Chapter 5: The Feral King

Lily’s POV

The brilliant white light slowly faded away into the air, leaving us in the dim, quiet light of the back breakroom. 

Holden was still holding my wrists tightly in his massive hands, his grip firm but no longer hurting me. He was staring at me as if I were a ghost from an ancient story.

"A healer," he whispered under his breath, his voice trembling. "The ancient pack texts said the legendary healers were all wiped out a century ago by rogue factions. 

That is why your very scent triggers my inner wolf so violently. You aren't a weak human. You are the only cure to the darkness inside my body."

"What darkness are you talking about, Holden?" I asked him, pulling my wrists firmly away from his grasp and standing up. "What is that stone Marcus had?"

"The high school ice rink," Holden said, standing up from the floor and pacing back and forth across the small room like a caged animal. "There is an ancient supernatural relic buried deep beneath the center of the ice. 

It was placed there generations ago by our ancestors to protect the pack borders from evil. But someone has corrupted it. It is leaking black magic into the arena air. 

Every time I skate, every time I breathe in the cold air at the rink during practice, the poison enters my body. It makes me violent. It is driving my wolf completely feral."

"Your dad is the current Alpha of the Blood Moon pack," I said, connecting the dots in my head using my grandfather's journal notes. "Why hasn't he stopped this? Why hasn't he destroyed the relic?"

"Because he doesn't know it is happening," a cold, mocking voice answered from the dark doorway of the breakroom.

The metal lock on the back door suddenly shattered into pieces with a loud bang. The heavy metal door swung open violently, hitting the wall. Marcus Flint walked straight into the room, a cruel smile on his face. He wasn't alone. 

Three large, massive men stood right behind him in the shadows. They did not look like high school students at all. They had deep, jagged scars across their faces and eyes that glowed a sinister, dark red color. They were rogue wolves.

"Marcus," Holden growled out, his body moving instantly. He stepped quickly in front of me, shielding my small body with his own broad shoulders. "What are you doing here? This is pack territory."

Marcus smiled a sickening, wide smile. He reached into his pocket and held up the exact same glowing black stone piece I saw earlier through the front window under the streetlamp. "My father was the one who corrupted the arena relic, Holden. 

Your dad stole the Alpha title from my family years ago through blood. This black stone is draining your pack's power every single day and giving it to us. We are taking back what belongs to us."

"You are a disgusting, pathetic traitor," Holden snapped, his muscles tensing as he prepared his body to fight the men.

"Maybe I am," Marcus chuckled darkly, stepping further into the room. "But tonight, your little fairy tale ends, captain. Your university scholarship is gone. Your reputation is completely ruined. And now, I am going to take your life so my family can rule the town."

Marcus nodded his head to the three large rogue wolves standing behind him in the rain. "Attack them. Kill the boy."

The three massive men shifted their bodies instantly right before my eyes. 

Their clothes ripped to shreds as their bones cracked and grew. In less than three seconds, they transformed into gigantic, pitch-black wolves with burning red eyes and sharp fangs. They lunged across the small room, their jaws snapping wildly.

Holden did not hesitate for a single second to protect me. He let out a massive, deafening roar that shattered the lightbulbs in the ceiling, and shifted his body in mid-air. 

A beautiful, gigantic silver wolf with fur like moonlight took his place on the floor. He intercepted the first black rogue wolf, crashing violently into the heavy display cases. The room exploded into a chaotic warzone of flying fur, dark blood, and broken wood.

Holden fought bravely, biting and clawing with immense strength, but it was three against one in a tiny space. The black wolves eventually overwhelmed him, biting his legs and pinning his massive silver body down to the hard floor.

Marcus walked over to the struggling silver wolf, holding the glowing black stone high in the air above Holden's head. The stone flared with an intense, dark energy. 

Holden let out a painful, heartbreaking whimper as the black veins reappeared all over his beautiful silver fur. He lost all his physical strength instantly, falling flat against the floor, unable to move a single muscle as the poison flooded his heart.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face as I tried to run toward them to save him.

Marcus pointed a bloody finger directly at my face, a sickening, victorious grin spreading across his lips. "Don't touch her, boys. Look at her hands. She is the legendary healer we have been hunting for a hundred years."

Marcus stepped closer to me, his red-glowing eyes locked onto mine, trapping me against the wall. "With her pure healing blood, we can unlock the arena relic's full power and destroy this entire pack line tonight. 

You are coming with us, Lily. You belong to the rogues now.”