The courtyard still trembled from the clash.
Smoke hung in the night air, tinged with iron and ash. The stones, cracked and bleeding from battle, seemed to pulse with the echoes of howls that had not yet faded. Ivy, her chest heaving, held Arthur pinned against the shattered altar. Silver fire poured from Selra, burning through her veins like liquid moonlight, a storm of power that illuminated every shadow of the palace grounds.
Arthur snarled, his teeth snapping inches from her face. His crimson eyes glowed with hatred, madness and desperation mingled in their depths. He looked less like an Alpha and more like a beast cornered by truth. “Kill me, Luna,” he spat, blood dripping from his muzzle. His voice was hoarse but sharp, cutting across the silence that had fallen. “Strike me down if
