Chapter 2

[Alaric's POV]

Ten minutes to midnight.

Cold mist clung to my skin, soaking into my dark shirt.

The twisted, ancient pines of the mountain forest blurred past me.

My wolf, Paul, pushed against my mind, his massive paws tearing up the damp earth as we sprinted. Two miles out from the Silver Moon Pack borders.

I reached for the leather pouch tied tight against my chest. My rough fingers brushed the cold glass of the small crystal vial inside.

Two pills rested at the bottom, pulsing with a faint, burning crimson light, like dying embers.

Phoenix Blood. The royal family's deepest secret.

"Who would've thought? The great Lycan King needing a breather."

Floating gracefully on a woven rug ten feet in the air was Cassie, the Head Witch. The Head Witch.

Her fiery red hair cut through the dreary gray fog, and her amber eyes looked down at me with pure disdain.

Yesterday, this crazy woman had stormed into my palace, demanding I take the Phoenix Blood to save my fated mate from being murdered at midnight. As a Lycan who could smell lies, I knew she spoke the truth.

"I wouldn't need a breather if this damn mountain wasn't an unnatural maze," I grunted, rolling my shoulders. "If you're in such a rush, drop that rug down and give me a ride, Witch Cassie."

She scoffed, wrinkling her nose. "Unless you plan on shedding two hundred pounds of pure muscle, keep running, dog. You have exactly nine minutes."

I ignored the insult and broke into a sprint again. The damp chill of the fog bit at my face, but my blood was boiling.

My mate.

For thirty years, I had waited. I watched other Alphas find their Lunas, watched my own kingdom thrive, yet my side remained empty.

Now, the Goddess finally gave her to me, and she was the daughter of Alpha Eric.

Eric. My closest friend.

A dark chuckle vibrated in my chest. The man never shut up about his precious daughter at the annual Alpha Summits. He was fiercely protective.

When he found out his twenty one-year-old girl was mated to a thirty-year-old Lycan King, our friendship was going to end with him pointing a silver-loaded shotgun at my head.

But I didn't care.

Suddenly, the wind changed direction.

A scent hit me. Bright, electrifying lemon mixed with wild roses.

“Mate.” Paul growled, his voice trembling with a desperate, feral hunger. “She's close. Alaric, hurry!”

I pushed my legs harder, a smirk touching my lips.

Then, the breeze shifted again.

The lemon scent was suddenly choked by something thick. Metallic. Sickeningly sweet.

Blood. Fresh, pouring blood. Mixed with the unmistakable, acrid stench of black wolfsbane.

My heart slammed against my ribs. No. Pure, blind rage erased every rational thought.

I burst through the tree line and hit the edge of a dark lake.

Fifty yards away, a male and a blonde female were walking away from a crumpled heap on the grass, laughing. The female was wiping fresh blood from her lips.

My mate's blood.

Paul lost his damn mind. I shifted mid-leap.

The sound of my massive, dark wolf hitting the ground made the male turn. His smug smile vanished into sheer terror.

I didn't give him the chance to scream. I lunged, my jaws clamping down on his throat, ripping his windpipe out in one sickening crunch..

I lunged, my jaws clamping down on his throat. Warm blood sprayed across my muzzle as I ripped his windpipe out in one brutal, sickening crunch. I tossed his lifeless body aside like a broken ragdoll.

The blonde female shrieked, stumbling backward.

I spun, slamming my massive paw into her chest, pinning her to the dirt. With one swift bite, I snapped her neck. Silence fell over the lake.

I shifted back to my human form, ignoring the blood coating my hands and chest. I fell to my knees beside the girl on the grass.

Moon Goddess. What did those rats do to her?

Her beautiful, golden-brown hair was soaked in dark mud.

Her wrists were pinned to the earth with silver daggers, the flesh melted black.

Another dagger protruded from her chest. Her heartbeat was a fading, pathetic flutter.

"Hold her still!" Cassie suddenly dropped beside me, her hands glowing with intense, white-hot magic. She ripped the three daggers from my mate's body. Black blood oozed from the wounds.

My hands shook as I poured one glowing crimson pill into my palm. Her lips were stained with blood, but they were soft.

I placed the hot pill between my own teeth, leaned down, and pressed my mouth firmly against hers, forcing the pill down her throat.

She tasted like heaven.

I pulled back and swallowed the second pill.

I cupped her cold cheek. "You are going to be fine," I rumbled, my voice thick with an emotion I had never known. "I will find you again, my mate."

A searing heat erupted in my veins. The Phoenix Blood ignited.

Cassie began chanting, her amber eyes glowing as a blinding red light erupted from our bodies, swallowing the darkness of the lake.

I pulled a heavy gold pocket watch from my pants. The glass cracked as the second hand began to tick backward. Then the minute hand blurred. The hour hand spun in wild, rapid circles.

My vision began to fade into a white void, but I kept my eyes locked on her face.

I am coming for you, I vowed silently as the world ripped apart. If I have to tear through time itself, I will return to the Silver Moon Pack. And I will protect my Luna Queen.