Chapter 6: The Gathering Storm

POV: Luna

The iron handle jerks again. Harder this time. Wood splinters around the lock and a fine rain of dust comes down on my hair.

I stumble to the broken edge of the balcony and grab the balustrade to stay standing. My hands are shaking so bad I have to lock my elbows.

Below, Raven stands at the head of a silver tide.

Dozens of elite executioners in full ceremonial armor fill the courtyard, silver-tipped spears catching what little light is left from the eclipse. Their boots hit the stone in perfect sync and the vibration travels up through the stone into my palms.

And right beside her, Zara. Claws out, forearms still slick with fresh blood. She already cleared the outer posts.

"Aiden," I manage, and my voice sounds small even to me. "How did she… how did she get that many past your perimeter? You said the Inner Sanctum was warded."

He comes up beside me. His jaw is tight, a muscle jumping.

"She didn't bypass them," he says, and his voice is flat. Empty in a way that's worse than shouting. "The Elder Council gave her the keys. To my own garrison."

The betrayal lands like a slap. This is his home.

Before I can answer, Raven throws her arms wide and her voice slams into us, magically amplified until I feel it rattle in my teeth.

"You dishonor the throne, Aiden! A single wolf cannot hold four mates without bringing the wrath of Goddess Lunyx upon us all! Deliver the abomination to the blade, or Aidion burns with her!"

For a second there's nothing, and then the courtyard answers with a low, hungry howl that makes the hair on my arms rise.

Orion moves first. He drops and slaps both massive palms flat to the floor.

The stone under my bare feet shudders. I flinch before I can stop myself. Rock tears itself up with a grinding scream and seals the inner stairwell in a solid, ugly wall still steaming faintly from the earth.

"Let them try," he says, looking up at me. "They can try to burn stone if they want."

Dust hangs thick in the air and for a heartbeat I can't hear anything over my own breathing.

Then something shifts in the rafters above. Kai. I never know if he's actually gone or just watching, and my stomach drops.

"Darling," he says from above, and his voice is flat now, stripped of that purr. "They're rolling silver charges to the foundation. If we keep arguing, we're all dead."

The charge hits.

It isn't loud at first. It's a deep thump I feel in my molars, in my ribs, and then the whole sanctum bucks sideways. The reinforced iron doors blow inward in a spray of splinters and silver sparks. I throw my arms over my face and taste ash on my tongue.

For a second I can't see anything. Can't hear right either. Just smoke and ringing and my own breath sawing in and out.

Then sound crashes back in. Shouting. The sharp stink of the night air and blood and burnt stone. Someone yelling my name.

Orion roars: I feel it more than hear it; and another slab of bedrock heaves up, barely catching a volley of arrows. Sparks rain down on my dress.

Jace shoves past me, so close I smell pine and sweat and blood on him. Fur bursts across his shoulders in patches, claws scraping loud against stone as he slams into two guards at once. It's not graceful. It's desperate.

I turn my head and a guard below just gurgles and drops, Kai already behind the next one with knives flashing. I didn't even see him move.

Aiden moves like he's done this a hundred times, silver claws out, shouting orders I can barely make out through the ringing. "Hold that arch! Don't let them flank!"

They're bleeding for me.

The thought hits me out of nowhere while I'm crouched against the balustrade with dust in my hair. It's stupid and overwhelming and so big it chokes me. I spent my whole life being sure no one would ever choose me. That I was easier to leave than to keep. Now men I barely know are getting cut open because they did.

A spear whistles. I see the silver tip catch the light; straight for Jace's exposed side while he's got a guard by the throat and can't turn.

I don't think. I launch myself at the executioner holding it. It's clumsy, my shoulder slamming into his ribs, and we both go down hard on the stone. My palms hit the floor and white light bursts out of them on impact, small and hot and instinctive. The guard yelps and scrambles back, eyes wide.

"I'm not… I'm not a trophy!" I'm breathing so hard it hurts, my voice raw. "You don't get to die for me!"

Jace stares at me, chest heaving, blood smeared across his mouth. Shock and something fiercer flashes in his black eyes.

"Center! Keep her in the center!" Kai snaps from somewhere in the smoke, and for once he actually sounds scared. "If one drop of her blood hits that stone, I will peel the skin from your bones!"

Orion's big hand finds my back, steady and warm. "Hold to me, Queen. Earth, rise!"

More bedrock grinds up around us. It buys us maybe ten seconds.

Aiden yanks me toward the back wall and tears open a hidden panel behind the throne pedestal I never knew was there. Cold, damp air pours out, smelling like old water and moss.

"Aix aqueducts," he pants, shoving me toward the hole. "Old law… they can't spill blood on the sacred platform. It's sanctuary. We have to go. Now!"

We drop into the dark; me in the middle, Aiden and Jace on either side so tight their shoulders keep knocking into mine, Kai ahead as a shadow, Orion last. Rock crashes behind us as he seals the entrance and the sound shakes my teeth.

We run, and freezing water soaks straight through my dress to my ankles while my bare feet slip on slime. The tunnel twists and the air gets thinner until my lungs are burning and I can't tell if the water on my face is from the ceiling or sweat.

"Raven knows these tunnels too," Jace gasps beside me, blood on his teeth. "Same as Aiden. She grew up in these walls. Ten minutes, maybe, before they break Orion's seal."

Kai's breath comes from ahead. "Then let's make sure our queen is still breathing when we see daylight, yeah?"

The tunnel finally climbs and cool night air hits my face. We burst out at the borders of Aidion, all of us gasping.

Aix is right there. Fifty yards of short grass and then the ancient white stones, humming faintly with their own light, where Alphas are anointed under Lunyx. Hope flares so hot I could cry.

"Almost," Jace says, grabbing my hand. His hand is slick. "Come on, Luna. Don't look back, just keep moving."

I try. I do.

But the light just goes out. Like someone blew out the sky.

The last sliver of sun vanishes and totality hits. Not dim. Gone. Pitch black so complete I can't see my hands. The air turns heavy, pressing on my skin like wet cloth.

And my chest…

"Aiden…" My knees go and I hit the grass hard. It feels like something is trying to rip me open from the sternum out. "It's tearing… it's tearing me apart…"

"Luna!" Orion drops beside me, huge hands hovering, terrified to touch me. "Her core… it's overloading. The bond is rejecting mortal flesh!"

I collapse at the very edge of the sacred stones. I can see their glow just inches from my fingers. The four of them lunge and get thrown back by a high ringing that isn't coming from outside. It's coming from inside my skull, inside my blood.

My skin lights up from underneath. White veins crawl up my arms, my throat.

It isn't burning anymore. It's too big for burning. It's like a star trying to fit in my chest. I hear a crack; loud and clean, like lake ice breaking in dead winter; as the first outer layer of the Lunissa seal gives.

I throw my head back and scream, and white light explodes out of me.

It slams into everyone. The Alphas are knocked flat. Behind us, the executioners cry out and shield their eyes. For a full second the whole night is white, brighter than day.

The first layer is gone.

And the White Wolf is awake.