behind him, the front line dropped to one knee and drew their bows. Hundreds of silver arrows pointed directly at us. My heart sank.

"Kill them," the commander ordered.

Everything happened so fast. As hundreds of arrows shot through the air like deadly silver rain, Azrien disappeared. The shadow-cloaked man melted into the darkness beneath my feet. The next second, screams of horror erupted from the enemy archers as the shadows beneath them suddenly came alive, slashing their throats from behind.

Aurevian and Theron did not dodge.

They roared, their bodies growing larger within seconds. Two giant wolves, one dark gray and the other dirty brown, charged forward, crashing into the front line like heavy trucks smashing through a pile of cardboard boxes.

The sound of breaking bones and screams of pain filled the night air. "Take cover!"

Evren grabbed my hand roughly. He and Vaelric dragged me behind the remains of a massive stone pillar just as a dozen arrows struck the ground where I had been standing.

"This is insane," I gasped, gripping Evren's shirt tightly. "You can't fight thousands of people at once!"

"You're underestimating us, Seraphina," Vaelric replied coldly.

He turned his silver cane and pressed a hidden button on its handle. The tip of the cane came loose, extending into a slender sword that glowed with deadly blue light. "We didn't become kings by sitting around drinking tea."

Vaelric turned and blocked a sword strike from two soldiers who had managed to sneak in from the side. His movements were so elegant that it looked as if he were dancing in a ballroom. Yet his blade cut through both enemies' throats without mercy.

Evren did not draw a physical weapon. His dark-blue eyes began to glow. He raised his hand toward a group of soldiers trying to approach our hiding place.

The air around them suddenly froze. They choked, clutching their own throats as the oxygen in their lungs literally turned into ice crystals from the inside.

I covered my mouth, trying to hold back a scream as I watched the slaughter in front of me. They were not human. They were death gods walking on earth.

Yet the Silver Legion did not retreat. For every ten soldiers who fell, twenty more stepped forward to replace them. The enemy commander realized that the physical strength of the five Alphas could not easily be overcome.

"Bring out The Nullifier!" he shouted in panic.

From the back line, four soldiers pushed a massive iron cart. On top of it sat a black crystal as large as a human body, bound by glowing silver chains. The moment my eyes caught sight of the crystal, the tattoo on the back of my neck began to pulse violently.

It hurt so badly that I hissed, clutching the back of my neck.

"Evren..." I whimpered, collapsing onto the bloodstained snow.

Evren turned. His eyes widened when he saw the black crystal.

"s**t! They brought the Soul Shatterer!" he shouted at the others. "Cover your ears!"

Too late, the commander brought down a sledgehammer against the black crystal. It did not make the sound of breaking glass. Instead, a piercing frequency filled the air, sharp enough to tear through my ears, my human ears could barely hear it. It was little more than a mosquito-like ringing.

But the effect on my five monster protectors was horrifying. Aurevian and Theron, who were still in their giant wolf forms, were thrown to the ground, they howled in pain. Their bodies were forced back into human form. Fresh blood poured from their ears and noses.

Beside me, Evren fell to his knees, clutching his head and groaning in agony. Vaelric vomited blood, his sword slipping from his grip. Even Azrien, who had been hiding inside the shadows, was forced out of his dark dimension. He slammed into a tree before falling helplessly to the ground.

The crystal had locked away their powers. It had locked away their wolves.

"Capture the girl!" the commander ordered. He smiled with satisfaction as the five death gods of Lunaria lay helplessly on the ground, groaning in pain. "And execute the five Alpha Sovereigns. The Conclave will find new leaders tomorrow morning!"

A dozen soldiers with drawn swords rushed toward us. Toward Evren, who was kneeling weakly beside me. Toward Vaelric, who was trying to crawl toward his sword with trembling hands. They were going to die. The five men who had brought the world to its knees for me... were actually going to die.

Never give your heart away.

My father's words echoed in my mind again. But to hell with my heart, to hell with fate and the laws of Lunaria. I didn't know how to control it, I didn't know where it came from. I simply closed my eyes, remembering the burning feeling in my veins when I had forced them all to their knees just minutes ago. And I called upon that instinct with everything I had.

Protect them, I screamed inside my mind.

I stepped forward, standing directly in front of Evren, who was barely holding on to his life. My brown eyes opened. And that night, the snow fog covering Lunaria vanished in an instant. It was not blown away by the wind.

It was burned away by a burst of silver fire exploding from my back, forming the blinding outline of five massive wings. The soldiers rushing toward me were thrown into the air as if they had crashed into an invisible steel wall.

The Silver Legion commander stared at me, his face drained of color, his worst fear had just become real.

I looked straight at him, letting my voice, now carrying the power of dozens of Lunareth ancestors, tear through the silence of the night.

"Touch them," I whispered. The air throughout the garden froze. "And I'll erase every last one of you from history."