Claimed By The Rogue Lycan King

Ayla's Point Of View

“Say it again,” I whispered, my fingers slowly trailing down the warm lines of Julian’s chest, savoring the way his skin reacted to my touch. His scent… smoke, pine, and something purely him, wrapped around me like a protective cloak.

“You’re mine, Ayla,” he murmured, pulling me close, lips brushing my temple. “Every breath in my body knows it.”

I let out a shaky sigh and curled against him. The sheets still held the heat of our bodies, twisted and tangled like the night we’d just shared. I wanted to stay here forever, trapped in this silence, in him.

“Then promise me,” I breathed. “That I won’t wake up to find this... us… gone.”

Julian didn’t speak right away. His jaw ticked. I felt the tension pulse through him before he kissed me… deep, slow, like he needed me to believe him. “You are everything,” he said. “My future. My forever.”

Tears threatened, but I blinked them back, choosing instead to cling to the sound of his voice and the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.

“I want a daughter with your eyes,” I murmured, my hand drawing slow circles on his ribs. “Stormy and impossible to ignore.”

He chuckled, voice low. “And a son with your fire. The kind of kid who commands a room with a single look.”

“Seraphina,” I whispered. “And…?”

“Killian,” he replied, without hesitation.

I smiled and looked up at him. “You’ve really thought about this.”

His thumb stroked my cheek. “Every night. Every time you say my name like it’s holy.”

“Then say you want forever.”

“I do,” he said. But his eyes shifted, just for a second. “But forever isn’t always promised.”

My heart stuttered. “Julian…?”

He silenced me with a kiss. Slow. Tender. Like he was memorizing me.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Not tonight. Not while the stars are still watching.”

And then he rolled me beneath him, claiming my mouth with his own again, his voice rough and possessive against my skin.

“You’re mine, Ayla. And nothing, not fate, not even time, is going to take you away from me.”

**********

A faint smile tugged at my lips, as I walked back to my chambers. My body still tingled with his touch, my skin warm from whispered promises and shared fantasies of children who didn’t yet exist… Killian and Seraphina. It felt so real. So possible.

For the first time in weeks, hope didn’t feel like a lie.

I stepped into my chambers, the thick oak door creaking softly behind me as it shut. I exhaled, gliding my fingers across the carved frame of the window, watching the moon high above, casting a pale silver light across the courtyard.

Then, a horn split the night. Loud. Long. Shrill. It echoed through the fortress like a scream.

My spine stiffened.

Within seconds, the air changed. A rush of footsteps. Doors slamming open. Shouts. Panic. The serenity I’d just known cracked and shattered, replaced by chaos.

My door burst open without warning.

“Ayla!” someone yelled, breathless. “Come quick, something’s happened!”

I flew out into the corridor, heart thudding against my ribs. People ran in every direction, guards barking orders, maidens weeping. The scent of blood hung in the air… sharp, coppery, undeniable.

I followed the crowd until it thinned around the eastern wing. The scent grew stronger. Heavier.

Screams.

A chorus of them. Raw. Guttural. Grieving. I turned the corner and saw it.

Alpha Rowan… Julian’s father, lay slumped in the doorway to his chamber, blood pooling beneath him, seeping into the stone. His throat had been slashed, eyes wide open in frozen disbelief. His silver crown rolled on the floor beside him.

Someone cried out, and another collapsed. My legs wouldn’t move. My fingers went numb.

No. This… this couldn’t be real.

A hand gripped my arm, wrenching me back. I turned, gasping.

Beta Anton.

His face was cold, unreadable. Too calm.

“I saw her,” he said, loud enough for the guards to hear. “Leaving Alpha Rowan’s chambers less than an hour ago.”

My mouth fell open. “What?! No… I never…”

“She was with Julian,” a voice piped up behind him. A maid, young, trembling. “But she left after midnight. I saw her. She went down the eastern wing.”

Lies. They were twisting everything.

I shook my head violently. “I… I went to my room. I was with Julian, yes, but I…”

“Search her chambers,” Anton snapped, eyes gleaming. “If she’s innocent, she won’t mind.”

I backed away. “Wait. Don’t…!”

It was too late. Two guards had already disappeared down the hall. I turned, desperate. “You’re making a mistake!”

Anton leaned in, whispering low, lips barely moving. “Mistakes are made by the weak, my lady. And you just lost your protection.”

Before I could ask what the hell he meant, one of the guards returned. His face was pale. He held something in his gloved hands.

A dagger.

Beautiful, curved… and soaked in blood. “It was beneath her bed,” the guard announced. My knees nearly gave out. “No. No, that’s not… I didn’t…” My voice cracked. The room spun.

“She murdered the Alpha,” Anton declared, voice like steel. “The weapon matches the wound.”

“This is madness!” I cried out. “I didn’t kill him! Why would I?!”

Julian. I needed Julian. He would know, he had to know the truth.

“I want to speak to Julian… he’ll tell you!”

But Anton’s lips curled into a dangerous smile as he turned to the guards. “Take her to the holding cells.”

The iron cuffs bit into my wrists as they dragged me through the courtyard like an animal. My bare feet scraped against the cold stone, and every pair of eyes I passed held the same thing… Disgust.

"Julian!" I screamed, fighting against the guards. "Where is he?! Please… Julian!"

I stumbled, nearly falling as the crowd grew thicker, voices rising in a deafening storm of accusations.

“Traitor.”

“Murderer.”

“She killed the Alpha.”

“Shame to the pack.”

I spun, trying to find his face in the chaos. My heart slammed against my ribs, breath ragged as I searched, and then I saw him.

Julian.

Standing at the edge of the steps, his dark cloak wrapped tightly around his broad shoulders. His silver eyes locked onto mine, unreadable. Cold. Still.

“Julian!” I sobbed, breaking free from one guard for a moment and running toward him. I collapsed at his feet, gripping the hem of his trousers like a lifeline. “Tell them! Please, tell them we were together. You held me. You kissed me. Tell them the truth.”

He looked down at me.

And took a step back.

“No…” I whispered. “No… don’t do this.”

The crowd gasped, murmurs spreading like wildfire.

Then came the voice of the person I believed could testify in my stead.

Darius.

My brother, he stepped forward with deliberate grace, venom dripping from every syllable. “She always wanted the crown. Couldn’t stand being just the prince's whore. So she slit our Alpha's throat while he slept.”

“That’s a lie!” I cried, chest heaving. “I would never!”

“You were always a snake, Ayla,” Darius hissed. “Always scheming. Seducing Julian to climb higher. To get closer to power. You used him. And now you’ve shown your true fangs.”

The pack closed in around me like vultures circling a carcass. Their chants grew louder, harsher.

“Traitor!”

“Whore!”

“Killer!”

I looked up at Julian, tears streaking my face. “You said I was yours. That we would have a future. That you…”

“Silence,” he said.

The word hit me harder than any blade.

I stared at him, desperate, shaking. “You held me this morning, you whispered forever. Please… say something!”

Julian’s eyes flickered. For a brief second, something inside him cracked. But then his jaw tightened, and he stepped away from me like I was filth on his boots.

“I never saw her,” he said coldly. “Not last night. Not this morning.”