CLAIMED BY FIVE ALPHAS

Claimed

Azrien's words fell like a death sentence, freezing the air around us.

Mix their blood with hers. Claim her completely.

Even as pain tore through my fading consciousness, I understood what those words meant. This was not just a healing ritual. It was the oldest form of union. An absolute surrender that would bind my soul to one of them, not only through magic, but through blood and body. Tonight. Right now.

The heat in my chest grew unbearable, blurring my vision. The black veins in my arms throbbed beneath my skin, as if millions of parasites were crawling through them, preparing to tear my heart apart from the inside.

"Do it," Theron growled without a moment's hesitation. The wild monster tightened his arms around me and glared at the other four Alphas, his jaw clenched and his fangs bared. "Stay away from us. I'll take her to my territory. Morvayne blood is strong enough to anchor whatever storm is inside her."

"You'll kill her, you wild dog!" Aurevian snapped. The war commander stepped forward, the veins in his neck bulging with desperate fury. "Your blood is too unstable! Your dominance will destroy her human organs before you even finish claiming her. Give her to me."

"Give her to you?" Theron let out a bitter laugh that sounded like breaking glass. "I'd rather tear out my own throat than hand my woman over to a military executioner like you!"

"You two are acting like parasites fighting over a host!" Vaelric cut in, his voice cold as ice. The southern ruler knelt on the other side of my body, his silver eyes filled with horror as more black blood spilled from my lips. "This isn't about who deserves her more. It's about who can control her resonance. I have access to House Veyrenth's healing relics. My blood will stabilize her without burning her alive."

"Enough of this nonsense!"

Evren's voice exploded, drowning out their argument. For the first time since I had met him, the aristocrat who always wore a deceptive smile had lost every trace of his usual elegance. His dark blue eyes were filled with absolute terror.

Evren turned to Azrien, who was still kneeling silently beside my feet.

"You said she needed an anchor," Evren hissed, grabbing Azrien by the collar of his black robe and pulling him up. "But you know Lunareth's history better than anyone here, Noctyren. Tell me the truth! If one of us claims her tonight... what happens to the other four resonances?"

Azrien swallowed, his pitch-black eyes staring directly at Evren. "The laws of nature cannot be fooled, Elarion. The Fivefold Resonance was designed to divide the burden of the Lunar Core across five foundations."

The executioner's voice trembled. His next words destroyed every last bit of hope they had.

"If only one of us infuses her with his blood and seed tonight... that balance will collapse. A single dominant bond will cause the other four parts of the Lunar Core to rebel inside Seraphina's body. She will be torn apart from within. She will explode."

Deadly silence fell once more.

I coughed violently, spilling more blood onto Theron's shirt. My body convulsed. My breathing now sounded like sandpaper scraping against glass. I was dying. I was truly dying, crushed by a god's curse I had never asked for.

Aurevian took a step back. The commander who had never retreated from any battlefield now stared at his own hands, trembling uncontrollably.

"So..." Aurevian's voice broke, sounding painfully fragile. "If we leave her alone, she dies. If one of us tries to save her... she dies anyway?"

"I can't lose her," Vaelric whispered. The man who controlled half the world's wealth grabbed his own hair, his logic completely falling apart. "I can't lose my destiny on the very first night I've found her. There has to be another way!"

Theron lowered his head, pressing his cold, sweaty forehead against my temple. His rough fingers wiped the frozen tears from my cheeks. The wild monster was crying in silence.

"I'm sorry," Theron whispered into my ear, his voice breaking my heart. "I'd tear out my own heart if it could stop your pain, little girl. I'd do it. I swear."

As despair swallowed their sanity, Evren slowly stood up. His blue eyes stared into the night fog, empty and terrifying. Then, little by little, his gaze sharpened. The aristocrat looked down at the five phases of the moon glowing faintly but burning hot on my nape.

"Five," Evren murmured.

He turned toward the other four Alphas. His face had gone pale, but a reckless determination was written across his jaw.

"Five phases of the moon. Five bloodlines." Evren stepped forward, his voice sounding like a forbidden spell. "If a single dominant bond will destroy her body... then we give the curse the balance it demands. Tonight. Right now."

Azrien's eyes widened. "You're insane, Elarion. The ritual of mixing the blood of five Alpha Sovereigns at the same time has never been performed since Lunaria was created. The curse could kill all of us!"

"Then let us die with her!" Evren roared, his emotions finally breaking free. "I'd rather burn to ash with all of you in this cursed garden than live for thousands of years and watch her lying in a coffin!"

Evren's words struck them like a sledgehammer.

Aurevian lifted his head. The golden light in his eyes burned again, this time without a trace of hesitation. "He's right," the commander growled. "If the world refuses to accept her, then we'll force the entire world to its knees."

Vaelric stood, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and slowly nodded. "We'll buy her life with our own."

Theron pulled me closer, looking at his four rivals with a wild grin. "For the first time... I agree with you, you damn suit-wearing bastards."

I could no longer feel my fingers. My consciousness hovered on the edge of darkness. But through my blurred vision, I witnessed a scene that history would never forget.

Vaelric pulled the sword from his silver cane. He cut deeply into his own palm, and dark red blood flowed freely. Then he tossed the sword to Aurevian, who made the same cut without blinking. The sword passed to Evren, then to Theron, and finally into Azrien's hands.

Five rulers of the world. Five gods of death. Now they all knelt around me, letting the blood of their proud bloodlines drip onto the snow, staining the night with an absolute sacrifice.

"Seraphina," Evren called softly. He touched my chin, lifting my face so I could look into his eyes. "If tonight kills us, know that we died because we chose you. Not because of the curse."

Theron, still holding me in his arms, raised his bleeding palm to my lips. "Drink, little girl," Theron whispered. "Drink, and let us become your anchors."

I stared at the blood. My human mind screamed in disgust and fear. But the instinct ruling my veins—the starving energy of the Lunar Core—took control. With the last of my strength, I parted my trembling lips.

Theron's blood dripped onto my tongue. It tasted like wet earth, iron, and a wild storm. Hot. Burning hot. One by one, they pressed the wounds in their palms against my lips.

Aurevian's blood tasted like volcanic ash and burning embers.

Evren's carried the cold taste of marble and silk velvet.

Vaelric's flooded my tongue with the taste of precious metal and aged wine.

And Azrien's... tasted like the first rain after a long drought. Cold, quiet, yet full of life.

When the five Alpha rulers' blood mixed inside my throat, time across all of Lunaria stopped.

The pain tearing through my organs vanished instantly. In its place, an explosion of energy far greater than before struck the core of my soul. The tattoo on my nape no longer simply glowed. Its markings seemed to melt into my flesh, driving silver roots straight into my spinal cord.

My body convulsed violently. The five Alphas jerked backward, thrown away by the shockwave bursting from my skin.

I slipped from Theron's arms, my body floating several inches above the ground. My eyes flew open, staring at the full moon above. The blackness choking my veins faded, replaced by a blinding silver glow. The bones in my back cracked loudly, stretching and forcing their way outward.

This was not just a magical awakening, this was not just a balance of energy.

As the five monsters' blood became a catalyst for the Lunar Core inside me, I felt my soul tear apart to make room for something new. Something that had been sleeping for two thousand years.

Something inside me was not simply waking up, something inside me... had just hatched. The first howl that split the night was not a wolf's howl.

It was my voice.