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
Lyria’s POVMy breaths came in ragged gasps as I tried to keep my head above the surface of the deep, cold, and relentless river.I forgot how to catch my own breath the moment I watched my mum’s body gradually sink deeper. Desperation coursed through my entire existence as I struggled against the current.“Hold on, Mom, please!” I cried, reaching for her.After what felt like a lifetime, I was happy that I had almost gotten to her. Albeit unsettling that her head was now dangerously below the water and she wouldn't last long there, her struggling hands above it still offered me a glimmer of hope.In no time, I covered the little gap left between us, only for me to try and connect my hand with hers, and then—my fingers brushed nothing but air.To my utter bewilderment, she didn’t even drown. She just vanished.My loud scream was met with derisive laughter as I jerked back to life. To reality.I wasn’t dreaming anymore, yet water dripped down my face in a slow, steady trickle. My mat
Lyria's POV The first hint of dawn touched the sky, spurring the still village into motion once again. The large Elder's compound was bustling than usual as pups ran around, their eyes alight with laughter and adventure. None of them cared a hoot about how early it was to be running around. The only thing that mattered to them was that the long awaited Red Moon Festival was here and they couldn't contain their joy. While some adults were also gallivanting, some busied themselves with last-minute preparations for the festival tonight. But as always, I was the one doing the most. Everyone else was excited as though the moon goddess herself was descending tonight, but for me, I wasn't seeing the lure. I would just do what I have to do and leave.On my way to fetch a mop from the store, I caught snippets of two apparently unmated adult girls of my age discussing. “You must be joking to think you can outshine me,” one said to the other playfully. “ By the time I get dolled up, and t
Lyria's POVA strangled gasp tore from my lips as I scrambled to my feet and bolted.Branches slapped at my face, twigs snapped under my feet, but I didn’t dare stop.I had done what my instincts told me to do by running. But I hadn't gotten far when realization dawned on me that I could never outrun this beast. Not when I couldn't even shift. Not when my wolf is latent and weak. I was exhausted, and far too slow.Desperation clawed at my chest as I skulked my way into a thick bush, crouching as low as possible to avoid being detected.The lion skidded to a stop just a few feet away, scanning the area with narrowed eyes, looking confused. The confusion was replaced by anger as it let out a powerful roar.Powerful enough to make me cower even more with my heart racing to an alarming rate, but not powerful enough to make me stupidly come out of hiding, throw my hands in the air and offer myself as a living sacrifice. It couldn’t see me. But I could see it through the tiny space the
Kael's POVWhen I told Garrik I suspected that something or someone was in the foliage, Garrik didn't waste time aiming his bow, his muscles taut, ready to release the arrow into whatever—or whoever—was lurking there. “Just leave it to me your majesty,“ he said to me. I couldn't have chosen a better head enforcer. Apart from being my best warrior who trains the other warriors in the pack, he's also skillful with the bow and arrows. And most times, that's the advantage he has over my playful beta who can put up with him to some extent when he doesn't use his bow and arrow.Just as Garrik was about releasing the arrow, a voice suddenly cut through the moment like a razor, making us pause. “Alpha!”Talk of the devil. There was my Beta, Hood, striding towards us as I turned.He was wearing that ever-present smirk of his. As my personal assistant, Hood had an uncanny ability to show up at the most inconvenient moments."It’s time to start preparing for the Blood Moon Festival," he remin
Lyria's POV The music, the frenzied dance, the squeals of excitement, the lively chatters and every other activity going on at the festival became irrelevant to my senses as I knelt down beside the grand vacant chair of the king, awaiting his arrival.My head was bowed low and I had my eyes fixated to the ground, just as instructed. I had no liberty to partake in any of the activities or even look elsewhere but at the ground throughout, whereas everyone else were having the best moment of their lives. I could feel the eyes of some of the elders on me as if trying to make sure I did nothing else but what was required of me. “Hey Slave,” the chief elder called out to me. I like that I had been instructed not to raise my head up or look anywhere else but at the ground unless told otherwise. That aided my pretense not to know I was the one he was referring to. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him marching down toward me, displeased with how I made him speak to the wind. Having endu
Kael's POV The walk back to my office felt longer than usual as my patience stretched thin. Hood followed beside me in silence, which was rare enough to unsettle me further. He was never this quiet unless something serious was brewing.But I didn’t need silence. I needed answers.From the moment Hood stormed into my chambers to tell me the omega girl was still alive, disbelief had wrapped itself around my mind like a vice. I had rejected her. She should be dead.And yet, Hood had stood before me, his usual smirk absent, his voice clipped with urgency as he said—"She's alive."I had scoffed at him, dismissing it outright. An omega surviving rejection? Impossible.But Hood didn’t back down. "I wouldn’t joke about this, Kael."I narrowed my eyes on him. "Since when do you take anything seriously unless we're in battle?"Hood exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know how it sounds. I thought the same damn thing when I saw her, but I swear on my life, she’s breathing."I sta
Lyria's POV Ever since the king’s announcement this morning, time ran so fast, like a fugitive who was just spotted and chased through the wilderness. Still, I couldn't help but envy it. I wished I could vanish the same way—slipping through the cracks of this temporary prison, away from the cruel fate that awaited me. But escape was impossible. The cell I was thrown into was heavily guarded, its iron bars a constant reminder of the death sentence disguised as a trial.The king’s declaration and the head enforcer's explanation of it did not stop flickering in my head all day. I had been sentenced to the Blood Trials. A fight for survival. A battle I was destined to lose. The truth had settled into my bones like poison, spreading through every inch of me, making me weak with dread.Worry skirted the edges of my mind throughout the day, wrapping itself around me like a noose, pulling tighter with each passing hour. It clouded my thoughts so much that I failed to realize night had al
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