Chapter 5: The Beast King
1117 Words
Elena POV
Kael roared.
The sound shook the entire forest. Trees trembled, the ground cracked beneath our feet, and every wolf present froze.
I had heard werewolves howl before. I had watched powerful Alphas shift. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
Kael was enormous.
His Lycan form stood nearly ten feet tall, covered in silver-black fur that seemed to glow beneath the moonlight. His silver eyes burned like fire, and power rolled from him in terrifying waves.
Every creature in the forest seemed to bow before him.
Even the Shadow wolves hesitated.
Malrik’s grip tightened around my wrist.
“Move!”
He dragged me backward through the mud as the battle exploded around us. Lycans clashed with Shadow wolves, growls echoed through the trees, and the scent of blood quickly filled the air.
“Let me go!”
Malrik laughed.
“You have no idea who you are, Princess.”
I struggled against him.
“I am not a princess!”
He looked down at me.
“Your blood says otherwise.”
Suddenly, a silver blur shot toward us.
Kael.
He slammed into Malrik with enough force to send both of them crashing through several trees. The impact shook the earth beneath my feet.
I fell to the ground.
Malrik quickly shifted.
His body expanded into a massive black wolf covered in strange red markings. He was larger than any Alpha I had ever seen, but he was still smaller than Kael.
The two monsters circled one another.
The air itself seemed to tremble.
“Run!” Kael roared.
My body refused to move.
The glowing mark on my wrist burned hotter, and my vision suddenly blurred. A strange voice whispered inside my mind.
“The gate is opening.”
I gasped.
What gate?
The voice came again.
“Moon blood.”
Pain exploded through my arm.
Silver light spread from the mark across my skin. Several Shadow wolves stopped fighting and stared at me.
One whispered,
“The prophecy.”
Another immediately lowered his head.
Fear spread across the battlefield.
Adrian suddenly appeared beside me. His clothes were torn, blood stained his shoulder, and his breathing was uneven.
“Elena!”
He grabbed my arm.
“We need to leave.”
I looked at him.
The concern in his eyes was real.
Too late.
But real.
The silver light continued spreading.
“What is happening to me?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Sophia suddenly emerged behind him. Her face was pale, and blood stained her sleeve.
“We need to go now!”
Another explosion shook the forest.
Kael and Malrik crashed through several trees. Both were bleeding.
Both looked terrifying.
Malrik laughed.
“She is awakening.”
Kael growled.
“Silence.”
The Shadow Alpha’s red eyes landed on me.
“Ask him about the Moon Gate.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
I looked at him.
“What is the Moon Gate?”
No one answered.
“Kael!”
His silver eyes met mine.
For the first time, I saw fear.
The immortal king was afraid.
“The Moon Gate is an ancient prison.”
My breathing stopped.
“What is imprisoned there?”
He remained silent.
Malrik answered instead.
“The first darkness.”
Cold spread through my body.
“The enemy that nearly destroyed both Lycans and werewolves.”
I looked between them.
“What does that have to do with me?”
The Shadow Alpha smiled.
“Your blood can open it.”
“No.”
Kael stepped forward.
“Your blood can also seal it.”
Everything became silent.
The mark on my wrist pulsed.
The voice returned.
“Wake.”
Suddenly, images flooded my mind.
A woman with silver eyes.
A burning castle.
A crying child.
Blood.
War.
A man carrying me through darkness.
Kael standing beside a woman who looked exactly like me.
I fell to my knees.
“Elena!”
Adrian caught me before I hit the ground.
The visions disappeared.
Tears filled my eyes.
“I saw her.”
Kael froze.
“My mother.”
His face changed.
“What did you see?”
“She looked like me.”
His voice softened.
“She did.”
Another memory flashed.
The woman touched my forehead.
She whispered something.
“The moon will bring you home.”
I gasped.
The mark glowed brighter.
The entire forest became illuminated.
Every wolf stared at me.
Kael suddenly looked toward the sky.
His eyes widened.
“No.”
Dark clouds covered the moon.
The temperature dropped.
Malrik smiled.
“It begins.”
“What begins?” I asked.
No one answered.
The ground beneath my feet cracked.
Silver light burst upward.
The earth trembled violently.
Adrian stepped in front of me.
Sophia screamed.
The Shadow wolves backed away.
Even Kael looked shocked.
Ancient symbols appeared around me.
My wolf suddenly appeared inside my mind.
For the first time, I could see her clearly.
She wasn’t gray.
She was silver.
Her eyes matched Kael’s.
“You remember me?” she asked.
I stared at her.
“You can speak?”
“I have always been here.”
“What is happening?”
My wolf looked sad.
“You were never an omega.”
My heart stopped.
“You were hidden.”
The symbols brightened.
Kael reached toward me.
“Elena!”
But it was too late.
The light exploded.
The force threw everyone backward.
When the brightness disappeared, the entire forest had fallen silent.
I slowly stood.
Something felt different.
The pain from Adrian’s rejection had vanished completely. The weakness was gone.
The fear was gone.
The mark had spread across my entire arm, and silver energy surrounded my body.
Everyone stared.
Sophia whispered,
“What is she?”
Malrik lowered himself to one knee.
Every Shadow wolf followed.
The Lycan warriors lowered their heads.
Even Adrian looked stunned.
Only Kael remained standing.
His silver eyes were filled with disbelief.
I looked down at my glowing hands.
“What happened to me?”
Kael slowly stepped forward.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“The Moon Princess has awakened.”
My heart pounded.
Moon Princess?
That wasn’t possible.
I was Elena.
The orphan.
The rejected omega.
The girl nobody wanted.
The ground suddenly shook again.
This time, something rose from beneath the earth.
An ancient stone door.
Covered in silver symbols.
Everyone stared.
Malrik smiled.
“The gate.”
Kael’s face became pale.
“No.”
The enormous stone doors slowly began opening.
Darkness poured from inside.
Cold.
Ancient.
Wrong.
A voice echoed from within the darkness, older than the world itself.
“The heir has returned.”
And something inside the gate opened its eyes.
- Writer
