Kael's POVThe battlefield stretched before me like a living, breathing beast—howling, snarling, ripping itself apart with every passing second. Smoke coiled through the air, thick and choking, mixing with the iron-scented blood and the stench of death.I looked beyond Soren’s approaching figure, past the arrogant gleam in his silver eyes and the malice etched into every step he took, to where the real battle was being fought.And damn!… I was proud.Garrick moved like a tempest, his axe swinging wide, cleaving through enemies with brutal efficiency. Beside him, Hood’s form danced like shadow and flame, fast, fluid, a blur of rage and precision. The two of them, back-to-back, fought like they’d been born for war. They didn’t wait to be struck. They charged, met every threat head-on. Just like I’d trained them.My warriors—every last one of them—were outnumbered, but none backed down. Blood stained their armor, cuts and bruises lined their skin, but they fought on. For honor. For thei
Kael's POV I noticed I almost felt like retching and at first, I wondered why.My stomach churned with a sickness so vile it nearly took me to my knees—and it wasn’t from battle fatigue or the blood-soaked field behind us. No. This was something else.But It didn't take me too long to realize it was from the minutes I had spent seeing and having to even converse with the loathsome presence that stood just ahead of me.Soren.The very name soured my tongue and I wonder why in this goddamn world, the Moon goddess allowed him to be my father. He was just the exact opposite of me in shades. The only thing we shared in semblance was the same type of eyes. Nothing more. "You mistake of a father," I spat, barely able to hold back the bile of hatred boiling inside me. My eyes bore into his—cold, dead, shameless. "You didn’t just kill your brother to take his throne, you tried to kill me. Your own blood!"His laugh was guttural and slow, dragged from his chest like something ancient and rott
Kael's POVI didn't even get the chance to admire how beautiful Lyria's wolf form turned out—sleek silver fur rippling like moonlight on water, eyes burning like wildfire, fangs bared in raw fury. It was the first time I'd seen her shift, and if we weren't neck-deep in chaos, I might have been awestruck. But the weight of Soren's revelation still rang like iron in my head: he was the one who framed Lyria's parents, causing their death indirectly. And now, with a smirk like death itself, he stood there as though he hadn't just shattered a life.While it took me precious seconds to snap out of my shock, Lyria had already reacted. She shot forward with a furious growl, her claws tearing into the ground as she launched herself at Soren like a comet. Her momentum slammed into him with brutal precision, her claws ripping across his face, drawing blood.Soren staggered backward, and for a breath, I thought she'd managed to shake him. But his snarl twisted into a grin, dark magic sparking a
Lyria's POVThe sharp, burning sting of silver against my throat pulled a small whimper from my lips, though I bit down the sound with all the strength I could muster. My body trembled beneath Soren’s weight, his frame towering over me like a demon risen straight from hell. The blade glinted in the moonlight, cruel and cold, promising death with the slightest push.I heard Kael’s voice, raw and desperate, slicing through the noise of battle. He was calling my name. Roaring it, as if the force of it could carry him to me. My eyes scanned the battlefield wildly from my prone position. I saw him, far off, his dark form surrounded by a horde of enemy wolves. They clashed against him like a tide crashing over a cliff, but he tore through them with a monstrous rage. His claws, drenched in blood, his fangs bared, his eyes glowing with a fury that terrified and thrilled me. Yet for all his power, he was too far.I shifted my gaze, hoping for another miracle. Garrick. He was closer. My hear
Kael's POVI barely noticed the chaos around me anymore. Despite how I suffered bites and cuts from the enemy wolves who did not fail to leverage my distraction as I tried to fight my way out, my gaze remained fixed on Lyria and my concern for her burgeoned with every passing moment. I had noticed how she had changed earlier and she gained the upper hand in the battle with Soren. But her moment of winning was only short lived. And each of the time I watched Soren cut her, bite her and even hurl her, my heart clenched so tight. Now, every movement she made was full of fire and desperation, but she was holding her own. Against all odds, she was still standing.But for how long?I saw Soren moving toward her, his grin wide, wicked. That bastard had almost knocked her out tonight, and I could feel my rage spike just thinking about it. I needed to get to her now.Nothing else mattered, other than getting to her.I didn’t feel the pain from the wound on my arm. Didn’t care that I was limp
Kael's POV My breath caught in my throat as I stared down the tip of Garrick’s arrow. The tension in his bowstring mirrored the taut pull of betrayal in my chest. This wasn’t just war anymore—this was personal. This was Garrick who I had known for years and I had taken as a brother alongside Hood. And he was about to kill me.For a moment, I wondered if he could do it, but then I slapped myself mentally for my scepticism. Garrick was the man who just stabbed me now and the resolve in his eyes didn't show that he was going to back down.The cold bite of the arrowhead aimed directly at my heart was nothing compared to the ice crawling through my veins. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. My limbs refused to obey me. The moment suspended itself in time, reality slowing to a crawl as the horrifying truth struck me harder than any weapon ever could.Garrick had chosen this path and he was intentional about it.Lyria’s voice cracked through the thick silence beside me, trembling with disb
Lyria's POV I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. The moment Garrick pressed his claws harder against Ivy’s throat, a low, guttural cry tore through her lips. My heart felt like it cracked, splitting in two as her voice echoed in the bloodstained field. Her eyes—wide and glistening with panic—locked onto Hood, pleading. Not just for her life, but for their unborn child.I would have blamed Ivy for not staying indoors with Mira. For coming out to endanger her life and the one growing inside her. But then, I know what a mate bond is capable of. I know just how much one won't be at peace until you are with your mate and you're sure your mate is okay."Finish what I started, Hood!" Garrick shouted, his voice soaked in venom. "Kill the king. Kill his mate. Or I’ll slice her throat right now."My fingers curled into fists at my sides, my chest rising and falling rapidly. Kael was still bleeding, resting against the rubble behind me, his breaths shallow, but his eyes burning with fury. Garr
Lyria's POV Ivy lay on the ground, writhing in pain as blood pooled beneath her. Her face was pale, and her breaths came in shallow rasps. My hand shot to my mouth as the horror of what had just happened weighed down on me like stone. Hood's roar of anguish cracked through the air as he charged at Garrick like a storm, but before he could reach him, Soren stepped forward with startling speed and strength."No!" I gasped.Soren’s arm lashed out, catching Hood by the shoulder and spinning him around before slamming him to the ground with terrifying force. He pinned him there with one knee against his spine, his fingers curled tight around Hood’s arm. His grip was like a vice."See where your loyalty to the wrong person has ended you," Soren told him with a devilish smirk, his voice slow and mocking.Hood growled beneath him, his body straining against the hold, his eyes still burning with the fire of vengeance. But Soren was stronger—a brutal kind of strong that didn't just crush bone
Kael's POVLyria’s words — “Surrender, Kael. Surrender the throne to Magnus.” — echoed in my mind like a death knell.It wasn’t just the betrayal that tore at me.It was the clarity behind it.The grim, cold finality in her tone, as if she truly believed it. As if surrendering everything I had fought for — everything we had fought for — to Magnus, of all people, was the only right course.It was an additional confirmation that proved that Lyria was under the influence of Magnus' charm. If she had said, Give me back my throne, I would have understood. Hell, I would have welcomed it. I had never wanted the damn throne anyway. I hadn't taken the throne because I was hungry for power. I had believed that I was the last man in our bloodline so I was the only one that could take the throne. But little did I know these two old fools would come back from the dead.If Lyria had demanded it for herself — demanded what was rightfully hers — I would have dropped to my knees and handed it to her
Kael's POV I had passed out for a moment but it was as though a certain alarm suddenly went off in my head and reminded me that I had a mate to protect. My eyes fluttered open and I watched in horror as Lyria collapsed, her body hitting the ground with a soft, broken thud that echoed louder in my ears than the roar of a thousand storms. Her eyes — gods, her beautiful eyes — flickered between their normal color and a glowing silver, the light pulsing in sync with every shudder of her fragile body.I could feel it.The dark pull of Magnus' magic coiling around her like venomous vines, tightening, squeezing, claiming."No," I rasped, blood thick in my mouth."No!"I staggered, every nerve in my body screaming in protest. The stab wound at my side burned like fire, the blood loss making the world tilt and spin violently. But none of it mattered. None of it would ever matter compared to the terror clutching my chest.He was trying to take her.And there was only one way I knew to stop it
Lyria's POVI gasped for air, clawing desperately at Magnus’ arm locked tightly around my throat, my boots scraping against the broken earth beneath us. His breath was cold against my ear as he hissed the question again, low and mocking, "You still don’t know who you are, do you?"I wanted to scream, to fight, but my body betrayed me, freezing under the weight of something vast and terrifying inside me. Something that had been slumbering, waiting.A sudden sharp light erupted between us.It started as a glimmer — a thin pulse of gold radiating from the spot on my neck where Kael had once promised he would mark me when the time was right. But Kael hadn’t marked me yet. We hadn't completed the bond. So why was it glowing?The light seeped through Magnus’ fingers, forcing him to release me with a sudden grunt. He pulled back, studying his hand with a dark smirk, as if he had expected this all along. I staggered, dropping to my knees and coughing as I clutched my throat. My legs shook vio
Lyria's POVI had already closed my eyes in fright, bracing myself for the inevitable. My heart pounded so loudly it drowned out every other sound. I clenched my jaw, preparing for the sharp, unforgiving pain I was sure would come when the spears tore into my body.But then… I landed.Not with a jarring, flesh-tearing pain, but with a thud — firm, yet strangely gentle.There was no agony searing through my back, no sensation of cold steel ripping through me.Confused and trembling, I hesitated for a moment before daring to crack my eyes open. My heart still raced wildly in my chest as my gaze adjusted to what was around me.And there he was.Kael.Holding me tightly in his arms.I gasped, overcome with shock and disbelief. I blinked rapidly, trying to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. His arms, though trembling and weak, were wrapped protectively around me. His breathing was ragged against my ear, and he staggered a little under the weight of both our bodies — but he was alive. Alive
Lyria's POV The moment Magnus uttered those chilling words — that there was more about myself I didn’t know — something inside me snapped.I didn't even care if he was telling the truth. I didn't want to know. Not from him.Not from the man who had destroyed everything I once held dear.Every word that fell from his mouth was a venom I refused to swallow.Rage burned through my veins like wildfire. My hands curled into fists at my sides, trembling, itching to strike him. My body vibrated with a fury so intense that the very air around me seemed to crackle.I snapped at him, my voice loud and cutting through the heavy silence like a whip. "And what makes you think I am ready to listen to a godforsaken lecture from someone like you?" I spat, my chest heaving. "You cruel monster!"The words tore from me with the weight of years — years of pain, of memories that haunted me in my sleep, of a childhood that had ended far too soon with blood and fire staining everything good.I didn't have
Kael's POV It had gotten to a point I couldn't number how many things have shocked me this very night.One of them that hit the most was Hood — my friend, my beta, my brother-in-arms — had just thrown himself at Magnus like a lost child and called him father.Even a friend to my enemy was definitely my enemy, let alone one who calls my enemy father—whether biological or not.I couldn't bring myself to understand how betrayals were flying everywhere as though they were free gifts of nature. Father.The word kept echoing in my head, over and over, louder than the roar of any battle, until it felt like it would split my skull open.I stood there, rigid, the cool evening air chilling the sweat on my skin, unable to move or even draw a full breath.But as I thought about it again and recalled that Magnus ' entire being brims with magic, I reckoned this had to be some kind of spell. Some dark sorcery that Magnus had woven over Hood. Because there was no other explanation.Because I rememb
Kael's POV With Soren's lifeless body on the ground like that, the war was supposed to end there. I had believed it was all over and that killing Garrick, the traitor who still remained would have been a mere formality. A pushover. A final, necessary act to close this bloody chapter.But as I stood in the rubble of what had once been the sacred courtyard, I realized how terribly wrong I was. The air itself felt heavier, as though the ground beneath my boots was mourning the betrayal of everything we once fought for.And the war... it had spiraled. It had morphed into something darker, something drearier than I had the strength to name.I clenched my fists, watching Garrick stumble forward, blood blooming through his armor. My feelings tangled together inside me like snakes. I should have been relieved. This was justice, wasn’t it? After everything Garrick had done, I should have wanted to watch him fall. I should have smiled.But I didn't.Instead, my stomach twisted with something b
Kael's POV The clash of claws between Hood and Garrick echoed through the darkened field like the clash of thunder against the sky. The fury between them was relentless, but Hood—despite his fury—was beginning to falter now. Garrick landed blow after blow, each strike more savage than the last. Blood matted their fur, and yet they didn't stop. Hood's cries were pained, but his determination burned on like a fire refusing to be extinguished.But while their battle raged on in a brutal dance of fury and blood, my attention—like the earth itself—gravitated toward Lyria and Soren.Lyria’s voice cut through the air like a sword drawn from its sheath. "You lie, Soren!” she snapped at him, her voice layered with a power older than time. “I am the rightful Queen to that throne!" And I will never let you have it!"The air seemed to shiver in response.Soren’s expression twisted into something demonic, as though her words clawed into the very rot at his core. His eyes darkened with rage, and
Kael's POVThe moment Lyria spoke, her voice was not the same gentle one I had grown accustomed to. It wasn’t even hers anymore—not entirely. It thundered, laced with something ancient and commanding, something that sent tremors into the marrow of my bones."I am Lyria Voss, daughter of the lost bloodline, heir to the throne of the Nightborne Clan. And today—I reclaim what was stolen."The ground itself pulsed beneath us, as though the earth recognized the name and the bloodline that had spoken it. The air thickened, and every heartbeat felt like a drum pounding in my ears. I felt the world shift, not in metaphor, but in truth.Above us, the sky darkened into a heavy twilight. The moon, once silver and soft, flared crimson. Blood-red—something that had never happened before. And everything stilled.My breath caught. It wasn’t fear that clenched my heart—no, it was something deeper, older. It was recognition.Lyria wasn't just my mate.She wasn't just the omega I once believed I had t