Gorila

The aftermath was a blur of steel and shouting. Within seconds, a phalanx of the Royal Guard had surrounded us, their shields forming a shimmering wall of reinforced silver. Marcus didn't let me stand until we were deep within the stone corridors of the Imperial Wing, his hand a heavy, grounding weight on my shoulder.

Sol arrived minutes later, his knuckles bruised and his golden eyes burning with a cold, draconic fury. He didn't say a word; he simply stepped into my space, checking me for injuries with a gaze so intense it felt like a physical touch.

We were led into a subterranean chamber—the Sovereign Vault. The Dragon King was already there, pacing the length of a massive obsidian table.

"The shooter is dead," Sol reported, his voice raspy. "Cyanide capsule. Professional. Not a rogue, but a ghost."

The King stopped pacing and looked at me. There was no longer any mask of "student and teacher" between us. He looked at me with the weary eyes of a man guarding a secret.

"I imagine you're wondering why I forced your hand, Alpha Silver," the King began. "Why I issued a royal decree just to get one wolf and her Beta inside these walls."

"The thought had crossed my mind between the bullets," I said, my voice tight.

"I didn't do it for your investment," the King revealed, leaning against the table. "I did it because I received a request from a very old, very dangerous friend. A man who claims you as his own."

The heavy vault doors groaned open. A shadow fell across the room, cast by a figure so massive he seemed to block out the light.

Linus.

The Gorilla Alpha, a legendary retired military commander and the man who had spent three years training Pamela and me in the deepest wilds of Chaos Valley, stepped forward. He was a wall of silver-backed muscle, his face a map of scars from a hundred forgotten wars.

"Old man," I whispered, the tension in my shoulders finally snapping.

"You're getting slow, Silver," Linus rumbled, his voice like grinding stones. "You let a human with a toy rifle get a bead on you."

Linus dropped a heavy leather dossier onto the table. "The shooter wasn't a wolf. He was part of a coordinated network. An underground cell of Omegas and outcasts who have spent decades simmering in resentment. They’re calling it the 'Eclipse.' Their goal isn't just to challenge the Alpha lines—it's to systematically eradicate them, starting with the strongest."

"Why me?" I asked. "I'm a rogue to most of the world."

Linus looked at the Dragon King, then back at me. His expression softened into something resembling grief.

"They aren't targeting you because of your bank account, Aella. They’re targeting you because of who your mother was."

I froze. "My mother was a healer. A commoner."

"Your mother was my goddaughter," Linus corrected, his voice dropping an octave. "And she was the only daughter of the Wolf King. When the Great War broke out, her line was thought to have been extinguished. She went into hiding to survive. You aren't just an Alpha by merit, Aella. You are the last of the High Alpha Bloodline. A Lost Queen."

The Royal Protection

The room went silent. Sol and Marcus looked at me with a new, profound intensity. In the shifter world, bloodline was everything, and I had just been revealed as the equivalent of a goddess in their hierarchy.

"The Eclipse knows," the King said. "They want to kill the heart of the wolf species before you can reclaim your throne. That is why you are in the Imperial Tower. That is why my sons will not leave your side."

I looked at Pamela, whose eyes were wide with the realization of the danger we were truly in. Then I looked at Sol. He wasn't looking at me like a student, or even just an investor anymore.

"A Lost Queen," Sol murmured, stepping closer until our shadows merged. "It seems I was right to call you that from the start."

I straightened my spine, my violet eyes glowing with a ferocity that matched the Dragon's. "I didn't need a crown to build my empire, and I don't need a title to defend it. If this 'Eclipse' wants a war, tell them to bring more than one shooter. Because I don't just survive. I conquer."